Ill Goldfish.

[Doug]

Hi Folks - I have a goldfish that all of a sudden is lying semi-sideways around the bottom of the tank (a small slim goldfish).  There are no visible problems with this fish (dots, fin rot, etc.)  The tank has three other goldfish that are doing fine (they are the larger fat kind.)  The fish have been doing fine in the tank for several months now and I haven't added any new items.  Also, the fish is young (several months).

[luvfishies]

Doug, what size tank and what filter? How often are you doing waterchanges, and how much at each time? What do you have stuffed into the filter? Do you have test kits for ammonia and nitrITE and nitrATE? If so, could you test the water and post the numbers up for us?

Goldies put out a tonne of ammonia, and your tank/filter just may be unable to process the waste as the fish grow.

Also, what temperature? (fancy/fat goldies like mid 70s, comet/slim goldies low 70s to high 60s) What foods and how often? Goldies are prone to swim bladder issues, and floating/sinking issues due to them eating dry pellets and ingesting air, or the pellets/flake getting compacted in their guts.

I would also try feeding peas (frozen, thawed and skinned, or fresh. lightly nuked and skinned) as this ofter seems to help them out.

Sorry for all the questions, but the answers will help us help you better.

[squeeker]

An excellent goldfish resource is //www.kokosgoldfish.com

[Doug]

Wow! - Hi There:

Size: 20 gallon (small)
Filter:  Aquaclear 150

I dump a juice contain size jug of new water in every week to two weeks.  This essentially tops of the tank.

The filter has the foam that came with it inserted.  Nothing else.  I do not have any test kits, but it looks like I am going to get some.

I am not sure what temperature the tank is - room temperature.  Another item for my list.

I am feeding them Hartz HiProMin Staple Flake food for goldfish.  I give them a small amount of food every morning to 2nd morning.  Do you think this is too much?

Thank you for your help!  I'm hoping I can nurse my goldie back to health.

[FishBreath]

If you don't want to put out the money for a test kit Most pet stores will test your water for free just take a sample down in a zip lock bag then you can write it down and keep a log going as per the juice container is it a 1 litre or a 4 litre

[luvfishies]

Doug, you really need to be doing waterchanges, not just topoffs. Remove 1/4 of the water, and add new dechlorinated water, at least once per week.

Just for your information, it's recommended that comets goldfish have 20g PER FISH, and "fancies" have 10g PER FISH due to their high waste output.

Also, when you "clean" the filter, do you change all the sponge and stuff? You shouldn't. Just rinse the filter guts in water that you've removed when doing your weekly waterchange, and re-use it. There are bacteria in the filter that are good for the fish, and they do need some pampering.

Here's a quick and dirty copy of a post I did about cycling a tank, if you know about cyclingm, I apologise in advance:

Cycling a tank is basically this:
Fish give off ammonia, thru respiration. Decaying food and solid poo also decompose into ammonia. Ammonia is deadly to fish in small amounts. Bacteria #1 are attracted to the ammonia, and start eating it. They give off nitrITE which is also toxic at low levels. Bacteria #2 then come along and eat the nitrite, giving off nitrATE. NitrATE is not nearly as toxic as the ammonia and nitrITE, but it does accumulate, and needs to be removed via those partial waterchanges we do every week.

Now, these little bacterias need a place to live. While they will gladly live on solid surfaces in the tank (rocks, decorations, etc), their preferred home is in moving water with lots of Oxygen. That would be the filter in a fishtank.

These little bacteria are the reason you very very very rarely ever completely dismantle and "clean" the decor in an established tank. They are also the reason we advise to NOT throw out the filter stuff, but to rather rinse the floss or foam in "used" tankwater that you've removed when doing maintenance (partial water change). Hot, Cold, Chlorine and some medications can and will kill off our friendy bacteria. We need to treat them with some care if we want the fishies to be happy and healthy.

So that's the short and sweet version of what goes on. There are a few ways to make this happen in a new tank, from adding ammonia from a bottle (NO FISH!!!) to adding a couple of hardy fish and testing like mad and changing water when needed - ie the ammonia and/or nitrITES get over 0.5-1.0 ppm

There is also a new product out by Marineland, called BioSpira, which adds the necessary bacteria right from the beginning.

IMO all other "bacteria in a bottle" are a waste of money, so you don't need them. Spend the money on tests for ammonia, nitrITES, nitrATES and pH, instead.


RED denotes a very toxic substance. Keep the level below 1.0ppm  in a new, cycling tank.

GREEN denotes a less toxic, but still problematic substance. Keep the level below 20 ppm for most fish.


The real long term solution to this is to get your fish a larger tank, Barring that, you need to find homes for a couple of them. Barring that, you need to start doing at least weekly waterchanges of 1/4 the tank.

[Doug]

Thank you very much - I have a larger tank lined up - I think it's a 40 or 50 gallon.  This should make these 4 fishies very happy.  I noticed a decaying of the goldie's rear fin and added a little of the fin rot medicine to help, after segregating it from the others. Hopefully this and the new larger tank will help.

[luvfishies]

Good for you and the fishies! They'll love that new larger home. Continue with the meds, and good luck and keep us posted!

[Doug]

Hi There - I need some help here - my slim goldie (the ill one) is still alive, but lives sideways at the bottom of the tank.  He never moves, but when I picked him up with my hand in the tank he had lot's of life left in him.  This probably sounds insane, but before I move on to more complicated fishies I want to understand the simple ones.  Thank you!

[BigDaddy]

Goldfish are anything but simple.

Goldfish are probably the most abused fish in the trade... simply because they are everywhere and they are hardy enough to handle all the intentional and/or unintentional mistreatment from owners.

Goldfish are high waste produces, requiring an aquarist to have a very effective biological and mechanical filter, which many beginners have no idea how to establish/maintain.

Goldfish get exceptionally large, requiring an aquarist to have an above-average sized tank to ensure proper growth/lack of stunted growth.  Again something most beginners to not have or don't want to allocate to goldfish (most wouldn't think 50 gallons for 3 goldfish would be "a waste of aquarium space").

Goldfish are voracious eaters... most beginners either don't feed them enough or feed them too much

I could keep going but you get the point...

[tanksalot]

Doug, have you tried peas?

I had a pond gold-fish that looked dead for days, lying on its side on the bottom (you would've sworn there were little X's in his eyes--lol). Every time I netted him to throw him out he'd flap his gills to let me know he was still alive. Finally I threw in some defrosted peas (after some internet research). It was a miracle cure!! He has done swimmingly well ever since :-)

[Doug]

Thanks for the input - will try the peas - they really seem to like them, hopefully that will help.