I have two goldfish that began life as carnival prize fish but are now permanent members of the family. We have plans to relocate them to a 100 gal pond we will set up but those had to be temporarily put on hold for a few months so in the meantime 6 weeks ago I upgraded them to a 40 gallon tank which is also now a community tank. I used the old 10 gal tank as a QT tank for the new additions (1 small 2 inch shubunkin and 6 zebra danios). I prophylactically treated the new fish using paraguard and had a 2 week quarantine. The zebra danios were introduced to the main tank approx 3 weeks ago without any problem and all are healthy. 3 bamboo shrimp and two additional snails were also introduced without quarantine and are all doing well. A practically microscopic guppy fry was accidentally introduced to the tank in the process but survived and is doing well and is now 1/2". Our original pair of goldfish (approx 3-4 inches) did not accept the shubunkin after several trial introductions, so was forced to rearrange the tank and add some additional decor a week ago and then was able to introduce the shubunkin without a problem.
However, all is not well in paradise. The original two goldfish that turned our family into aquarists were obviously stressed with all the changes and both are showing some signs of illness, but different illnesses. One is acting perfectly normal and looks well with no overt sign of illness or injury except for new very small patch of fungus on the tail fin. The other fish has been acting differently, at times looking possibly constipated with moments of clamped fins (but not constantly) and sitting on the bottom more than usual. Additionally there were a couple of days that the fish was flashing but that behavior has since stopped and no signs of ich or velvet or other visible problems. The fish has been changing color but this is a process that began in the old tank and appears to be part of the goldfish maturation rather than a sign of illness.
Tank water parameters are for the most part fine - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, usually about 20 nitrate, doing 20% tank changes once a week with tap water conditioner and hose. KH 4 and GH is about 9-10, no copper. The tank is moderately planted. We have a marineland penguin pump. AQadvisor indicates the pump is at 180% of needs and the tank is 75% stocked. Rotting vegetation is removed as needed.
I am uncertain at this point if I should remove one or both of the original goldfish to the 10 gal as a hospital tank, or remove all the plants and invertebrates to the other tank and treat the main tank. Further complicating things is I have another guppy in a 1 gal QT tank right now for which the filter pump is busted, so it's running the filter pump from my 10 gal turned down all the way. So I could take the filter pump from the QT guppy and just use an airstone for that 1 gal tank if it wouldn't be overkill and return the filter pump to the 10 gal. However, if the diseases came from the new fish (despite them appearing totally healthy), the 10 gal tank hasn't yet been sterilized, so not sure that would represent an improvement. Just trying to figure out the best approach to help the goldies without killing my invertebrates and the plants in the process. Sorry for the long post.
However, all is not well in paradise. The original two goldfish that turned our family into aquarists were obviously stressed with all the changes and both are showing some signs of illness, but different illnesses. One is acting perfectly normal and looks well with no overt sign of illness or injury except for new very small patch of fungus on the tail fin. The other fish has been acting differently, at times looking possibly constipated with moments of clamped fins (but not constantly) and sitting on the bottom more than usual. Additionally there were a couple of days that the fish was flashing but that behavior has since stopped and no signs of ich or velvet or other visible problems. The fish has been changing color but this is a process that began in the old tank and appears to be part of the goldfish maturation rather than a sign of illness.
Tank water parameters are for the most part fine - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, usually about 20 nitrate, doing 20% tank changes once a week with tap water conditioner and hose. KH 4 and GH is about 9-10, no copper. The tank is moderately planted. We have a marineland penguin pump. AQadvisor indicates the pump is at 180% of needs and the tank is 75% stocked. Rotting vegetation is removed as needed.
I am uncertain at this point if I should remove one or both of the original goldfish to the 10 gal as a hospital tank, or remove all the plants and invertebrates to the other tank and treat the main tank. Further complicating things is I have another guppy in a 1 gal QT tank right now for which the filter pump is busted, so it's running the filter pump from my 10 gal turned down all the way. So I could take the filter pump from the QT guppy and just use an airstone for that 1 gal tank if it wouldn't be overkill and return the filter pump to the 10 gal. However, if the diseases came from the new fish (despite them appearing totally healthy), the 10 gal tank hasn't yet been sterilized, so not sure that would represent an improvement. Just trying to figure out the best approach to help the goldies without killing my invertebrates and the plants in the process. Sorry for the long post.
