My fish is new and a comet fish. He has dark red colored spots in a circular pattern on the middle of one side of his body. They are individual spots kind of gathered all together. He is also missing a scale in the center of the area or it seems that he is. He is starting to show the same thing in a separate path on the other side but smaller and under the belly. He is starting to sit on the bottom of the tank until I come over and then he tries to be Normal and swim around. he is sometimes swimming backwards but just for a second not a long time. I don't know what is going on. Please help me. Petsmart keeps telling me he is bullied but I don't believe it the sores seem to be under the scales so I think it might be a parasite but I don't know what kind...
Please help me. My fish is sick and no one is giving me answers.
- Thread starter DustyAnn
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eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
I'm afraid I'm also not going to be much help here...but I encourage you to provide how long the tank has been set up, the size of the tank, other fish kept with him and your water parameters (ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, pH). We'll need this info to try and get an idea of what's going on. Sorry about your fish :-(
Updates on tank question
It was set up last Tuesday completely re-cleaned with no soaps or anything. 24 hour cycle period eight small fish in it 55 gallon tank has air circulation new filter with good bacteria growth system installed in it. Good amount of swim space and medium amount of hiding aces. No sharp objects anywhere. All tests come out perfectly normal! I did a 25 percent water change today.
It was set up last Tuesday completely re-cleaned with no soaps or anything. 24 hour cycle period eight small fish in it 55 gallon tank has air circulation new filter with good bacteria growth system installed in it. Good amount of swim space and medium amount of hiding aces. No sharp objects anywhere. All tests come out perfectly normal! I did a 25 percent water change today.
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eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
DustyAnn said:
Unfortunately you are Petsmarts latest victim of their idea of "cycling". True cycling of a tank is establishing colonies of beneficial bacteria to convert the toxic fish waste (ammonia) into a less dangerous form. This can take weeks or months to accomplish and is a very dangerous time for your fish. Right now your fish is most likely suffering from ammonia poisoning which is burning his gills. You'll need to do an immediate water change (pwc) to reduce the ammo and nitrIte levels below .25 and keep them there at all times until the tank cycles.
This guide is going to be yours and your fishes best friend for the coming weeks-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html
If you have the option to return or re-home your fish, the link in my signature is a guide to fishless cycling which is the best option when possible.
Good luck...we'll do all we can to help.
I'll test it again right now and let you know what it says
No3 is between 0-20
No2 is 1
Ph is.7
Kh is 40
Gh is 30
Another fish has ice and I just added a treatment. Idk if that affects anything. He's the muscly/bony fish.
None of the other fish have this problem only him and he's bigger then the others.
I realized the cycling thing after it was too late lol I just figured that out yesterday. Do u still think it is that or could it be something else since none of the others have the problem?
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eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
DustyAnn said:
Do you know your ammonia level? What type of test kit are you using? Did you mean one of your fish had ich (pronounced ick)? Did you use any medicines, or how did you treat it? Can you name the types and number of fish in the tank?
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
To be honest...we have a LOT of problems going on here :-(. I'm really not sure where to start. First, that many goldfish in an uncycled tank is a extremely bad situation. It is absolutely criminal IMO for them to have sold you all those fish for a uncycled 55 gallon tank. First, it is absolutely ammonia poisoning going on...you need to do back to back 50% water changes immediately to get the ammonia level down.
In fact, I'll type the rest out while you go do that now.....
In fact, I'll type the rest out while you go do that now.....
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
The next things you need to get urgently is a quality liquid test kit like an API Master kit, and a quality dechlorinator (we all recommend Seachem Prime). Prime will temporarily neutralize ammonia and nitrIte for 24-36 hours to buy you time between the daily water changes you're going to be doing.
Goldfish are not something I have much knowledge about, but the rule I've always heard is the first goldfish needs 20 gallons, and every other goldfish needs an additional 10 gallons. So for 8 goldfish, you'd need a 90 gallon tank. You're going to have to rehome some (hopefully all) of them. Goldfish are much dirtier than other fish and put out a LOT more waste than other aquarium fish.
The ich is a whole other issue. It's a parasite that can quickly take over a tank and medicine doesn't usually cure the cause. Here's a link about dealing with ich-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/29/1/Freshwater-Ich-Yuck-/Page1.html
Some ich meds can also destroy your bio-filter, but since your tank is uncycled, that really isn't the issue here.
There's other things I can mention, but the bottom line is that the fish need to be returned or rehomed. I'd go back to Petsmart and yell at a manager and tell them the sales rep sold you all those fish without explaining their needs, and into an uncycled tank. Also the fact the fish got ich is a very poor reflection of the store...unfortunately very common for chain stores though.
I'm sorry I don't have an exact remedy for you, but TBH this is a bad situation where you have to remove the fish from the equation.
We'll all help the best we can, but for now, follow the cycling guide I linked before, try to rehome the fish, buy a test kit and big bottle of Prime, and hopefully start all over with the knowledge you've gained :-(
Goldfish are not something I have much knowledge about, but the rule I've always heard is the first goldfish needs 20 gallons, and every other goldfish needs an additional 10 gallons. So for 8 goldfish, you'd need a 90 gallon tank. You're going to have to rehome some (hopefully all) of them. Goldfish are much dirtier than other fish and put out a LOT more waste than other aquarium fish.
The ich is a whole other issue. It's a parasite that can quickly take over a tank and medicine doesn't usually cure the cause. Here's a link about dealing with ich-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/29/1/Freshwater-Ich-Yuck-/Page1.html
Some ich meds can also destroy your bio-filter, but since your tank is uncycled, that really isn't the issue here.
There's other things I can mention, but the bottom line is that the fish need to be returned or rehomed. I'd go back to Petsmart and yell at a manager and tell them the sales rep sold you all those fish without explaining their needs, and into an uncycled tank. Also the fact the fish got ich is a very poor reflection of the store...unfortunately very common for chain stores though.
I'm sorry I don't have an exact remedy for you, but TBH this is a bad situation where you have to remove the fish from the equation.
We'll all help the best we can, but for now, follow the cycling guide I linked before, try to rehome the fish, buy a test kit and big bottle of Prime, and hopefully start all over with the knowledge you've gained :-(
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jcolon
Aquarium Advice Addict
Completely agree with eco23 ... they shouldn't have sold you that many goldfish in an uncycled tank. Goldfish have large bio-loads so they produce tons of ammonia. Even without knowing the ammo numbers .. back to back 50% PWC's is a must. If the fish can be returned and and a fish-less cycle done, then do it.
Then get the API test master kit. It is a vital investment as it will give you more accurate readings ... test strips are junk IMO.
And whatever nonsense Petsmart tells you, just ignore it.
Thanks so much guys I looked up the ammonia poisoning ant that is exactly what is wrong. Thank goodness I think I figured it out in time to help him. I talked to someone here who told me that since they are small but in a few years they will all be transported to an outdoor pond so they can be bigger. I am separating the fantails since they are all healthy into a smaller tank for now. The sick ones are going to be moved to two ten gallon emergency tanks I had cycled for a week...hopefully they will be okay now. Thanks a lot guys.id really hate to give them back to the awful store so I'm gnu try my best to save them.
jcolon
Aquarium Advice Addict
Good luck! Hope the goldfish make it through this tough period. Keep us posted.
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