Goldfish at bottom of tank

[bobpants]

Hi All,

Really baffled (& stressed!) by this one..

I have listed detail below, but had hoped moving them to a new larger tank today would resolve any issues if it was due to space but it appears not to have made any difference.

Any help greatly appreciated

Pic link :

Thanks
Bob

1~What type of fish is afflicted?

--- 2 fancy goldfish who were quite happy until about 3 weeks ago. They now bottom sit a LOT of the time. I have also noticed thin red streaks in the tail also & am wondering about septacemia :-(. Also I put into new tank today and after 10 minutes, again straight to sit on the bottom :-(


2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)?

--- Consistently until today (see new tank below) , ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate 40ppm, ph 7.5, room temperature. I also used ammo lock & nitrate minus the last couple of weeks, but they are pretty consistent. I have also done water changes every couple of days for again about 3 weeks now.


3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?

--- Problem started in 60 litre juwel rekord 600 tank (that they have been in a while). But I think they grew too big for this so today put into a Juwel trigon 190 (190 litres).


4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.

--- Using the pump / filter that came with the tank on both occasions

5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?

--- 2 goldfish body around 3 inches, including fancy tail about 6 inches

6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?

-- Brand new tank today, but was changing 10-20% every couple of days and vacumming at same time


7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?

--- About 3 years old and established. New tank today includes some old water and filter sponges / media from previous tank.

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?

--- New ornament / gravel as larger tank but also put in old ornament / used old filter as mentioned.

9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?

--- Goldfish granules, same as always

 

[newgirl]

Are they eating? Have the red streaks progressed? Check your filter power - I had a similar problem with goldfish and it turns out that the filter that came with the tank was too powerful so they stayed at the bottom to avoid the strong current. If this is new I would suspect bacteria or parasite.

Are their fins clamped (I couldn't open the pic)? Are they breathing heavy? What water treatment do you use?

 

[bobpants]

Are they eating? - Yes

Have the red streaks progressed? - Only noticed recently so hard to tell

Check your filter power - I have redirected filter away from the fish, and also in the new tank the current is much further away from them

If this is new I would suspect bacteria or parasite - waht would you suggest for this please ?

Are their fins clamped (I couldn't open the pic)? - Yes

Are they breathing heavy? - I dont think so, but not sure what to look for here

What water treatment do you use?- Tetra aqua safe

Thank you

 

[Caliban07]

Did you handle any of the filter media differently than normal that may coincide with problem I.e rinse the sponges under the tap etc.

Sounds like ammonia poisoning which the 0.25ppm reading would indicate. It may have spiked at some point before you could catch it.

Keep lots of fresh water going on that has been treated for chlorine and heavy metals. The fish may come round.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[bobpants]

Possible causes

Did you handle any of the filter media differently than normal that may coincide with problem I.e rinse the sponges under the tap etc.

--- I did rinse the sponges a couple of weeks back, yes but no significant change either way from before or after this


Sounds like ammonia poisoning which the 0.25ppm reading would indicate. It may have spiked at some point before you could catch it.

--- I top up the tank with tap water and reading other posts, just tested this directly myself and it turns out our tap water gives me a 0.25 ppm reading :-( which may be a red herring due to chloramines. I am going to invest in some aqarium 'prime' as a safeguard either way. BUT I also noticed now an odd couple of dreaded white spots :-( so am going to treat this as being the primary cause I think to start with.


Keep lots of fresh water going on that has been treated for chlorine and heavy metals. The fish may come round.

---- Will do indeed and thank you for your suggestions and help