# Help! I "inherited" 5 sick goldfish!!!



## arashiko28 (Aug 11, 2011)

Ok, so here's the thing, I got 5 sick goldfish and a broken tank... go figure...
My friend (previous owner) got tired of cleaning the tank and gave it to me after it slipped and broke at the bottom. I got it resealed with silicone and now I use it for my red ear sliders.

I placed the fishes on a 5 gallon tank, one of them has the gills bright red and the scales have lost their shiny appearance, another has the tail fin reduced to almost nothing. The others look fine but I still keep them apart for 2 reasons.

1. I think my 10 gallon tank would be too small to add to the existing 7 fishes 2 goldfishes. Tetras and danios don't grow as much as a goldfish.

2. These fishes are sick because previous owner used to completely empty and wash the full tank every 15 days and - hold your breath - nuke the tank, the gravels and plastic plants with bleach and detergent.

Right now I have them only with some methilene blue, because of some suspicious spots I saw on the fins, already gone, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a veterinarian told me it would be good.

On the picture you can see the gills and that compared to others, the scales don't shine. The blue is so intense because I just changed the water and while adding a few drops, the cap fell on the water , but the filter will take care of it pretty soon.


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## elitesrock (May 4, 2011)

You seem to be a very good care taker. I would try and get at least a 36 gallon until you can get a big tank or sell the gold fish to a Pet Store on on Craig List.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

The bigger the tank you can put them in the better. They are already too big for either the 5 or the 10 with it's current stock. You can maintain them there but it will mean daily water care. You need to get them something bigger. If you can't afford a tank and set up go for a big tub and just hang a filter in it. Make sure you use either a filter from an existing tank or add some biological help like Cycle. That would do until you could get them into a healthier tank size.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

100% water changes are not out of line for an overcrowded, undersized tank. Bleaching doesn't make any sense. I agree with QTing them from all other fish and also with the big tub advice. The more water, the more likely the are to make it. Keep the water clean and add aeration.


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