# Fish have problems, HELP!



## ihaveaquestion (Jun 15, 2010)

Hello,

I have a freshwater tank (10 gallons) with two fish, both goldfish. They each have separate problems... HELP!

My one fish, named "Brainiac", has developed a coating of milky-white clowdyness over both of his eyes. Now, it is not actually ON the eyes, but it is a separate layer that has formed on top. It is almost as if he has cones put over his eyes and they are clowdy and probably blocking his vision!! It developed a couple days ago and is getting worse.. how do I fix it?

My second fish, named "Retard", isn't swimming too well. His name used to be "Sunny D" but we re-named him because every night after he was fed, he would swim funny, upside-down, and wobbly (hence the new name). He would often float upside down at the top of the water for a couple hours then he would suddenly be back to normal and would swim as any normal fish would. This has been going on for about 1 year. At first I thought it was dropsy, but he kept going back to normal and I just thought it was because he would eat too much or his stomache/digestion system was not properly developed. But, as of the last week or so, he just spends most of the day hanging out at the bottom of the tank resting his tummy on the rocks. He only swims up when he tries really really hard to go to the top when there is food. But I have noticed that sometimes he gets lucky when the food floats to the bottom and he just eats it from where he is resting. I have been trying to observe him and it looks like it is hard for his little fins to actually lift his body in order to swim. It's almost as if his body has become too heavy for his strength to operate. He has not gotten any larger, doesn't look different, and besides him just staying at the bottom the whole time, nothing else is wrong (i.e. he doesn't look like he's dying).

But I feel bad for the poor fellow... any suggestions as to what this is, what I can do??? For both fish??????:


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## PostShawn (Dec 22, 2009)

Ok, first off a 10 gallon tank is too small for 2 goldfish. 
1. How big are the fish? 
2. How long have you had them? 
3. What kind of filter do you have if any?
4. How often do you do water changes? 

Goldfish need about 15-20 gallons for the first one and another 10 gallons after that for each other one. They need this because they are especially messy fish and do grow pretty big. They might not grow as big if kept in a smaller tank but then they are stunted in growth which is not healthy and can cause stress and the fish to be weaker in fighting off diseases. So something you should look into is getting a 30-40 gallon tank and not getting any more fish. I know sometimes it looks so empty a tank that size with two fish but it's the correct way to keep them healthy and happy.

With all that said I also have goldfish in a tank and have not enough tank space. They are fairly small for now and I do plan on upgrading to a bigger tank or some of the fish going into an outdoor pond. I have two filters going with and I do regular 20% water changes. 

As for "retard" you might want to try peas. Get some cooked peas (probably 4 good size ones should do it) and squish the pea guts into the tank. Do not feed them the pea skins. They should go nuts over the peas and it will help their digestive track and possibly the floating issue. Do this once one day and then once again the next day and then see how it goes from there. If it's not helping then it might not be the problem and stop the peas and figure out what the problem is. I give mine peas about every 2-4 weeks just as a treat and to keep them healthy. I have no clue about the other one but they are going to be more acceptable to diseases when not in enough room. 

Good luck.


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

As Postshawn said, your tank is really too small for the fish you have. I suggest at least a 20 gallon long or a 29 gallon for 2 goldfish if they're fancy goldfish. If they're comets, commons or shubunkins, you want to go even bigger. You don't say what kind of filtration you have, but with goldfish you should aim for 10X the number of gallons that you have. For example, if you have a 30 gallon tank, you want to have at least 300 gallons per hour filtration. Goldfish are high waste producers. I keep goldfish and do 50% water changes weekly, and sometimes more frequently if the nitrates are getting too high.

Do you test your water quality, and if so, can you post the parameters?
Ammonia = 
nitrite = 
nitrate = 
pH = 

It sounds like Brainiac may have cloudy eye, if his eyes aren't physically popped out. Cloudy eye is often caused by poor water quality. It could also be a bacterial infection. Do you have any antibiotics to treat him with? Do you have a hospital tank where you can isolate him? Here is a link about cloudy eye in goldfish:
http://thegab.org/Illness-and-Treatment/what-is-wrong-with-my-fish.html#CloudyEyes

As far as Retard, it sounds like he needs a change in his diet and may have swim bladder disease. What kind of food do you feed it? Some goldfish are sensitive to flakes, dehydrated and pelleted foods containing wheat and grains, and these kinds of foods will trigger buoyancy problems (gassy or constipation). Feeding him shelled, mashed peas is a good place to start to see if that helps him. I actually make my own homemade gel food for my goldfish out of salmon, shrimp, sardines, dark green leafy vegetables, green beans, etc. 
Here is a link about buoyancy problems in goldfish:
http://thegab.org/Illness-and-Treatment/buoyancy.html


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## ihaveaquestion (Jun 15, 2010)

Thank you to both of you for that information. I understand that my tank is a little too small for the two of them, but they both have been happy living in there for over two years now. I have however started to go to the fish stores and look at some bigger tanks, so hopefully I can move them up.

