Sick Fish- not sure what to do now- help!

[lyquidphyre]

So my absolute fav fish is sick. I posted something about this not to long ago but now he is getting worse. My fancy calico goldy had swim bladder when I bought him so im used to him swimming upside down. Now, he positions himself between the undergravel filter tube and the wall.. or he will position himself in the middle of the plants... so he just floats there... upside down, not moving much because whatever he is squished between is holding him up. He comes out to eat and swims normally for just a little bit.

I did a water test and my Ammonia is fine, however I can't get my pH up for the life of me (ive been treating it for some time now w/ stuff the pet store gave me that has always worked).
My other fish are doing just fine.
I gravel vac'ed, I did a water change, I replaced my filter not too terribly long ago.. im not sure what to do now to make him better.

Any suggestions?

 

[Menagerie]

My sympathies, lyquidphyre. I wish I had wise words of advice

 

[heavenly]

perhaps he is just resting still trying to get over the sickness he had. Or he might be a lazy fish. Fish do have a tendancy to "hide" like that in order to feel secure. Give him sometime. that just might be the way he is. In the meantime just watch him and good luck.

 

[heavenly]

perhaps he is just resting still trying to get over the sickness he had. Or he might be a lazy fish. Fish do have a tendancy to "hide" like that in order to feel secure. Give him sometime. that just might be the way he is. In the meantime just watch him and good luck.

 

[madasafish]

Swimbladder disorders are seldom solved... and they are very typical for fancy golds. Your other fish (are they goldfish?) are probably not sick, as they're more resistant to the disorder (because they haven't been selectively bred as much).

Here's the advice Andrews et al give in their "Manual of Fish Health:"

"Since the exact causes of this problem are poorly understood, recommending a reliable treatment is difficult. Air-gulping occurs when fish feed greedily at the surface and suck in air with food. One solution is to briefly hold the food (e.g. flakes or pellets) just beneath the water so they quickly sink when released and have to be eaten in mid-water.

"If the buoyancy problem is not due to air-gulping, then it could be a more serious condition affecting the swimbladder. Try moving the fish to shallow water, say 13 cm (5 in) depth. In the case of goldfish and other coldwater fish, slowly incresing the water temperature by about 5 degrees C sometimes brings about an improvement. Dosing the tank with an antibacterial remedy and/or aquarium salt (up to 1 gm salt per litre, assuming the fish are salt-tolerant) may be effective in some cases. A veterinarian may be willing to X-ray the affected fish in order to visualize any damage or derangement of the swimbladder chamber(s). If swimbladder over-inflation is discovered it may be possible for the vet to aspirate the excess gas, although this does not always bring about a permanent cure. Despite attempts at treatment, many cases of swimbladder problem fail to improve. If the affective fish seems very distressed or is unwilling or unable to feed then it might be kinder to have it put down."

Italy: Firefly Books, 2003.

 

[jsoong]

That's good advice Madasafish.

In this case, trying to fix the simple things may be the way to go. If there is gas in the gut (constipated, or eating floating food), it can make the fish go upside down as well. A laxative may help. Try some peas (worked for my goldie when it had "swimbladder"), or for stronger action, epsom salt (either a bath or hand feed one grain - say stuck in a pea or something).

You can try the other things mentioned by Madasafish if it is a swimbladder & not gut disorder.

In extreme cases, I've heard of vets implanting stainless steel weights into koi to correct for swimbladder probs. This will cost $$$, and I guess is used only with the rare & expensive showfish.

 

[lyquidphyre]

Well he has never had problems eating and I feed him peas often. However the sitation mentioned above has gotten worse. I have posted something in the "unhealthy fish" section of this forum but basically-

Because my goldie has been less acctive, my pleco went after him last nite (im assuming he thought he was dead or something)

But he started to suck off the scales on my goldie. He did this twice (the 2nd time while I was getting stuff ready to QT my goldie)

Since it was 10 at night I had no way to QT my goldie other than putting him in my old betta bowl and putting the bowl in the tank (for aeration and filtration). I put a net over the top so no one could go in or not.

Well, I woke up this morning and the net fell and my goldie was out of the betta bowl- wedged between a plant, the bowl and the tank.

This time, the pleco had sucked off most of his scales on one side.. and someone in my tank ate his back fins.

So I ran to Petsmart this morning.. and for the details of what I did and whats going on now you can go to my post thats like "Tell me im doing this right- please" cuz its a lot more to type

I have pix of him in my gallery that I took about 30min ago

Im so upset about this I could cry

 

[Pufferpunk]

Go to www.goldfishconnection.com