Black Moor Goldfish

[Lainey183]

Hello, I have a Black Moor Goldfish named Manny.

When I first got him he was living in a bowl, and I upgraded him (or thought so anyway) to a 1.6 gallon tank. He started to get red spots on his stomach so after doing research I purchased a 10gal tank.

He has been in his 10 gallon tank since Thursday. The red spot on his chest area has gone away, but he still has two red spots, one around each of his little fins.

He also has been spending a lot of time on the bottom, he seems to be able to swim but does seem to struggle a bit with it. I fed him some peas last night, although I am not sure he ate any, and some this morning which I new he ate at least one bite of.

I am also having a tough time keeping his water temp down. It is currently at 73, I am willing to do partial water changes for him daily if it wont stress him out.

I know you are going to ask about water quality and the only test kit I have currently is for a hot tub. So those levels are as follows:

TH 100
FC 0
PH 7.2
TA 180
CYA 0

Manny also has a variety of live plants and a water filter in his tank.

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[bruinsbro1997]

to AA!

Questions:
1. Is this tank cycled in any way?
2. What is your readings of ammonia, nitrites and ntirates? You need to get a real test kit for aquariums to get proper readings.
3. What is your water change schedule?
4. Do you ever clean the filter media in tap water?

From a first glance it sounds like it has open sores/internal parasites.

 

[Sssea]

Is the red in sores or streaks? Red streaks on fins are a sign of ammonia poisoning.

 

[Lainey183]

The water is filtered. I just got the tank set up, so I have not rinsed the filters yet.

Is that what you mean by cycled?

I will get a test kit to read for ammonia.

I changed 2/3 of the water last night to get the water temperature down.

The red spots do not appear to be streaks they appear to be rather round in nature.

 

[Lainey183]

If it were ammonia, what would be the best solution?

Or, If it is parasites, what can I do?

 

[Dwohlge1]

73 degrees is fine for a Black Moor. I keep my tank at 74 in the winter.

You are going to have to watch you ammonia and nitrite for the next 2 months. Please do not add anymore fish

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Hi and welcome to AA!
A 10g will only do him for the short term. One fancy goldfish (like a moore) needs 20g tank. They get larger than you think and are messy fish (have a high waste out put).
You need to get a test kit to test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. API master freshwater test kit is the one to get. Don't get the test strips they can be highly inaccurate. Most LFS (local fish stores) will test your water for free just make sure they use a liquid test.
If you have ammonia in your tank it means you are not cycled. Cycling means growing bacteria in your filter to process the ammonia output of your fish.
I will post a link for you to read through.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html
You will have to do large daily water changes while the tank is cycling. You will need a good dechlorinator (like prime). No other chemicals are needed eg: pH altering chemicals, ammonia reducer/remover, stress coats,etc. all you need is clean dechlorinated water.
Never rinse your filter media in tap water. Use a bucket of tank water and swish it about to remove the gunk. You don't need to replace filter media until it is literally falling apart. What kind of filter are you using? How strong is it? Goldfish, because of their high waste, need high filtration. 10x the volume of the tank is recommended. So a 10g will need a 100g filter, a 20g will need a 200g filter and so on.

 

[jlk]

If it were ammonia, what would be the best solution?

Or, If it is parasites, what can I do?

Water changes with a good water conditioner (such as prime) are the best solution for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate issues. Because your tank is not cycled yet, these will be concerns for atleast another 2mths. You want to be get yourself a test kit that tests for NH3/4 (ammonia/ammonium), NO2(nitrite), & NO3(nitrate). Please read up on 'fish-in cycling' so you can understand what is going on in your tank. Daily water changes & testing to maintain healthy water will be necessary. Please ask questions if you are unsure or dont understand anything. You will have to eventually upgrade his tank to atleast 20gal- moors grow quite large under healthy conditions.

 

[Lainey183]

Manny has a tetra whisper 10i which appears to do 90 gph.

I do not plan to add any more fish.

I have been using the Tetra AquaSafe plus water treater.

How long do you think the 10gal will last him? Hopefully at least 6months to a year, as I cannot afford to get him a new tank right now.

Thank you for all of your help!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Manny has a tetra whisper 10i which appears to do 90 gph.

I do not plan to add any more fish.

I have been using the Tetra AquaSafe plus water treater.

How long do you think the 10gal will last him? Hopefully at least 6months to a year, as I cannot afford to get him a new tank right now.

Thank you for all of your help!

The filter sounds ok for now

That's good!

When the tetra runs out I highly recommend the Prime. Great stuff.

At a guess 3-4 months if you can keep up the water changes.

Your welcome.

Any questions on the cycling info?

 

[Lainey183]

I am going to go out and buy the water test kit. I will let you all know what it says when I get back.

I think I have a better understanding of what you mean by cycling.

I appreciate all of your help and concern.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I am going to go out and buy the water test kit. I will let you all know what it says when I get back.

I think I have a better understanding of what you mean by cycling.

I appreciate all of your help and concern.

Your welcome! Waiting for results!

 

[Lainey183]

Ok,
PH 7.8
Ammonia .25-.50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ok,
PH 7.8
Ammonia .25-.50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0

Ok by the looks of it you are cycling still. You will need to test every day and if ammonia or nitrIte is over .25ppm you will need to do a PWC (partial water change). 50% is what i would do. Cycling can take from 4-8 weeks so you've got a lot of work cut out for you.

 

[Lainey183]

I just changed a little over half the water. Does everything else look ok?

Manny seems to feel a bit better already.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ok,
PH 7.8
Ammonia .25-.50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0

pH is good. My tanks sit at 7.6-7.8. No need to adjust pH. Fish get use to it.
Ammonia is high because you are cycling. Keep it down with water changes.
0 nitrite is good. You will see it rise as the ammonia levels go down as you tank cycles. It's toxic to fish just like ammonia so try keep it down under .25ppm during the cycle.
When your tank is cycled you will have 0 ammonia and nitrite constantly and nitrate will continue to rise. Keep it under 20ppm with weekly or biweekly PWC. The lower you can keep it the better. Moores eyes are sensitive to high nitrates. I have a Moore that a adopted/saved and he has a damaged/cloudy eye from them being too high.

 

[Lainey183]

What if your tap water has ammonia in it?

I just retested and the ammonia level was between the 0 and .25, but I would say closer to .25 than 0.

I am now testing my tap water.

My tap water looks pretty good, with only a slight hint of green.

 

[jlk]

Once your tank is fully cycled, the trace ammonia in your tap will be consumed by your bb (benefical bacteria). If you want to see what zero amm looks like, test some distilled water & compare it to your tank water & your tap water. The degrees of green tint can sometimes be hard to discern-distilled water has nothing in it at all so it will give you an idea of what zero really looks like. Hope this helps!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Once your tank is fully cycled, the trace ammonia in your tap will be consumed by your bb (benefical bacteria). If you want to see what zero amm looks like, test some distilled water & compare it to your tank water & your tap water. The degrees of green tint can sometimes be hard to discern-distilled water has nothing in it at all so it will give you an idea of what zero really looks like. Hope this helps!

Also if you use prime the tiny amount of ammonia is converted to a less toxic form then consumed by your BB. So it's no harm to your fish at all.

 

[Lainey183]

Good morning all. I wanted to update you on how Manny is doing.


Today he seems to be sort of laying on his side, and is having some trouble swimming. I was able to get him to eat a couple of bites of peas.


Could he have that swimmers belly thing too?