Now I have some follow up questions that may make me sound like a horrible fish mother, but instead of critisism I would really appreciate some help!!!!!

Well, first of all I haven't tested the water in a while. I have to let you know that there is a peice of information I left out yesterday which I probably should have mentioned. I totally re-did my fish tank last week (new rocks, decorations, complete water change, and a new filter). The couple days after that, I noticed my tank was totally clowdy white, and at first thought it was the new polyfiber filter I put in, but when I went back to the fish store they told me it was "new tank syndrome" and that I should not have replaced the whole filter, but do it a bit at a time (i.e. cut the old one in half, put half of a new one in, etc). Basically I totally took away all of their good bacteria they have built up for years (this was the first time I ever replaced the filter, I usually just clean and rinse it). I knew that I had messed up and should have known better, I have set up new tanks in the past and used "cycle" in addition to the water conditioner but forgot to use "cycle" this time.

So, I got a new filter anyways (an ammonia eliminator) and bought some bio-support stuff that has a whole bunch of live bacteria in it (says on the bottle it will help the filter bio system and cure new tank syndrome). So I put some of that in but the white clowdiness of the water still hasn't cleared. 

Last night I went out and bought a test kit and talked to the staff about the problems discussed yesterday on this forum. He said that yes peas will help the buyancy problem and he gave me some powder medication to mix in with it (says it helps) and he told me that Braniac's eye problem might be fixed by putting some salt in the water and he also gave me another type medication liquid that helps clowdy eye... so I went home and did all that.

Fisrt, the peas. Neither Brainiac nor Retard (who has the problem) wanted to eat them! I cooked them, squished them out of their shells, mixed a SMALL amount of that medication in... and nothing! I thought they would go crazy for them (as per what I have heard in the past) but only my apple snail was happy to see the peas. This morning when I woke up most of the peas were still there... why isn't Retard cooperating?

Then, I put the salt and other clowdy eye medication in. Still, the water is white.

Then I tested my water. I think I know the problem now but please help me out.

The amonia was about 3.0 (test kit says that is in the harmful zone)
Nitrate was 5 (test kit says this is safe)
Nitrite was 0.5 (test kit says this is caution area)
Total Hardness was 300 (test kit says this is very hard... but I live in a City with hard water)
Total Clorine was 0 (test kit says this is safe) 
Total Aklalinity was 180 (test kit says this is ideal)
PH was 8.0 (test kit says this is in the Alkaline area)

Okay so what do I do? I know the ammonia is the main problem, right? What products do I get to fix the amonia and hard water levels????

Also, what should my PH be at? My Alkalinity is ideal, but what about the PH? It does not have "ideal, harmful, danger" on the test kit for the PH but rather Acidic, Neutral, and Alkaline"... where should it be?

PS As of this morning both fish are still suffering their problems I mentioned yesterday.

HELP!!!!:withstup:


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## ihaveaquestion (Jun 15, 2010)

Also I should mention that Brainiac's eye problem started after the water change but Retard has had his bouyancy problem for like, ever.


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

I'm at work so don't have time to really write a comprehensive answer to this, but you need to get that ammonia down ASAP. Because you have a high pH of 8, ammonia becomes toxic to fish at a much lower amount than if you had a pH of say, 7.
Ammonia toxicity chart: http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html#ammonia3ppm

Ammonia at 3ppm could be fatal so I would suggest you start doing a series of at least 50% water changes today and daily (and possibly twice a day) to get that ammonia down under 0.25.

The nitrites will also likely continue to rise, so you need to get those under control as well. The water changes will help this, however in the meantime you want to make sure your tank is salted using aquarium salt (or other salt, but make sure it does not contain any caking agents!). You should salt the water at 1 teaspoon per gallon, so in a 10 gallon tank you should have a total of 10 teaspoons. This will help to keep the fish from developing nitrite poisoning, or brown blood disease, while the tank has nitrites. Also remember, every time you change water you must add the same amount of salt back into the tank. So if you remove 5 gallons in a water change, make sure you add 5 teaspoons of salt back into the tank after the water change. I have found that the best way to add salt is to predissolve it in a small amount of used aquarium water and then add it to a high flow area of the tank.

Goldfish are generally fine at a pH of 8 so don't start using any additives to lower it. At this time you should really just be focused on trying to get your tank cycled again and improving the water quality as quickly as possible. 

What kind of filter do you have?

If your fish won't eat peas, you can try other fresh vegetables to boost their fiber. Mine are very fond of blanched kale, spinach, romaine lettuce and zucchini. I wash it and boil it for about 2-3 minutes in bottled water (no chlorine) and clip it in the tank. It is possible your fish just has swim bladder disease and may always have trouble with buoyancy. While your ammonia is so high, I would suggest go very light on feeding or just skip feeding them for a day or two while you try to reduce that ammonia.


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

Also, I would put additional aeration in the tank. I don't know if you said so previously, but if you don't have an air stone running in the tank, you should put one in.


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