Rescued goldfish is FREAKING out!

[imissmytruck]

A friend of mine bought a house with a pond. She didn't want it. So while I was draining it I found 3 nice butterfly koi, several other goldfish up to 7 inches and three 8.5 inch goldfish. I kept the three 8.5 and put them in my 90 gallon that I was cycling for koi.

I should mention the pond was not maintained for over a year and I had no clue there were fish in it until it was 3 inches deep! That's how green the water was! IT WAS NASTY!

So anyway...two of three have now died. And my third, a beautiful platinum color...is just quickly swimming from one side of the tank to the other. He is the only fish. And the parameters are fine with 2 exceptions:

Ph: is at 7.6 same as my tap and all 6 of my tropical tanks. I have done everything I can to lower it with no luck so I go with it.

Ammonia is 0
Nitrite is 0
Nitrate is sadly over 80. But I like that in all my planted tanks. I would prefer 60 but find the maintenance for 60 to not be worth it as the tanks hold themselves at 80 with my filtration.

The tank cycled for a month and was ready for the fish when I brought them home. He has eaten all my "grasses" but hasn't touched the hornwort I bought FOR him. and he leaves my elodia alone.

Anyway. Now that 2 of them are gone and this one is acting NUTS I am afraid he will die as well. I keep the 90 gallon in my meager tank room with my two 10 gallon shrimp tanks and my 20 gallon neon tank. They are all heated, but with it being summer and us without a/c even the 90 is at 76 degrees. could the temperature be the problem?

I am overly frustrated that these fish could live in what amounted to a mud pit, but once they were set free in a nice home they bite it! When they were transferred over they went through a 3 hour drip acclimation AFTER spending the night in a bucket of their home water.

I would like to know why his behavior is so erratic and if it is a sign of his end times.

Thank you all for all your help!

P.S. It has been 4 weeks since the rescue. No one died the first week. One died the second week. Last Monday was week number three when I lost number two. So here we are week 4....

 

[Traciedjessop]

I have a rescued beta doing the same thing. I think he couldn't handle the new digs after having lived in poor conditions for so long ;his head is discolored completely and he can't seem to swim as he wants. All sideways and wonky. Been debating putting him out of his misery ;/




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[schoeplein]

I submitted to have this moved to the sick fish or coldwater forum to increase the likelihood of an appropriate response.

 

[jlk]

I am sorry to hear how this has turned out.

Despite how vile and green the pond they came from may have appeared, I would venture a guess that the water would have tested zero across the board with a fairly neutral ph. You did a great job spending ample time acclimating them but I suspect the great difference in parameters combined with an excess amount of stress (wild pond to a clear tank) and a huge change in diet simply may have been more than they could handle.

The best suggestions I can make for the remaining fish is to greatly reduce the nitrates (if possible) and make the tank as dark as possible (no lights/cover tank). Make sure there is lots of areas for him to hide. The darkness and quiet may help him to settle and de-stress a bit as his behavior indicates severe distress right now. Please ask if you have any questions!

 

[imissmytruck]

Thank you jlk. I have never thought about treating the fish like a parrot. haha. I will try to cover the tank today.

Traciedjessop Sorry to hear about your betta. Hope it works out.

 

[jlk]

Thank you jlk. I have never thought about treating the fish like a parrot. haha. I will try to cover the tank today.

Traciedjessop Sorry to hear about your betta. Hope it works out.

Great analogy!! Has he settled at all?

 

[Roz]

My sister's goldfish freaked out when his tank mate died. He was swimming erratically, and generally flipping out.

He only calmed down once she bought a replacement companion. They are now great chums (except at meal times!!).

I wonder whether the loss of friends is contributing to the stress of your fish?


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[imissmytruck]

Great analogy!! Has he settled at all?

So I tried it out and it was far more difficult to accomplish than it appeared. Big tank near a window and all.....

It seemed to work ok. Except at feeding time. So it seems evident to me that the transition from dark pond to clear tank took its toll.

He seems to have settled down a bit, and I can leave the cover off and he wont smash the glass as much. He is adjusting....slowly.

thank you for the suggestion jlk...

 

[imissmytruck]

My sister's goldfish freaked out when his tank mate died. He was swimming erratically, and generally flipping out.

He only calmed down once she bought a replacement companion. They are now great chums (except at meal times!!).

I wonder whether the loss of friends is contributing to the stress of your fish?


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I do know that some schooling breeds do suffer depression after a loss. I have not heard this about goldfish. He has two comets at 2 inches to keep him company, as well as three mosquito fish that came from his same pond, so he is not alone, but no one else near his size.

And I cant remember if I told this story but, on the fourth of July we went out to celebrate, when we returned we found his best buddy sitting on the floor being licked by my little dog. We cleaned her up and returned her to the tank. She did fine for about 4 days, then went belly up. They were constant companions when they arrived in their new home. She was so beautiful I miss her dearly........so maybe depression has something to do with it....