Poor Goldfish

[wilson]

I just happened to look in my fish tank and my one goldfish is in between my tank wall and plant. It doesnt look lively. Its tail is bet upwards, and its one side looks like it exploding out. I dont know whether to flush it or leave it, or try some other way to get rid of it. Any help is appreciated.

THanks
ryan

I also just did a big no-no. I was planning on cleaning the tank when i got done work. Well my mom thought cleaning just the filter pads would be good, they had snails in them so she boiled water and put them in it. Now i have to move my tank so im emnptying it and sliding it down, im going to see if i dont have to empty all of it so that there is still some bacteria in it. But will there be any side effect to this. If there is i can use the filter pad from my community tank and put it in the goldy tank, and then put the goldy tank pad in the community tank. Is that a good idea. I dont know what to do, but i really have to move and clean the tank because it is very dirty, and im getting a new couch for my bedroom and im going to be out of room with where the tank is.

 

[Lance M.]

No don't switch the filter pads between those tanks! The goldfish sounds like it has some sort of internal infection or maybe a gas bubble. If you switch the pads then whatever the goldfish has will likely go to the other fish in the community tank. Just get a new filter pad if you have to.

 

[wilson]

OK. What should i do about the gold fish. Its only adffecting the one. It swims upside down but it doesnt move a lot.

 

[Lance M.]

I'm not sure what it is. I hope someone comes by, reads this, and knows what it is. My goldfish have never had that. Anything else in the tank with the goldfish?

 

[wilson]

Just some plants, gravel and another goldfish. It has an ac 150 that i have been woklring on upgrading. I think the other one may die tho.It cant swim right.

 

[TankGirl]

I'll move this to the Unhealthy forum so we can address the issue of the goldy.

It was not the best thing in the world to kill the bacteria in a filter pad, but that is not different than if you wore one out and simply replaced it, so in an established tank it should not be a big deal. I agree with Lance - keep the exposure risk between the two tanks to a minimum if you can, especially until you find out what is going on with the goldfish.

There have been lots of tanks that have "crashed" or gone through a new cycle because of the good intentions of family members or friends who want to clean the tank to be helpful, so let Mom know that you'd like to be a part of those decisions in the future, LOL!

 

[wilson]

Well I have kept the filter pads on the one tank. The other goldfish is happily swimming around and eating the food i just fed them. But the sick one is laying on its side on the gravel and sometimes it looks like its having trying to swim but cant get up(it almost looks like a seizure). Its still alive but not by much. Im not sure what i should do?

 

[verucaproduce]

wilson,
Any update on this? I am afraid that I can't help because I don't know what is afflicting your fish. I just know that it can be extremely frustrating waiting for someone to reply around here especially on the weekend or on a holiday. Understandably all of our advice folks have lives to live outside of answering our questions. hehe How come fish always seem to get sick on a Saturday night? Do they know?
Is the fish still alive or did you have to euthanize him?

 

[wilson]

I didnt euthanize him. I was gonna wait it out to see if it would maybe get better. It didnt get better and it died today. I came home from work and it wasnt breathing. It was to big to flush down the toilet so i had to throw him in the garbage. Now i have a 20g tank iwth one goldfish, I was wondering if i should get him another goldfish buddy. Or leave it be.