Sick fancy goldfish help

[Squishie]

Hi everyone,

A classic asking for advice post - my fancy goldfish has not been right for a couple of days and I’ve been trying to help him but no signs of improvement as of yet he is just sat at the bottom of the tank, not heavy breathing but not willing to swim around the tank at all. No visible signs he is injured (no redness or ammonia burns)

I have a 30L tank, and had him (fancy goldfish) for nearly a year. I’ve been completing 25% changes since he has seemed off a few days ago, and now water parameters seem fine but he’s not seeming any different. Also haven’t been feeding him much, I tend to feed him once every other day, once a day maximum as I fear of overfeeding. Tried feeding him a pea today which he spat out (he’s a bit of a diva).

Things that have changed recently - I changed his filter a week and a half ago however I also did this when I changed his tank before and he didn’t react like this. The tank weirdly seemed to get quite dirty after this change but I kept on top of gravel hoovering and have been changing the water like I say.

Any advice would be much appreciated, he’s seen me through some tough times at university and is a treasured pet so I’ll do anything to help him.

 

[Delapool]

Sounded like your water parameters were now ok? It’s sounds like the filter change has trigged possibly something.

 

[Autumnsky]

If you changed the filter pad, you removed the beneficial bacteria which help break down waste in the tank.

You are in a mini cycle. or bigger because of that,

Here is a great resource with links for the fish-in cycle process.

Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also this would make the tank of 30L of less than 8 gallons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Goldfish tank should be a minimum of 20G / 76L but better at 30G / 113L.

A fancy GF at a year of keeping should be SO much bigger than for a tank this size.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...uire-big-tanks-visual-perspective-265871.html

Sometimes doing a larger water change after not doing one for awhile can have such a different water parameter than the new water, causes a shock because of the difference. Not sure if that was how it happened back then when you did the changes.

 

[Squishie]

If you changed the filter pad, you removed the beneficial bacteria which help break down waste in the tank.

You are in a mini cycle. or bigger because of that,

Here is a great resource with links for the fish-in cycle process.

Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also this would make the tank of 30L of less than 8 gallons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Goldfish tank should be a minimum of 20G / 76L but better at 30G / 113L.

A fancy GF at a year of keeping should be SO much bigger than for a tank this size.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...uire-big-tanks-visual-perspective-265871.html

Sometimes doing a larger water change after not doing one for awhile can have such a different water parameter than the new water, causes a shock because of the difference. Not sure if that was how it happened back then when you did the changes.

Thanks for replying! I bathed the new pad in some tank water for a day before replacing it, assuming it would help with the change but alas he is still at the bottom. Feeling like an awful fish mum I was in the process of upgrading his tank size to bigger as a I had seen that very thread on fancy goldfish but just hadn’t got round to it. Do you suggest I change it ASAP? At this point I’m worried he will even last until the end of the week, day 3 of him not wanting to swim around. His water parameters are all back to normal but guessing it’s a waiting game for the beneficial bacteria to grow back...?

 

[Squishie]

Sounded like your water parameters were now ok? It’s sounds like the filter change has trigged possibly something.

Thanks for replying, yeah measured his levels again today and nothing out of the ordinary, all at good levels. Suggestions from other replies about taking the beneficial bacteria away in the old filter which is probably correct but as I replaced it a while ago I thought it would be too late for him to be affected. Not sure if it’s just a waiting game or if there is something more I can do

 

[m.j.gomez]

Thanks for replying, yeah measured his levels again today and nothing out of the ordinary, all at good levels. Suggestions from other replies about taking the beneficial bacteria away in the old filter which is probably correct but as I replaced it a while ago I thought it would be too late for him to be affected. Not sure if it’s just a waiting game or if there is something more I can do

Hello, first I would try 25% daily water changes w/temp matched & conditioned water to see how he responds. I would upgrade to at least a 20gal or a 75L, fancys can get large when taken care of properly. 20+centimeter I believe. Try to feed him raw cucumber if he doesn't like peas. Hope this helps you!!!!

 

[Autumnsky]

A fish can become injured by the effects of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (to some degree).

In regard to Nitrite, a time in water with nitrite can cause internal injury to fish which can take time to show up 2-3 weeks later. Internal organs suffer and full effect of the damage appears in a couple to 3 weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Ammonia might be something initially which the fish deals with but it gets a one, two punch with the nitrite hitting and a fish which was fine before, or even just dealing with a difficult situation and then gets hit with a cycling problem like that can be stressed and become ill more quickly/ seriously.

Garlic squeezed on his food or on peas, and yes it can take many tries to get them familiar enough to eat it.

 

[Autumnsky]

Are you using a liquid test kit? or sticks?

 

[m.j.gomez]

Hello, how is goldie doing.