Newbie to the forum and I need some advice

[JustinFoo]

Hi all,

First and foremost, I'd like to say I'm so happy to have found a forum for fishkeepers and I hope that I'd be able to get lots of advice and even just friendly chats about fishkeeping in general. This is my tank

I'd like some advice for my little Calico Oranda. I've had this tank for about 3 months now. I've only added new fish (as well as old ones from my old tank) after a fishless cycling. They all seemed to be loving the new tank until I saw my Calico Oranda today.

He is floating (correct side up) on the surface of the water. He will swim to the middle/bottom of the tank when he sees me to join the other fishes flocking at the front of the aquarium and then float back to the top (backside up). I can't see anything untoward physically. Fins are not clamped tight, no swelling. He just can't seem to stay down.

My water composition test shows ph 7.6, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, <5.0 ppm Nitrate which looks normal?

Their diet consists of flake food on Mondays to Fridays. Saturdays are non-feeding days and Sundays are frozen peas day.

I've heard that not feeding him for a few days will help him get rid of this problem. Is this true?

On another note, my girlfriend's goldfish for 6 years, "Lazarus" just had a visit to the fish vet last Friday and made a miraculous recovery from a massive swim bladder infection. The vet stuck a syringe into his swim bladder expecting air, but instead, this white yucky stuff came out. Under the microscope, there was at least 2 kinds of bacteria in the sample. Vet injected him with an antibiotic and we stuck him in a hospital tank. He's now swimming and eating like normal! We're so happy for him

 

[mdawg75]

Welcome Justin, sorry can't give advice about your Cali Oranda and hope things go well. Great news on Lazarus wow .

 

[JustinFoo]

Thanks, mdawg. It was indeed a great moment for Lazarus. He seems really fine now. Oh and my Oranda is also OK now. No more floating problem after a day of fasting. Still not too sure why it happened in the first place though... Anyone got any clues?

 

[rich311k]

Welcome to AA!

 

[JustinFoo]

Thanks, Rich.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Welcome Aboard!

Sounds like the on set of SBD to me too. The best way to cure it and to keep you're goldies healthy in general is peas (shelled) and I'm surprised that if you're doing that once a week as kind of a flush for their system there could be any issues. My Moors get them and I've never had a case of SBD in my tank.

BTW, Nice rimless tank .

Good luck!

 

[JustinFoo]

Welcome Aboard!

Sounds like the on set of SBD to me too. The best way to cure it and to keep you're goldies healthy in general is peas (shelled) and I'm surprised that if you're doing that once a week as kind of a flush for their system there could be any issues. My Moors get them and I've never had a case of SBD in my tank.

BTW, Nice rimless tank .

Good luck!

Thanks, Limpet. Just wondering what other treats can I give my goldfish which could help flush/scrape out their digestive system? Would brine shrimp or blood worms help? Or is it just the plant cells that help do that?

Oh and yeah, the tank is great! I too like the 'rimless' look. Found a really helpful LFS about 4 blocks from my place and got this there. Tank + timber stand cost me 120 AUD. The whole set up was cheaper than one of those 'complete tanks' with smaller capacity.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Thanks, Limpet. Just wondering what other treats can I give my goldfish which could help flush/scrape out their digestive system? Would brine shrimp or blood worms help? Or is it just the plant cells that help do that?

Oh and yeah, the tank is great! I too like the 'rimless' look. Found a really helpful LFS about 4 blocks from my place and got this there. Tank + timber stand cost me 120 AUD. The whole set up was cheaper than one of those 'complete tanks' with smaller capacity.

Peas (shelled) are the best to keep them cleaned out, but I also give the zucchini and always keep some bundles of Anacharis plants in there for them to munch on. I stay way from flakes and mostly give them NLS Thera +A pellets. Your tank looks sparkling clean, but I always reiterate weekly 50% PWC and plenty of filtration because, well goldies are pooping machines lol.

What's your tank size/fish stocking for that?

 

[JustinFoo]

Peas (shelled) are the best to keep them cleaned out, but I also give the zucchini and always keep some bundles of Anacharis plants in there for them to munch on. I stay way from flakes and mostly give them NLS Thera +A pellets. Your tank looks sparkling clean, but I always reiterate weekly 50% PWC and plenty of filtration because, well goldies are pooping machines lol.

What's your tank size/fish stocking for that?

Should I stay away from flakes eventhough I always pre-soak them first before feeding?

Tank is indeed sparkling clean. I am very happy with the Aquis 1000 canister filter that I am running. I still do PWC every week though.

Tank size is 140 litres (Dunno what that equates to in Gallons). I've got one gold fantail who is now 6 years old, 1 Calico Oranda and 1 red cap comet, both are very young. The tank also houses 2 white clouds and 1 black widow from my old tank, all of which are about 4-5 yrs old. Basically 3 goldfish and 3 very little fish.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Should I stay away from flakes eventhough I always pre-soak them first before feeding?

Tank is indeed sparkling clean. I am very happy with the Aquis 1000 canister filter that I am running. I still do PWC every week though.

Tank size is 140 litres (Dunno what that equates to in Gallons). I've got one gold fantail who is now 6 years old, 1 Calico Oranda and 1 red cap comet, both are very young. The tank also houses 2 white clouds and 1 black widow from my old tank, all of which are about 4-5 yrs old. Basically 3 goldfish and 3 very little fish.

Flakes tend to have a lot of filler to hold them together from the ones I've researched and given the issues you're having, it might not hurt to switch to a good pellet and see if there's any changes. I switch off on food and one thing about goldies is, if it'll fit in their mouth, they'll eat it lol.

Like me you're on the low end with 3 in a 36g tank, buy keeping it clean and if they look happy, you're fine IMO. I have 3 Fancies (some danios) in a 37g, but I do 50% PWC each week and filter for almost 100g. Like you, my tank sparkles and they're one big happy family so the rule of 20g for the first and 10g for each additional goldie gets set aside (donning my flak jacket for that one lol).

 

[JustinFoo]

Flak jacket indeed! But yeah, in the long run, I'm just hoping to have the 3 goldies in there without the other smaller fish. Thanks for the advice on food. I'll go and see if I can get some of the NLS Thera A that you suggested. Don't really know if the LFS around here stock them, but I haven't really looked.

But yeah, the Oranda is back to normal today with no buoyancy problems. Just fed them peas and did the routine Sunday feeding, water testing and PWC again today.