Fancy goldfish help.

[jlk]

Cleaning anything is a chore! Sorry, there is no 'easy' way to clean diatoms off of plants. I have used a soft bristle toothbrush before as well as wiping. For fake plants, you can remove them & wash them in the sink with hot water but you will be also losing good bacteria so i wouldnt do this very often. No easy way out of this one!

 

[ScottyAllen]

Hey guys. Long time no chat lol. I have a few more questions. What is the ideal ph balance for a goldfish tank ? And how long til the brown sludge goes away ? Ive been doing weekly cleanings but it just keeps coming back. Any ideas ? Thanks so much.

 

[jlk]

A stable ph is the 'ideal' ph for any fish. Unless yours is something drastic ( 6 or 9), I wouldnt be too concerned. Diatoms can take anywhere from a month to a couple of months to burn themselves out. How long has your tank been setup for now?

 

[ScottyAllen]

The tank has been set up for a little over two months.

 

[ScottyAllen]

What exactly is a stable ph ? I bought a digital ph reader so I'm trying to figure out where it should be.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Stable = unchanging. If its at, say, 7.8 and always is at 7.8 then it's fine. If its 7.8 one day then 7.2 the next then 6.8 the day after you have a problem.

 

[jlk]

Do you know what the ph of your tap is after it has gassed off? This should be where your tank sits unless theres something in it affecting the ph. A 'stable' ph is a ph that doesnt fluctuate. A slight fluctuation over the course of 24hrs isnt unusual but there shouldnt be drastic swings from one day to the next or one week to the next. If you dont know your 'actual' ph (tap's after it has gassed off), then set out a container of tap water with an airstone or bubbler for 24hrs (or overnight). If you dont have extra, just give the water a good stir every so often to help release gasses. Check it tomorrow & see what it reads & compare it to your tank's ph & let us know how everything looks.

Its not unusual to still have diatoms after only 2mths. They should start to dwindle in the next 2mths unless theres something out of whack with your water such as excess nitrates, phosphates or silicates. I wouldnt be too concerned right now other the the fact they are unsightly.

 

[ScottyAllen]

HELLO THERE ! its been awhile , but I'm back. And I need som serious help please. My goldfish are sick and not doing well right now. Most of them has small spots on their fins. They almost look like tiny bubbles or white spots. I fear that I might be the dreaded ich but I don't wanna jump to any conclusions. And several of the fish have been huddling in a corner at the bottom of the tank. Can anyone please tell me where to get started and what this may be ? Thanks so much !

 

[chrismiller21]

It's ick. Get the medicine and start treating now.

 

[jlk]

HELLO THERE ! its been awhile , but I'm back. And I need som serious help please. My goldfish are sick and not doing well right now. Most of them has small spots on their fins. They almost look like tiny bubbles or white spots. I fear that I might be the dreaded ich but I don't wanna jump to any conclusions. And several of the fish have been huddling in a corner at the bottom of the tank. Can anyone please tell me where to get started and what this may be ? Thanks so much !

Hi Scotty! Lets start with the basics. How do your water parameters (amm, nitrite, nitrate, ph) look? Have you added any new fish/plants in the past few months? Can you possibly post pics of what you are seeing?

Ich looks like a fish has been dusted with grains of sand- its usually more obvious on the tail/fins but it can be anywhere. You can google pics of ich as well to see if this matches what you are seeing. We need to id what you may be dealing with before suggesting treatment. Fancies do not fair well with ich meds- aq salt is much safer & easier alternative. Let us know & we can explain the proper way to treat with salt.

 

[ScottyAllen]

The black moor has it the worst. But every fish in the tank has a little bit. Mostly on their fins. They are all a bit sluggish right now. I missed a few scheduled water changes in a row. Things have been crazy right now and the water conditions probably got pretty bad at one point. I have been doing small water changes for two days now just trying to get some balance back. Im going to bring a water sample to my aquarium store tomorrow and see where everything is at. I feel horrible that I missed the water changes and I feel like these guys are all dying because of me , because they are ! And I need to save them ! Help me !! Lol. Thanks for all your support guys

 

[jlk]

Ok, first we need to get your water healthy before you can start treating. So, we need to know your numbers asap. Take out a sample of tank water now & set it aside to be tested. Then, I would do 50% water change right now with tempmatched, properly conditioned water. Then, change another 50% in a couple of hours/this evening. Remove another sample of water tomorrow morning & take both samples to be tested. Do another 50% water change tomorrow morning, too. Let us know what both samples read (exact numbers, not 'ok' or 'safe' or whatever).

