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grrr4200

fish problems

grrr4200
19 years ago

hi im usually trolling around the houseplants forum... but ineed your advice.

i have a 55 gallon glass aquarium.

in it i have varied sized goldfish.

one of my largest goldfish has been fighting an infection for quite some time. i treate it... it'll go away, and come back again.

i bought these tank buddies things at walmart.. Parasite Clear and Fungus Clear and Ick clear... since thats what has infested my tank... well anyways. he parasite clear is for "ragged fin" since thats what my big gold fish has. It also has a fungus growing on the ragged fin infection (a white cottony looking stuff) and a few have ick.

(this all came from one small goldfish that seemed very healthy)

i put all three in my tank together...

filters out... its been running that way for 5 days now... and tonight i just got sick of looking at the poor guy in pain so i put all three in.

will this hurt my fish?

is there anything you guys could tell me to get that would help my fish improve faster? or get healthier.

any advice is very appreciated! thanks!

-Kris

Comments (10)

  • imaginators
    19 years ago

    I would keep all the sick fish isolated. Hopefully some one on this forum will be able to help you. If not, check/phone your local fish store (not pet store) for advice. Also test check your water condition in tank and see what the PH and nitrates reading is. Water changes daily. You mention your gold fish gets better then the infection returns. That sounds like it never really cleared up. I am wondering again if this was not only caused by a new fish in tank but poor water conditions. Your tank can look crystal clear but have poor readings. Hang in there and keep us posted how things go.
    Theresa

  • raul_in_mexico
    19 years ago

    And the temperature of the water is ........ ? Goldfish prefer water temps of around 66-68 F or they get sick, higher temperatures stress goldfish, recurrent ick and fin rot are the most common diseases when goldfish are submitted to high temps, the first thing you can notice is the onset of blood vessels in the fins, later, along the edge of the fin a white line appears and the fin begins to rip and tear, then fin rot appears. The same thing happens when the fish is submitted to low temperatures over a period of time. And the ammonia readings are ....... ? goldfish are succeptible to ammonia poisoning, fin rot usually appears when ammonia levels are high, keeping the sick fish isolated doesn´t do any good because you´re having environmental issues, the fish may get well in isolation the momment you take it back the symptoms appear again, you´re treating the disease but you´re not treating the environment, treat the environment disease dissapears.

  • skygee
    19 years ago

    The problem with using too many meds is you kill off all the good bacteria growing in your tank... then the water parameters go all whacky and you wind up making things worst than they started out to be.

    Clean water usually will resolve a lot of problems - which means constant water changing for a bit. And now that you've used all those various meds, you will need to do water changes anyway until all the good bacteria regrows in the filter and medium in your tank.

    How many goldfish are you talking about? Goldfish really don't do well in overcrowded tanks. Too much waste build up. Also is your filter simply rated for a 55-60 gallon tank or for at least double the size of your tank?

  • grrr4200
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    i apologize... i should have been more specific. My tank stays at 66 degrees. No higher, No colder. My amonia and Nitrate levels are perfect, my tank environment is imaculate. One simply has multiple diseases.

    The ick is gone, the fungus has disappeared and now i only have one sick fish with its fins red at the ends of one side. The treatment is looking like its working, no shock, no nothin bad.

    Thank you for your advice.

  • grrr4200
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    skygee- im running three filters on my tank

    2 20-40's, and a 40-60

    ive had my carbon filters out of the tank since last week while i am treating the infections.

    i have Two large Fantails, a medium Brain Oranda, and 3 small fantails.

    and i am moving soon, and once i move, im getting another 55 that will be set up the same way, and ill be splitting the fish that are in this 55 now so they can get bigger.

  • skygee
    19 years ago

    Fancy goldfish (as opposed to other carp and koi) prefer warmer temps. I have my heater set at 72 (for three orandas). For ich - raising the temp a little DOES help so that the ich cycles through its life cycle more quickly.

    ich can always be floating around in a tank - it just strikes when the host is sick. That's why not all fish will get ich in a tank. A lot of fungal infections can be treated with salt, without the use of formaldehyde base treatments. Formaldehyde base medications lower oxygen levels in the water. Sometimes this cure can be worst than the problem itself.

    Sometimes water parameters can just crash (say for whatever reason your water company has a surge of various elements or bacteria or chlorine - water that may be "safe" for humans, but not necessarily fish) and a fish may have underlying illnesses just kept in check until this point. Then everything seems to be going wrong.

    Expect your nitrates to be going haywire with all those meds you've used - just keep on with small water changes to keep ammonia in check and to allow the filters to reseed themselves with good bacteria. Try not to use too many mixtures of meds.

  • Puddlemaker
    19 years ago

    There is a good goldfish food Medigold that has anibiotics in it. I get it from a place on-line. I had several bad ick problems and they helped alot with other medicine for that. They are pretty responsive if you ask questions too.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Food

  • Puddlemaker
    19 years ago

    If you want to clear up the tank add a table spoon of salt per gallon (yeah it sounded like a lot to me too) and turn up the heat to 86. The fish will not mind if it's not for more than a couple of days 3-4 max. Keep the salt at 1 table spoon for each gallon for 14 days. If you change water add the salt for what ever you add. After the 14 days do a 50 % water change and the ick and fungus will be gone. I'd also feed them some medicated food and test the water every day. If you look on the jungle site they have different versions of the meds for gold fish and they are really hard on them. I think they might work but have not had much luck with them myself. Usually the fish has been too sick to stand the medi's. For fancy goldfish you need the tank to filter the water 10 x an hour to get a good bio filter. The current can't be too strong either or it stresses them. (they don't swim as well as regular goldfish only they don't know it). If their poop becomes white or clear and stringy they have an internal infection and you need medicated food.

  • skygee
    19 years ago

    First do a good water change if you're going to add salt. With all those other meds, you may not be able to mix salt with them (read the packages or call their 1-800 number.. which most places have for info)

    With sick goldfish, I've done as much as 2 tablespoons per gallon. Need to keep them in this bath for about a weeks time before doing a gradual weaning of the salt bath. When they're sick, be careful about water changes and temps. Don't want more stress put on them with high ranges of temperature changes. Try to match water water temp you have when you're doing water changes. Very important when dealing with sick fish or recovering fish!!

  • oceanbubbles
    19 years ago

    yES.. dEFINETLY DONT ASK THE ADVICE OF A PET STORE. tHOSE PEOPLE DONT REALLY KNOW ANYTHING. iD CALL A REAL FISH PLACE.. LIKE THE SPECIALTY STORES THAT SELL FISH AND ONLY FISH. dEFINETLY KEEP THE POOR GUY AWAY FROM THE OTHERS SO THEY WONT CATCH THE INFECTION EITHER! I HOPE YOUR FRIEND RECOVERS NICELY!

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