# sick goldfish



## something_fishy (May 15, 2005)

I'm currently a bit worried about one of my goldfish, a shubunkin, who keeps hanging at the surface gasping and i've noticed that he's been pretty lethargic lately and has started to swim vertically. 
The other goldfish in the tank seem to be completely unaffected and are behaving perfectly normally.
(nitrite - 0.1, ammonia - 0.2, pH - 7.7)
any help treating him would be great


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

Is there enough oxigen? Do you have plants? Or does the filter work?


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## ijedic (Jan 18, 2005)

How old is the tank? The gasping, and other symptoms are signs of ammonia poisoning. I would definately be doing partial water changes to get the ammonia down. Do you feed floating or sinking foods? With goldfish, it is best to use sinking as they are notorious for getting "air bubbles" in their tummies. You can try giving him/her a peeled pea, in case their it is digestive troubles, but medicating at this point would be unwise. 

Does he have any other symptoms like stringy clear poo?


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## something_fishy (May 15, 2005)

I don't think that it's anything to do with dodgy water and there is plenty of oxygen in the tank. I'm thinking that it is more likely to be a bacterial gill infection - he has been swimming around using only one pectoral fin. I've also just noticed that there is a red ring around his gills. This would also explain the gasping and the vertical swimming. Have isloated him and treated him as if this is the case.i hope this resolves the problem!


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## ijedic (Jan 18, 2005)

Hopefully your method of treatment will help rather than hinder. Just remember something about antibiotic treatements and aquariums... What they don't kill they make stronger, and often antibiotics can cause secondary infections.


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## Thunderkiss (Mar 19, 2005)

You have both ammonia and nitrite readings. Feed 2-3X/week, and do a 25% water change every few days til those both read zero.


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