Help with Black Moor

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Sbjames

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
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19
I am so new to fish and to this site. We got this Black Moor about 6-8 months ago and have only changed the water by adding new water when it has evaporated. About a week ago, my fish started staying on the bottom of the tank. It occasionally swam around to eat food or grab some air at the top of the tank.

After buying fish disease tablets and water conditioner and still seeing no change, I changed 50% of the tanks water (maybe more) and cleaned out the gravel (the water was very brownish green with the gravel). Now my fish was curved at the end of it's body as it's seen in the photo and barely moves. I also can't tell if those are specks on it's tail fins or not.

I've tried to look up solutions an found this site. I would appreciate any help.

Also, when we fist got this fish, we bought a gold fantail and an additional black moor with it. Both died within a week or two but this one survived and has been with us since.

Thanks!
 

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Those are indeed specks. I can't verify but I think it's ich 
 
Move the guy into a QT tank if you have one, and either way slowly raise the temp to 86 degrees. Then go out and get some ich attack (my preference) or some Epsom salt. The ich attack is good because if the instructions, but Epsom salt is good if you don't have time to hit the LFS. Dose the ich attack like the instructions on the back say, and hope. But you really should be doing 50% water changes a week... And consider buying a gravel vacuum.
 
I would suggest pickling or kosher salt over epsom salt for treating ich. Just be sure it is straight salt, no anti-caking agents or yellow prussiate of soda. I have never used ich attack so I can't help there, but I have used salt.

What size tank is this? The amount of salt you add depends on the size of the tank. You MUST be doing regular water changes...not just topping it off. The waste products do not evaporate, and build up to dangerous levels if you do not do water changes.

Do you have a test kit? These are very basic tools to fish keeping. If you do not have a kit, get a drop-type kit for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Get the numbers and post them here so we can see what is happening in your tank. DO NOT get test strips...highly inaccurate. Also read up on the nitrogen cycle! It will help you understand what is going on, and will explain why your other two fish died.
 
...also, based on the picture, it could be ich but I am also seeing a debilitated fish...probably related to poor diet and water quality. Ich won't (generally) kill a healthy fish, but he has a long road ahead of him if he is going to survive...

Forget the "fish disease tablets"(?). They may be stressing him even further. He needs clean water. Which water conditioner did you buy? I would reccomend another 50% partial water change tomorrow, and get the salt ready. I can help you with a dose as soon as I know what size tank you have, but another water change should be done first. Be sure to get the temperature of the new water as close to the temp of the water in the tank as possible, and add it slowly. No need to stress him further.
 
Tank size?
Tankmates?
Ammonia?
Nitrite?
Nitrate?
Food?
Filter?

My guess is that this one won't make it, but we need to help you fix the problems so that it won't happen again.
 
Just in case I can't get online tomorrow...here is the dose for treating ich with salt (not epsom salt).

Do a 50% water change, temperature matched and treated with a water conditioner. Then put one teaspoon of salt in a separate container per gallon of tank size, and add enough tank water to the separate container to disolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salted water into the tank in an area with lots of water movement...like the filter out flow. (So if your tank is 10 gallons, add 10 teaspoons of salt to a big cup, add tank water, swirl, pour the disolved salt and water into the tank...you may have to repeat the process a few times until all the salt is dissolved.)

Twelve hours later, do the same thing with more salt. And then do it again twelve hours after that. Your goal is to have 3 teaspoons of salt in the water for every 1 gallon of water. You just need to do it slowly.

Here is the tricky part...you must also be doing water changes to improve the overall quality of the tank. And if you take out a certain number of gallons, you must replace the correct number of teaspoons of salt. If you have a 10 gallon tank, and remove 50 percent of the water (5 gallons), and have 3 teaspoons of salt per gallon...thats 15 teaspoons of salt that you need to add to the new water as it is going in (always pre-dissolved).

You can also slowly raise the temp of the water to 80 degrees, or so. Do that over 2-3 days. No need to stress him more. The increase in temp will speed up the life cycle of the ich, and then the salt kills them at a certain stage in the life cycle. Assuming he survives, keep the water salted until at LEAST a week after you see the last dot on the fish. And then stop adding it during water changes. Eventually, the water changes will remove the salt and you will have plain, (clean), water.
 
Glassbird: Thank you for taking the time to give me detailed instructions. That is what I needed. Unfortunately the fish died two days ago. I was very unprepared for the goldfish we had. Lesson learned.

Owner/Photographer - SBJamesPhotography - Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium
 
Fishguy2727 and Homedog98: I will definitely make sure I have the tank under control before we get more fish and make use of this forum so you all can guide me. :)

Owner/Photographer - SBJamesPhotography - Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium
 
OH, crud. Well, do you want advice on how to sterilize the tank so that you will be ready to go when you decide to try again? Also, lots of people here can help you get thru a fish-less nitrogen cycle, so that your next fish will have a much better chance. I can't help you much with that, having had the same tank set up for 8 years now!

This forum is a marvelous place for information. If I may throw in one more suggestion...do not believe everything that fish store personnel say. Get your info here, where no one is trying to sell you anything.

I hope your next aquarium adventure goes much better!
 
Glassbird: ABSOLUTELY!! We want to get another fish for our boys but I want to be prepared.

Owner/Photographer - SBJamesPhotography - Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium
 
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