I have had my red cap oranda goldfish for almost a year now. I keep him in a 10 gallon tank with a 30 gallon filter. He is the only fish in the aquarium currently. I live at college and I wasn't allowed to have an aquarium in the dorms, so I had to leave my fish at home. When I came home for break in January, I noticed that he had severe fin rot, so I bought a bottle of Melafix and treated the aquarium accordingly to its directions. My parents followed up with treatments while I was at school and when I came home for spring break in March, his fin rot seemed to have been cured. His fin had even grown back. However, I just came home for the summer last week and I noticed his fin rot had come back, but it is not as severe as it had been in January. This time, I bought Maracyn Two to treat it. I finished the week long treatment today and I'm planning on doing a water change tomorrow and giving the tank a good cleaning and then, I will treat him again for fin rot. I was wondering though, what is causing the fin rot. Both times I had noticed it, I took a water sample from my aquarium to Petsmart and both times, my water quality was fine. The temperature is 70 degrees, which is in the safe zone. I change my filter cartridge monthly and there is no excessive algae in the tank (only a small patch in the one corner). Any ideas on what could be the cause of the fin rot? Thanks for the help!
Red Cap Oranda Goldfish with Fin Rot
- Thread starter rob93
- Start date
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jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Welcome to AA!! Are your parents taking care of this tank while you are at school? I suspect the issues here are a combination of factors. Lack of big weekly water changes, changing the filter media monthly and a tank that is a bit too small for a messy goldfish are likely all culprits in his condition. I would not medicate him any further once this course of meds is complete- what he honestly needs is frequent water changes with temperature matched, properly conditioned water (50% every other day to daily). A good liquid test kit such as the API fw master test will help to figure out an appropriate wc schedule based on tank conditions.
Next, stop changing the filter media as you are likely throwing the tank back into a cycle every time you are doing this. Simply swish it around in some used tank water once a week when you do a wc. Toxin levels and lack of wcs are the biggest contributers in fin rot situations.
With a small tank and a messy fish, it will be difficult to keep toxin levels in check without frequent wcs and it will only become more difficult as he grows. I would recommend upgrading his tank to a 20 or 30g when its feasible to do so. This will make life a bit easier for everyone and give him room to grow. If your in the US, craiglist has alot of good deals as well as yard sales and the classifieds. Please ask if you have questions!
Next, stop changing the filter media as you are likely throwing the tank back into a cycle every time you are doing this. Simply swish it around in some used tank water once a week when you do a wc. Toxin levels and lack of wcs are the biggest contributers in fin rot situations.
With a small tank and a messy fish, it will be difficult to keep toxin levels in check without frequent wcs and it will only become more difficult as he grows. I would recommend upgrading his tank to a 20 or 30g when its feasible to do so. This will make life a bit easier for everyone and give him room to grow. If your in the US, craiglist has alot of good deals as well as yard sales and the classifieds. Please ask if you have questions!
Thanks! I definitely wanted to buy a bigger tank and I'm going to be moving into an apartment in August so I'll be allowed to bring my fish with me. Would a 30 gallon tank be sufficient? I'll definitely perform more frequent water changes, but how often should I change the filter cartridge?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
30g sounds great for him! For right now, I would stick to a hefty wc schedule until he is healed and then continue with it until you are able to move him. A test kit would be a big help in determining exactly what is going on with your water on a daily basis. Filter cartridges hold the largest portion of your good bacteria so you want to keep these literally until they are falling apart. A weekly swishing in some used tank water will remove excess debris. When they do start to deteriorate, place a new cartridge behind the old one for a couple of weeks to help seed the new one before removing the old one.