Today/tomorrow, pick up either a large box of aq salt or kosher/canning salt (from grocery store) and you can will be able to start treating once we are sure your tank has healthy numbers. We can through how to do salt treatment once we have your numbers. Keep us posted!

 

[ScottyAllen]

If this is in fact ich, which I'm pretty sure it is , what are my chances of saving these guys ? And would the ich be causing the to all huddle up in the corner too ?

 

[jlk]

Honestly? They may have ich, but what I see in your pics is too large to be just ich and I suspect its the result of unhealthy water possibly combined with ich. If you have not introduced any new fish in months, you dont have ich. Ich doesnt magically appear- it has to be introduced via infected fish/plants. You fish do not feel good right now and are very stressed so they are huddled in the corner. Unhealthy water is not helping matters. Lets get your water healthy & we will be able to help you get fish healthy, too. Start doing water changes right now, get your water levels checked and get some salt. We can go from there!

 

[ScottyAllen]

Hey there. I'm getting the water tested now and picking up aquarium salt. Is that all I should need ? No ick treatment stuff ?

 

[ScottyAllen]

Ok. Here's the results of the water test.
Ammonia - .5
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 80
Ph - 7.2
Alkalinity - 80
Hardness - 200
Thanks again for all your help. I'll wait to do anything else to the tank til I hear from you again.

 

[jlk]

Thanks! Ok, we need to get your water in order before doing anything else. Change atleast 50+% (more is better) with temperature matched, properly conditioned water. Wait atleast hour or two then do another big water change (50+%). This should drop your nitrates down to 10-20ppm and bring your ammonia close to zero.

Do you have a small kitchen scale? If not, do you have a kitchen measuring teaspoon or tablespoon?

 

[ScottyAllen]

Yes we actually do have a kitchen scale , and measuring spoons. I'm gonna start the first water change right now. Any suggestions on what to do with the plastic plants , rocks , etc . Etc. I'm gonna take the filter out and clean that out real good. What is your name by the way my friend ?

 

[jlk]

Dont go crazy cleaning- we want you to keep a decent amount of your good bacteria! A gentle swishing of your filter media is about all you need to do other than a good grav vac (if you have gravel).

Ok, a kitchen scale is good news! It will make measuring easier. You want to measure out 11.grams per gallon of salt. This will give you .3% salinity. Put this in a container you can close & fill it with conditioned water. Shake until all the salt is dissolved. Once you get through your big water changes to get your numbers under control, slowly add this solution over 48hrs. 1/2 of it should be in the tank by the 24hr mark, other half in next 24hrs. Then, I want you to do 50% water changes along with grav vacs every other day until everyone is healthy (this may take 2wks...). When you do water changes, add back the salt you remove (predissolved) with the new water. Ie, a 50% wc, add back 1/2 of the original dose predissolved in conditioned water with the new water. If you notice anyone starting to act strange, increase the water changes to daily.

It will be some work on your behalf but you should start to see improvement within a couple of days! Maintain the salinity for one week after the last spot is gone then just dont add back salt with future water changes. The salinity will be gradually reduced until its back to normal. Keep us posted!! I am Jessica, btw.

 

[ScottyAllen]

Well. First eater change is done. I did prolly 60% vacuumed the gravel real good. Changed the filter media. Etc. Etc. I made the salt water solution , so that will be ready after the second water change. Two fish already died last night. And another one is almost Definately not gonna make it, and the rest of them seem to be almost getting worse by the minute. One or two of them have pretty serious tail fin damage. Could that be the ick that's destroying their fins ? I feel horrible that this happened , and I feel like I'm fighting a battle I can't win here