Black moor sick

[jpmm62]

I need help with my daughter's black moor. He's been floating, tail up/head down at the aquarium surface of a 20 gallon tank. He remains motionless for a long time, as if asleep. Then he goes back to normal. Now, I found him upside down on the bottom, with a white streak running down the middle of his tail. I gently nudged him and he righted himself. I fed him some flakes and he resumed normal activity. There are no other fish in the tank, he's about 3 years old, and about 4-5" long. Please help : (

 

[NyteGTI]

Put this in the sick fish section. SOrry I don't know what this could be

 

[jlk]

Hi! What do you feed him (brand/type food)? Do you check your water parameters (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate)? How do you check them-liquid or strips? What are your water parameters for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate? How often/how big are your pwcs (partial water changes)? More information will be needed in order to help you!

 

[Talvari]

Could be a swim bladder issue or constipation... You could try giving him some frozen peas. Just make sure you thaw them thoroughly and pop them out of their shells.

 

[jpmm62]

Thanks for responding. We feed him a very small amount of Tetra Goldfish Flakes 2-3 times per day, 7 days per week, but nothing on every other Sunday. I use strips to check nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia levels, but I don't think it's a very reliable method. I do partial water changes (25-50%) every other week. Thanks again for any help you can give.

 

[jpmm62]

By the way, I'm new to Aquarium Advice... where's the sick fish section, and was it wrong to post it here?

 

[jlk]

Look under 'freshwater-unhealthy fish' section under the freshwater forum. In the meantime, it would help if i could get the readings for amm/nitrite/nitrate from your strips (approx numbers). Strips are inaccurate at best & you really should invest an API freshwater master test kit. You should also increase the pwcs to atleast once a wk with a good water conditioner. You should consider feeding a high-quality sinking goldfish food (such as Hikari or New Life Spectrum) which will help with swim bladder issues. Flakes are not the best choice for floaty goldfish. Then, get some plain frozen peas, microwave them for a few mins, remove the outer shell, mash between your fingers & feed them to the moor. I would only feed the peas for the next few days & see if this is enough to help his swimming issues. If it is, you will need to incoporate some veggies into his diet on regular basis (i would regardless). A pic would help with the white line your describing because i am not sure what you are describing. I hope this helps a bit! Your numbers will also help to figure out whats going on.