Need Help with Hurt Goldfish

[Koopamaster]

My 2 inch black moor has been acting rather listless the past few days, drifting in the current and in his select corner at the top of the tank. Today when I came home from school I saw him sucked onto the side of the filter! He seems relatively fine his fins just got a little torn up.

I immediately put him in a breeder tank to make sure he does not get sucked on again, and now he is floating near the top at an angle. I felt his belly and I felt a firm bump near his abdomen. Could he have swallowed a rock? He has before but I was able to remove when it was stuck in his mouth with tweezers. If it is its pretty far in his digestive tract it seems and I doubt I could remove it with the same method. Do you know if this is the case or is something else wrong?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[wildroseofky]

It sounds like a swim bladder problem. If it is he will probably will not make it. You can try not feeding him for a few days and maybe adding some kosher or pickling salt. Add one tablespoon per 10 gallons of water. Change the water every couple of days so the salt doesn't build up too much.

 

[GreenLily]

You can also try feeding it a shelled cooked pea. That may help the swim bladder.

 

[Koopamaster]

Well ok ill see what I can do :'(

So you do not believe he swallowed a rock?

 

[Koopamaster]

You can also try feeding it a shelled cooked pea. That may help the swim bladder.

I've been feeding him peas weekly and tried to feed him some after I put him in the breeder. He didn't eat much though.

 

[wildroseofky]

He could have. The mentioned stuff will not hurt him and the peas may help him pass it if it is a rock. It was what you said about him kinda falling sideways that made me think of swim bladder. When that is damaged it causes them to not be able to sink or two swim belly up.

 

[Koopamaster]

Yea I thought it may have been swim bladder too but when I felt the lump or whatever the rock idea freaked me out due to past experience .
But if the rock will be able to pass through with the help of the peas that would be fantastic.

 

[GreenLily]

How big is the goldfish and how big is the rock? Are you sure you can't see it in its mouth? I don't mean to be a Debbie downer, but generally, fish can't pass very large rocks/pebbles and they end up passing away from bowel obstruction. Have you considered switching your substrate to sand to prevent this from happening in the future?

 

[Koopamaster]

How big is the goldfish and how big is the rock? Are you sure you can't see it in its mouth? I don't mean to be a Debbie downer, but generally, fish can't pass very large rocks/pebbles and they end up passing away from bowel obstruction. Have you considered switching your substrate to sand to prevent this from happening in the future?

He is very small 2-3 inches. The lump I felt wasn't too big, about the size of a third of the pea I gave him. And I have thought of changing to sand or even a nice nutrient rich substrate like eco-complete but I just can't afford it and it seems really daunting :\.

 

[GreenLily]

Oh, it's tiny then! He might be able to pass it after all! I sure hope so. Switching to something like sand isn't very tough. I'm not sure how much pool filter sand costs, but play sand from your local hardware store is under $3 per half cubic yard (not sure how many lbs that is- I think 50-55lbs).

 

[Koopamaster]

Wow that is affordable. I always disregarded the thought because I thought it would look cheap and crummy, but now im looking up pictures and it looks really nice! I heard it is a pain to clean though but thats not too bad. Would it be a good substrate for plants?

 

[wildroseofky]

I found that the easiest way to clean the sand is to get a 5 gallon bucket, fill it half full of sand, then take a water hose and push the nozzle down into the sand. Tilt the bucket to one side and just keep the hose nozzle push deep into the sand. As the water bubbles up it carries away the dust and super fine stuff. It usually takes about 20 minutes to get the sand clean this way.

 

[GreenLily]

Preparing the sand for tank use is the worst part, after that, it's easy. You have to clean it real good to get rid of the dust. It took me a few hours to clean mine real well, but it was worth it because the water cleared up quickly. As for water changes go, to clean the sand you just hover over the surface with the siphon and it pics the poo right up.
For plants, I'm not sure of. I think you might have to use some gravel for the roots. Maybe someone else has more knowledge on this part.

 

[wildroseofky]

I started with pool filter sand and then went to Black Diamond Blasting grit because I wanted a black substrate. All my plants grow fine. Plants will grow in sand you just have to add root tabs around the plants. Some plants get their nutrients from the water column and not from the substrate. Just research any plants you add to see which ones are root feeders. I use Jobe plant spikes in my substrate instead of the more expensive, just for aquariums tabs. Gravel is not necessary. You can add it or not. I use those smooth river rocks sometimes to hold down plants until they root.

 

[Koopamaster]

Unfortunately my goldfish past away this saturday. God bless him he was one of my cutest fish .
I got an adorable baby fantail to accompany my baby ranchu after his passing. I'm going to change the gravel to sand ASAP so that it doesn't happen again, but since these don't have impaired vision like my moor I assume it is much less likely.

 

[GreenLily]

I'm sorry to hear that your fish passed.