Someone help! Need advice with a goldfish!

[kim green]

One of my goldfish for the past few days has been swimming in the same place but appears to be struggling to stay that way. He won't swim anywhere else and I haven't seen him eat anything for 2 days now. He's normally really active and always stays close to the other fish. I don't know what's wrong with him if anyone has any ideas or knows a way I could help him please let me know!

 

[Tuck]

Check your water first. What are your levels?

How big is the tank he is in?

Does it have filter?

Can you you a picture of the little guy?

 

[kim green]

I'm gonna get a sample and take it to my local pets at home. He's in a 3 foot tank so there's plenty room for him it has a filter and air pump and the filter gets cleaned regularly

 

[Tuck]

I'm gonna get a sample and take it to my local pets at home. He's in a 3 foot tank so there's plenty room for him it has a filter and air pump and the filter gets cleaned regularly

Was the tank cycled? Also how long have you had the fish? What else is in the tank?

 

[kim green]

I don't know how to cycle it as I've not had fish that long and I'm still learning how to look after them. There are 5 other goldfish and 2 little catfish and I've had this one almost 3 months. He's a fish I won from a faire ad up until now I've had no problems with him or any of the others.

 

[jlk]

Can you post the tank dimensions (LxWxH)? This will tell us what the gallon capacity of the tank is. What do you feed them? What is your water change schedule (%/#wk)? What type of goldfish is this one and what are the others?

Unfortunately, this tank is heavily overstocked and I also suspect uncycled as you mentioned its new. High toxin levels/unhealthy water are the most likely cause of your fish's issues unless your changing most of the water every day. Some more info will help us to help you better!

 

[kim green]

I know it holds 60 gallons I do a 40% water change twice a week when I clean the filter, if that tank is over stocked I do have another tank with a filter I can set up to take some of the fish out. I feed them fish flakes twice a day. Whenever I change the water, I use a neutraliser to take any ammonia out of the water. I don't have plants but I do have an air stone ill attach a photo of the tank to help you's. in the photo it has sand but I got rid of it and bought some fresh gravel which I washed thoroughly and removed any floaters before I introduced the fish

 

[FishieMomma]

I hate to tell you this but goldfish are cold water fish and catfish are tropical. They shouldn't go in the same tank because the tropical fish need heated water.

Also, the rule of thumb with goldfish is 20 gallons of water for the first fish and an additional 10 gallons for each additional goldfish. This is for two reasons. The first is that goldfish produce a LOT of waste and need lots of water changes and the other is that they also grow quite big. If they are in too small a tank, their growth is stunted which makes their organs grow improperly.

How big is your other tank? Maybe up you could use that for a couple of your favorite goldfish and could rehome the others at your local fish shop.

 

[kim green]

Well now I'm foaming as the pet shop I bought the catfish from has them in with goldfish and said it would be fine to have them in with them I made sure I checked as I'm a very cautious person.
I don't want to rehome any of my fish so ill buy another tank to transfer the goldfish into when I was using my smaller tank I was cleaning it out every other day. I thought a bigger tank would be a good idea it's turning out not to be

 

[jlk]

Its 60g but its only 3ft long? Either this is not correct or its an odd shape or a custom made tank.

Are all of your goldfish singletail types or do you have fancies (doubletails) as well? Did the symptoms start after you changed the substrate?

 

[kim green]

They're all single tails and the 60 gallons is what the pet shop told me it holds when I was purchasing a new filter after a malfunction with the other 1.
I'm getting so much different advice from per stores and friends who have fish and then online it's so confusing

 

[kim green]

Thanks for all your help guys my little guy has made a miraculous recovery since I've put him in the smaller tanks with my other smaller fish. He's swimming all over now and seems to have cheered up in himself. I'm going to give him a few hours before putting any good in

 

[Oohitsae]

They are all single tail? That means they've got the ability to grow well over a foot long, 6 common goldfish in a 60 gallon tank will be a nearly impossible feat, and you'd likely have to change the water daily when they grow bigger, if they are still small now. It's just not feasable to keep 6 commons in such a small tank. IMO, if you want goldfish, go with 3 possibly 4 at the most Fancies, like ryukins, lion heads, etc. they produce less bioload, don't get as large, can live in warmer conditions to help out your catfish, and don't require as much space to swim.

And the likely cause of your fish being Ill was the tank not being cycled yet, and with 6 goldfish it was probably at toxic levels with not enough water changes being done.

 

[kim green]

I didn't realise. I normally do a 40% water change when I clean the filter cause I clean the filter with the tank water so I don't kill any of the helpful bacteria. I moved the smallest 2 into a smaller tank and my little orange 1 has definitely perked up a lot. The other 4 are happy enough in the big tank with the 2 catfish. The catfish I've got are the little algae eaters that stick to the front of the tank or swim across the bottom, they're the bristle nose catfish. The shop I bought then from had them in the same tank as single tailed goldfish but I checked they'd be okay and he advised me they would. However I am going to invest in a heater, I do have 1 but I'm going to take proper measurements of the tank and get the right size. I am planning on moving one of the bristle noses to my smaller tank for the time being unfortunately they're impossible to catch so I'm thinking I could be on a while with them.
Thankfully, my niece has a fish tank she doesn't use so if I need to take anymore fish out of the big tank, I have that as a back up as I'd rather not have to part with any of them.
I can tell I definitely have a lot to learn about looking after fish properly unfortunately, no one in my family has ever been into fish so I'm having to learn on my own.
All the advice I got off you all today has helped me unreal amounts. Thanks to you all. I will definitely be keeping a closer eye on my tanks now and learn about the fish before I buy them!

 

[Cactuspixie]

It's good to hear the little fella is feeling better

He most likely perked up from being put in a new tank with new water, but if its also an uncycled tank, you will need to test your ammonia and nitrite levels daily to begin with, and change out however much water is necessary to keep them below toxic levels (well any amount of them is toxic, and 0.0ppm is what you want once the tank is cycled, but for now, under 0.25ppm is what you want)
If your bristlenose catfish have been raised in cold water, I wouldn't get a heater. They should be fine at room temperature.

What sort of gravel did you get? I found with my comet and a pleco in a 50+ gallon tank I had to remove all the gravel and have a bare bottomed tank so I could siphon all the poop out every couple of days. It used to build up in the gravel, and water changes using a gravel vac every couple of days couldn't keep up with their waste production.

Sand is fine for goldfish- they can't choke on it, and the poop sits on top for easy removal.

The best thing you can do for your goldfish is buy a master test kit, and increase your water changes. This will save you from continual battles with poisoning and burns from a build up of toxins, as well as diseases like fin rot and bloat etc.

Try and feed your fish some veggies every day- thawed peas squeezed out of their shells are a favourite bristlenose enjoy them too. Make sure you give your bristlenose algae wafers in their diet too.

All the best with your adventure