# Goldfish



## gms0330 (Feb 12, 2005)

I had two goldfish, and one died a week ago. The second one seemed to be doing pretty well after he got better (they had Ich). But now he seems to be weird. I didn't take it to be anything at first, but he's been hanging out in the same spot for 3 days. He swims a little if I come over, but most of the time he just sits there (not literally, he is neither sitting on the bottom or floating on top, he's just kind of treading water). I tried feeding him some peas the other day and he gobbled them up, but the last two times I've done it he hasn't been able to get them down. I also noticed a spot on the side of him, but I don't know if it's just a coloration or a new spot, because I just got him a few weeks ago. I don't know if anything is wrong or if anything is related, but I don't know what to do!!! I know this is all a lot of vague information, but if anyone has any ideas.....

He's in a 10 gallon tank with a heater and filter and air bubbles, and there is aquarium salt in there too. Any ideas???


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

http://www.goldfishinfo.com/diagram.htm here is a diagram of diseases. 
It sounds like it could be Swim bladder disease....http://www.goldfishinfo.com/ailment1.htm#bladder
When the bladder is effected, the fish will experience equilibrium problems. Sometimes, the problem is not the bladder but other problems which directly affect the bladder. Diseased and inflamed internal organs, improper water conditions or nutrition, and wounds received from fighting with another fish can also effect the equilibrium of the fish. Constipation is also known to affect a fish's swimming ability! Symptoms: The fish has problems swimming correctly. They may appear to be standing on their head, or floating to the surface and struggling to go down to the bottom, or possibly even have problems removing themselves from the bottom. At the later stages of the disease, the fish could lose its balance and swim upside down. Treatment: There is no specific treatment for this dilemma;however, you can try isolating the fish to a quarantine tank in which the water is shallow(this provides relief for the fish). Add one teaspoon of salt per gallon of water. Some individuals will feed thawed out frozen peas and this purges the fish's system and has been noted to help many fish. After 1-2 weeks a return to the main tank with deeper water may be tried. The best advice I can give is to maintain proper water conditions, feed your fish a well balanced diet, and possibly try feeding your goldfish sinking foods rather than floating types. They won't inhale so much air this way. The pellets if soaked in water before feeding will expand before the fish eats them and this has helped a lot. 

Also a 10g is too small for a goldfish let alone two... they get to be 12 inches when they are the Fancy breed and 20" when they are common or comets. 

When do you do water changes? What are your water perameters? Did you cycle the tank? All of these could affect his health... and/or he could have been sick at the store and gotten worse over the stress of a new home.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

When was your last water change? Clean water can do wonders for goldfish.


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## chrisinha (Jan 24, 2005)

As far as i know, goldfish are cool water fish. At least common goldfish are. What's the tank temperature? It should not be higher than 74F


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## gms0330 (Feb 12, 2005)

Its not that he's having a problem swimming, he just doesn't swim a lot. Like he happens to be happy and swimming right now, but most of the time he just hangs out behind the plant. I did a water change definitely last week because he had Ich, so I was doing 25% every day. And the water temp is around 70. I don't know, maybe he's just depressed.


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

and again links about goldfish size and minimum tank sizes:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0415&view_records=1
http://www.kevinwakeman.com/fpics/jun702goldy.jpg
http://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/fact_sheets/ornamental goldfish.jpg


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## chrisinha (Jan 24, 2005)

try to post at a goldfish forum. out of the one i know, this one is the most friendly

http://www.goldfishparadise.com/forum/phpBB2/


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