3rd Party Goldfish disaster

[Jchillin]

My mom-in-law recently upgraded her 10gal goldie tank to a 26gal used hex. It came with a HOB (don't know the manufacturer). She transferred her recently purchased goldies (4 about a month ago) and added a new telescope last week.

Since Friday, she has lost 3 fish (the new telescope, an older telescope and a shubukin). She decided to let me know today. She thought she was doing the right thing and went to the LFS with a water sample to have it tested. They told her her ph was low (she didn't get the exact level, said around 6ish) and they gave her ph up...it's been added to the tank already. I asked her if there were any signs (possible diseases) and there were none. I just came from her house and the remaining fish have no signs of disease at all (wish I had access to test kit...went directly from work).

The tank has a sand substrate (no one knows what type of sand it is), fake plants and an airstone. She has never lost so many fish at one time before and of course, it has caused her some stress.

What can be done at this point? Is there some way to test the sand to see what it's properties are?

 

[FMJnaX]

There's got to be something hidden at hand here. Goldish are often one of the hardiest types of fish around. I've never lost a goldie without a cause. I've also never heard of a goldie death due to sand. I could suspect that they were foraging through the sand and perhaps it had an affect (blocked airflow or something; not sure what it could be). Goldfish are carp. They like to forage through the substrate. It's just a speculation.

On a side note, a shunbunkin shouldn't be in witn a fancy gold. They are more streamlined and often out-compete the slower, deformed fancy golds. Individual attention and close monitoring of food and whatnot will remove any dangers, but in general, sleeker golds like comets, koi, and shunbunkins shouldn't be in with telescopes, orandas, lionheads, moors, or ryunkins.

Keep me posted and I'll think about it more in depth.

 

[Kari]

Did she (or you) think to check the color of feces? I know one of the problems I've had with my fish is internal parasites, and on some of the fish, the only indicator is their white, stringy poo.

 

[Jchillin]

Did she (or you) think to check the color of feces? I know one of the problems I've had with my fish is internal parasites, and on some of the fish, the only indicator is their white, stringy poo.

That was covered here:

I asked her if there were any signs (possible diseases) and there were none. I just came from her house and the remaining fish have no signs of disease at all (wish I had access to test kit...went directly from work).

I went down the list of symptoms and recieved negative responses from each. I am focusing on the sand. Although it's a stretch...ingesting small particles of sand over a period two weeks may be the culprit.

 

[SteveM]

They told her her ph was low (she didn't get the exact level, said around 6ish) and they gave her ph up...it's been added to the tank already.

"6ish" pH might be the cause itself - if it is really near 6 that's well off the preferred range for GF.

[url]http://www.koivet.com/html/articles/articles_details.php?article_id=60&category=12&name=Water%20Quality[/url]

First, if the pH is too low, a condition within the fish called "Acidosis" results.
Symptoms are anorexia, and then production of excess slime, isolation, and resting on the bottom, finally, streaking of the fins, and death will occur.
(...)
On the other hand, Acidosis is rapidly corrected once the pH is brought up to a suitable range.

(wish I had access to test kit...went directly from work).

I'd start with the water - new tank, not cycled, low pH. I think any problems the sand might cause would be longer term.

 

[Jchillin]

Thanks for that SteveM. The only reason I had doubts about the ph level is that this is the same source water she's been using for years. Never had a ph problem before (I know for a fact it's 7.2 out of the tap). Therefore, if the ph dropped...what caused it?

I found out about the source of the sand...she brought it from the same LFS. So, at least it wasn't recycled sand from the previous owner.

 

[SteveM]

Maybe something in the sand? If it's from the LFS you'd think it'd be OK, but you never know. I think I'd be skeptical of the pH reading until I tested it myself. If I used a decent test kit to measure someone's pH I don't think I'd tell them "6ish" was the result. I know my LFS uses test strips for their customer water tests, and those can be pretty bad at measuring pH in soft water. Of course now that she's put in pH chems I guess it'll be hard to tell what is really going on.