White Fuzz, Dead fish, sad daughter, mad dad.

[SkewedSpirit]

I think that worked ...

[HUKIT]

I can sort of see it around the head area, I would certainly get a anti-fungal medication and treat.

[SkewedSpirit]

yeah it is hard to get the pictures as he is flashing a lot. I have removed the plastic plants, all the dead things and done a 50% water change. Hopefully this helps. Wondering if I should take out all the gravel as well?

[HUKIT]

Originally Posted by SkewedSpirit

Wondering if I should take out all the gravel as well?

All that will do is cause more stress. Water changes are good but with a disease that's killing fish it's time to treat since the fish is no longer capable of fighting off the infection on it's own, just like us sometimes we need a little pill to cure a illness.

[Somethingclever]

I know how you feel, i woke up to two dead fish this morning and two others that look like they are on the way out. I wouldn't use table salt though, they have aquarium salt however you can buy at wal mart, it's not very expensive. I use it and it seems to work pretty well.

[SkewedSpirit]

right, and I am planning on that. Was just wondering if taking out the gravel would help at all. I guess I am off to get some anti-fungal meds. Thanks a lot for all the help! Hopefully I can save this fish

[Rutrag]

Do not remove the gravel! I imagine part of your problem is that you are having a massive ammonia and / or nitrite spike. (This can easily be confirmed with a test kit.) Here's the basics of the nitrogen cycle as it applies to aquariums:

Fish create waste which is basically ammonia and toxic to the fish. In an established and properly stocked aqaurium, beneficial bacteria which live on solid surfaces (like gravel) establish themselves and break down the ammonia into less toxic nitrite. Now, it's still toxic, just not quite as bad. A different kind of bacteria also establish themselves and break down the nitrite into less toxic nitrate. Without advanced filtration methods, nitrate has to be removed via partial water changes.

The problem is that if you remove the gravel, you're going to lose a LOT of your beneficial bacteria, and you have to start the tank over from square one and this same scenario will play out again. Think of the beneficial bacteria as the "probiotics" people eat yogurt to get.

Without a history of pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings, this is my best guess as to what's going on. I've always found your best bet is to start making partial water changes when things start looking off with your fish.

[SkewedSpirit]

Thanks, I kinda gathered all that by looking around the web. I actually got kind of into the goldfish after we got them and got excited by the idea of starting a nice aquarium. Unfortunately, due to my girlfriend being laid off, $$ has been tight and I have not been able to afford testing kits etc. As it is, we can't afford the anti-fungal stuff I was going to pick up tonight, so I guess I will just change the water everyday until my Oranda gets better or dies. I hope that next time I start a tank I can do it right.

[SkewedSpirit]

I hope someone is still watching this thread. My Oranda is still alive this morning, barely...he looks like a zombie fish, covered in white film and his fins are tattered and his color is terrible. BUt I had a thought this morning ... my fish were doing fine a couple weeks ago ... and then I bought some water decholrinator because I thought I should. I used it for a PWC a couple weeks ago and just a few days after that is when this problem started. It is just Top Fin water decholinator from petsmart ... would this have cause this problem? I am just trying to think what could have caused this and that is the only thing I can remember doing differently than before...can water decholinator do something like this?

[Rutrag]

It's terribly unlikely that a regular dechlorinator would cause such a problem unless you overedosed it by a pretty large margin. I am a little wary of the brands that add a slime replacer though. I've seen a lot of folks think they're accomplising something by adding loads of that to their aquarium or shipping water. In the end I figure not much of that ends up on the fish but does end up decomposing somewhere.

Do make sure that you are using the chlorine remover with your partial water changes though. Be sure to shake well before use.

[SkewedSpirit]

I didn't think it was the case, but I couldn't think of anything other than that that we had done differently. My daughter had her veiltail in that same tank for over a year, feeding it when she happened to remember and never changing the water and that fish was hardy and strong ... I just don't know what could have done this so quickly