Help!

[nova4song]

Hi,,, can anyone give me some advice, please? We were given a little fancy goldfish last christmas and he/she had been fine until we left a vacation feeding block in the tank for a week while we were on holiday. Anyway,,, to cut a long story short, we have obviously overfed the poor fish and after following advice from some of the members on this site, he has slightly recovered and is not bloated or distended now. However,, he is now very lethargic and has a small swelling above his right eye. He seems to get very stressed when we have the air pump on, and his dorsal fin lies very close to his body. He also looks like he is 'fitting' in between swimming around normally. We are only feeding him a tiny pinch of fish flakes and only once every two days. We fed him the cooked peas to help him out for a few days. So,,,, any advice would be very welcome. Thanks

 

[Fishanatic]

Hi,,, can anyone give me some advice, please? We were given a little fancy goldfish last christmas and he/she had been fine until we left a vacation feeding block in the tank for a week while we were on holiday. Anyway,,, to cut a long story short, we have obviously overfed the poor fish and after following advice from some of the members on this site, he has slightly recovered and is not bloated or distended now. However,, he is now very lethargic and has a small swelling above his right eye. He seems to get very stressed when we have the air pump on, and his dorsal fin lies very close to his body. He also looks like he is 'fitting' in between swimming around normally. We are only feeding him a tiny pinch of fish flakes and only once every two days. We fed him the cooked peas to help him out for a few days. So,,,, any advice would be very welcome. Thanks

Can we see a picture? Is this his eye swelling or actually above his eye? How big is the tank and what are the parameters(ammonia, nitrite and nitrate)?

 

[Tank Girl]

Ok, some basic questions first.

1) How big is the fish? Any others in the tank?
2) What size is the tank?
3) What are the water parameters? (Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate)
4) What kind of filtration?

The thing that concerns me first is your description of "over feeding" him and that he was bloated. Were the scales sticking out like a pinecone? The more info you can provide, the better we'll be able to help!

 

[nova4song]

Hi again and thanks for the swift replies. The fish is approx 2 inches long, (including his fantail) in a 12 litre tank with a small filter pump. There is a small rock and an imitation green weed. No other fish in the tank. (We went to buy a 'friend' but the pet shop explained the tank was ok for one fish only). The swelling is above the eye, not the eye itself, as though his 'eyelid' had a clear blister. As regards the 'overfeeding' we read the instructions on the vacation block and it said it would feed approx 14 fish for two weeks, but we thought this might have meant tiny tropicals. We have checked the fish food as regards ingredients and it is 34% protein, which seems ok. No, his scales are not sticking out at all, but he seems to have two sticking up where 'nostrils' might be! I'm afraid we don't measure the nitrates/nitrites/ammonia, but do put in the required amount of 'Tapsafe' when we change the water. Will try and post a picture asap. Nx

 

[Tank Girl]

12 liters is just over 3 gallons. Not anywhere near enough for a goldfish. I know he's tiny now, but for him to grow and be healthy, he needs at least twenty gallons. I personally would give him even more than that. You really need a test kit. The most common problem in a tank is high ammonia and nitrites. They can get bad very quickly and it puts the fish under terrible stress, which in turn sets them up all kinds of illness. Please post a photo if you can. Hopefully we can figure out what's going on!

 

[Fishanatic]

Hi again and thanks for the swift replies. The fish is approx 2 inches long, (including his fantail) in a 12 litre tank with a small filter pump. There is a small rock and an imitation green weed. No other fish in the tank. (We went to buy a 'friend' but the pet shop explained the tank was ok for one fish only). The swelling is above the eye, not the eye itself, as though his 'eyelid' had a clear blister. As regards the 'overfeeding' we read the instructions on the vacation block and it said it would feed approx 14 fish for two weeks, but we thought this might have meant tiny tropicals. We have checked the fish food as regards ingredients and it is 34% protein, which seems ok. No, his scales are not sticking out at all, but he seems to have two sticking up where 'nostrils' might be! I'm afraid we don't measure the nitrates/nitrites/ammonia, but do put in the required amount of 'Tapsafe' when we change the water. Will try and post a picture asap. Nx

As said by the previous poster, the tank is too small and he will soon intoxicate himself with the overload of ammonia he is producing. These fish also get over 8 inches, up to 12 inches usually, so he will get stunted. This might also be a bacterial infection due to the stress. As said, pictures would be required to diagnose this case. But I suggest upgrading to a 20 witch doesn't cost a lot, or re homing him

 

[stingrays4]

Hi as you have probably guessed a water test result would be very handy. If you do not have test kits most local fish shops will do this for you,take along a sample of water and they should test if for you and possibly give any advice if it is a bad result. If I suspect something is wrong a good course of action would be to do several small water changes say 10% every other day for a week or two and also give the tank a good clean remove any muck or algae.
Good luck.

 

[nova4song]

Thanks everyone,,, I do take the point about testing the water, but I am really surprised at the size of tank needed for him. Why did the pet shop sell the tank and fish if it isn't big enough? (as mentioned, a well meaning relative bought it as a christmas present!) We will take a sample of water to the shop and get more advice there I think, and hopefully can restore him to full health eventually one way or another. I am determined to do the right thing. Thanks to everyone again,, great to know you are all there!! x

 

[Fishanatic]

Thanks everyone,,, I do take the point about testing the water, but I am really surprised at the size of tank needed for him. Why did the pet shop sell the tank and fish if it isn't big enough? (as mentioned, a well meaning relative bought it as a christmas present!) We will take a sample of water to the shop and get more advice there I think, and hopefully can restore him to full health eventually one way or another. I am determined to do the right thing. Thanks to everyone again,, great to know you are all there!! x

Most employees say it out of ignorance, that's all. They don't know much about these fish sadly.

 

[Tank Girl]

They sold it because they wanted a sale, unfortunately. I keep fancy goldfish myself and I can't stress this enough - get them a very generously sized tank, a powerful filter, high quality food, do weekly water changes (at least 25%), and you must have a test kit! Learn all you can about properly cycling an aquarium. All of these things are critical. I also have a hospital tank ready to go in case I ever need it. Your little guy will probably need medications. There's lots of helpful people here and other places online, don't be afraid to ask questions. I really hope you can get him back to health quickly! And post pics!