ArtesiaWells
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2012
- Messages
- 1,392
Well, the beloved Black Moor (which turned completely golden orange with just black tips on her forked tail) we have had for about two and a half years -- and who survived one bacterial infection outbreak in our last tank, a move into a tiny little "holding" tank in the form of a Marina "Goldfish Starter Kit" actually made of plastic not glass, then a move back into the cleaned-out and sterilized 60 gallon but which then cracked and forced us to move her into a 10 gallon emergency setup until finally landing in this new Marineland 60 gallon we bought -- seems to be on her last fin. What began as strange lumps coming from what appeared to be underneath her scales that became white "cotton" like formations on her backside -- but which disappeared as quickly as they originally appeared -- has now developed to the point that she has stopped eating and remains disoriented with her dorsal fin clamped. We thought she was dead this morning, as my wife reported her stuck to the Aqueon filter intake, and when I found her indeed she was stuck to the strainer by her back fin, but she managed to start swimming away from the filter until she eventually began swimming like "her" a little...very weird...
I have been religious in my water changes -- even doing more than the weekly 50% when I overfeed a bit or when I just have extra time -- and use Prime to treat the water column each time I do a change, and while tomorrow (Sunday) is my usual day for their 50% change, I decided to do the 50% today just to keep the water super-clean for the Moor; while I did the change, she wandered over to the Aqueon water changer syphon tube and got sucked into it (something she did in the past) but when I got her loose and dumped back into the tank, she swam around the 60 gallon like nothing happened, unlike the past few days where she hasn't left the upper left surface...
It seemed like she was responding, somehow, "positively" to the water change as I poured the cool, fresh water back in, but she has since gone back to the upper left corner, fin clamped, just kind of listing; I know it's only a matter of time until we lose her, but I felt like I raised her, as she came into the last tank as a young, velvety black Moor who grew tremendously and changed scale colors...now I'm going to lose her to some unknown infection or parasite that does not seem to be affecting any of the remaining three goldfish, making me scratch my head and wonder where I went wrong...my parameters have been fine, and we're cycled, and the filtration seems to be adequate (turning over 800 gallons per hour via two HOBs) and water quality has been pristine in terms of transparancy and smell, so I am at a total loss...
Was it the food I was feeding? Something infectious in the filters? The old exhausted carbon in the Aqueon HOB? I just don't know, and I don't want to begin with medications, heat or salt (I do have API aquarium salt on hand as well as leftover Maracyn antibiotic treatment), instead taking the regular and often water change method to try and heal her...but alas, it doesn't seem to be working.
Just wanted to share this disastrous and unsettling story with all of you, because most of you veterans here KNOW what I went through with the last 60 gallon setup; if there is anything any of you can think of that I can try OTHER than medication like Maracyn or raising the tank temperature via a heater -- in other words, something rather "passive" such as the water changes I'm doing religiously to keep the water and the Moor's wounded scales clean -- please fire away with suggestions...in the meantime, I will keep everyone posted on the Moor's status...
