hello, im new to fish keeping i have 2 v young kids and thought it would be easy and fun. what a tw*t i am. i have 3 fantails in a 125 liter tank with plants and stuff. one is realy greedy and big, the other 2 are slightly smaller and have white poo. also one is a little bit head down in the water 45 degrees and ocasionaly swims up quickly to the surface and then goes back down again. all are eating something. i didnt know where to post this by the way. im doing my best for these fish but i dont feel like anything i do is good enough. theyve been in there 2-3 weeks and i had there water tested and its fine. im going to drink wine now and drown my sorrows befor i go to bed and get woken up all night.
help my fishy
- Thread starter pinkum
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bluerose
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I would be concerned about your water quality. 2-3 weeks is probably not enough for a full cycle. (You need to get your own liquid test kit, not strips, and test it yourself for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. Here we like the API Master Freshwater Test Kit.)
How often and how much do you feed the fish? If you're feeding anything more than what they will eat in 2-3 minutes ONCE per day, scale back to that amount.
How often do you do water changes? How much do you change? PWCs (Partial Water Changes) are very important and are vital for fish health; actually most diseases can be avoided and in some cases cured simply through good water quality. Sort of like us taking vitamins and getting enough sleep
The one tilting down sounds like he may have some sort of swim bladder problem, but I'm not a goldfish expert.
I think ~30 gallons (125L) should be adequate for 3 goldfish, but I'm not sure. Are there any other fish/snails in the tank? How much filtration are you running?
Welcome to AA!
How often and how much do you feed the fish? If you're feeding anything more than what they will eat in 2-3 minutes ONCE per day, scale back to that amount.
How often do you do water changes? How much do you change? PWCs (Partial Water Changes) are very important and are vital for fish health; actually most diseases can be avoided and in some cases cured simply through good water quality. Sort of like us taking vitamins and getting enough sleep
The one tilting down sounds like he may have some sort of swim bladder problem, but I'm not a goldfish expert.
I think ~30 gallons (125L) should be adequate for 3 goldfish, but I'm not sure. Are there any other fish/snails in the tank? How much filtration are you running?
Welcome to AA!
jsoong
Aquarium Advice Addict
You can manage 3 fantails in a 30 gal without too much work once it gets established.
In the beginning, though, you would need to do a bit of monitoring & water changes until the cycle is established. If you are not familiar with the nitrogen cycle, I would encourage you to read the cycling article in the article section.
In a cold water tank, it will take 6-12 weeks to establish the cycle. To maintain fish health, it is imperative that you maintain good water parameters during the process with water changes. You would need to do daily water testing to track how the tank is progressing, so a single test is not enough (and you also need to know the levels ... not just "fine" or "safe"). To get accurate levels, you would need to use a liquid test kit ... as bluerose suggested.
What are the sizes of the fish? What is your water temperature? How often & how much water are you changing? What are you feeding the fish? Are all 3 fish common metallic fantails? or the 2 smaller ones different breed?
The 45 degree stance is indicative of swimbladder problem, which may be caused by:
1. Poor water quality - this is the first thing to check & correct. In the absence of test results, I would suggest doing 25% water changes (make sure water is dechlorinated & temp matched) daily or every other day.
2. Infection - the white poop may indicate internal bacterial infection. Generally the fish would also be lethargic, and may have clamped fins, or maybe breathing fast, or show other signs (spots, red veins in fins, etc.) Look at the fish carefully & see if anything is wrong either in appearance or behavior. I would not treat for infection at this point unless there are additional signs or symptoms, and NOT before getting water parameters controlled.
3. Gut dysfunction - Constipation may interfere with swimbladder function. This is esp. common if the fish is fed only flakes, or if the temp is very low. It will not hurt anything to feed some peas (blanched, shelled & chopped up) to see if things improved. <In fact, you should feed veggies to your golds often to prevent gut problems.>
4. Congenital swimbladder problem - Some golds are deformed (bent spine) & will always have issues with the swimbladder.
In the beginning, though, you would need to do a bit of monitoring & water changes until the cycle is established. If you are not familiar with the nitrogen cycle, I would encourage you to read the cycling article in the article section.
In a cold water tank, it will take 6-12 weeks to establish the cycle. To maintain fish health, it is imperative that you maintain good water parameters during the process with water changes. You would need to do daily water testing to track how the tank is progressing, so a single test is not enough (and you also need to know the levels ... not just "fine" or "safe"). To get accurate levels, you would need to use a liquid test kit ... as bluerose suggested.
What are the sizes of the fish? What is your water temperature? How often & how much water are you changing? What are you feeding the fish? Are all 3 fish common metallic fantails? or the 2 smaller ones different breed?
The 45 degree stance is indicative of swimbladder problem, which may be caused by:
1. Poor water quality - this is the first thing to check & correct. In the absence of test results, I would suggest doing 25% water changes (make sure water is dechlorinated & temp matched) daily or every other day.
2. Infection - the white poop may indicate internal bacterial infection. Generally the fish would also be lethargic, and may have clamped fins, or maybe breathing fast, or show other signs (spots, red veins in fins, etc.) Look at the fish carefully & see if anything is wrong either in appearance or behavior. I would not treat for infection at this point unless there are additional signs or symptoms, and NOT before getting water parameters controlled.
3. Gut dysfunction - Constipation may interfere with swimbladder function. This is esp. common if the fish is fed only flakes, or if the temp is very low. It will not hurt anything to feed some peas (blanched, shelled & chopped up) to see if things improved. <In fact, you should feed veggies to your golds often to prevent gut problems.>
4. Congenital swimbladder problem - Some golds are deformed (bent spine) & will always have issues with the swimbladder.
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