One week and five days ago I rescued a goldfish from an Iranian new year ceremony - they were going to flush it down the toilet and were keeping it in a cereal bowl. I had never kept a fish before and this was an emergency so placed it in a brand new tank (15 ltrs) and then six days later put it in a 60 litre tank with filter, pond weed and two pet shop bought decorations and gravel. I did not know about cycling or ammonia at the point that I got him from this woman's house, I just couldn't bear to see a fish in such a tiny bowl. The fish then developed white spot so I am treating with interpet anti white spot (dose no. 2 is tomorrow morning) but I have just noticed that there is a split in his tail. It doesn't look inflamed or opaque ( I googled tail problems and fin rot!) but I am very worried as I have never kept fish at all before, I don't know where he came from or what normal fish behaviour is but I have become very very attached to him. If anyone can help me or give me advice I would be oh so grateful - I know I should have done more research before getting a fish but obvioulsy there was no time and I acted in the best way I knew how. Please please help.....
I am totally lost with my fish!
- Thread starter luckyjim
- Start date
Do you have any friends or neighbors with a fish tank? If so ask them if you can borrow floss/decorations or even have their old water to put in your tank.
I figure it could help relieve stress on your fish while healing.
Thankyou for rescuing him from the toilet and cereal bowl*thumbsup2*thumbsup2
fin rot could be a sign that this fish recently had an infection so you are doing the right thing by treating.... he should heal up nicely as long as you keep the ammonia and nitrites to the absolute minimum.
Which if you can get stuff from a friend's tank....that will help.
I figure it could help relieve stress on your fish while healing.
Thankyou for rescuing him from the toilet and cereal bowl*thumbsup2*thumbsup2
fin rot could be a sign that this fish recently had an infection so you are doing the right thing by treating.... he should heal up nicely as long as you keep the ammonia and nitrites to the absolute minimum.
Which if you can get stuff from a friend's tank....that will help.
The decorations from an established tank will help much, much more than old water. Go with the decorations if at all possible, luckyjim.
Otherwise, purchase a kit and closely monitor the ammonia levels. Frequent water changes will help.
Finally, your 60-liter tank should belong just to your goldfish. There's not really much room for anybody else in there, even though it may look like it. Good on you for saving the fish! *thumbsup2
Otherwise, purchase a kit and closely monitor the ammonia levels. Frequent water changes will help.
Finally, your 60-liter tank should belong just to your goldfish. There's not really much room for anybody else in there, even though it may look like it. Good on you for saving the fish! *thumbsup2
sorry if it looks like i disagreed w/you. You are difinately correct...... the floss is the best but sometimes people may be unwilling to part with anything other than their old water 
I just didn't want luckyjim to settle for old water when a friend might have loaned him a decoration or floss for a while.
And, he doesn't need to keep it; he can give it back after a few weeks!
Aw, good job for saving him, LuckyJim! Little acts of kindness like that reassure me that not all humans are jerks.
If he has white spot, I would nix the medications immediately. Instead, I would opt for the salt treatment, which has worked amazingly for me. You would have to convert liters to gallons for this, because I don't know how, but I would put about a table spoon of aquarium salt in per five gallons of water. You can buy this at any pet store that sells fish stuff, and like I said, it has worked wonders for me. It is also easier on the fish than harsh chemicals, especially if the tank is not cycled and he is still stressed out. Keep in mind, though, to only use aquarium or pure sea salt because iodized table salt has some chemicals in it that aren't good for your fish. The salt won't filter out or evaporate, so you don't need to add any more once you've put it all in, unless you do a water change. It should take about ten days for all of the white spot to go away, and then you can cycle the salt out by doing water changes whenever you usually do them. Also, if you choose this method, make sure not to shock the fish by putting all the salt in at once. I would add one tablespoon every day, or every other day, until you put as much in as you need to.
The problem with his tail could just be that he got it caught on something, but definitely could be caused by poor water quality like everyone else has already mentioned. In my opinion (not saying this from a professional stand point, but this is what I've done in the past when I've had to abruptly start a new tank because of a rescue), since you can't force a tank to cycle as quickly as you want, do lots of small water changes to be sure the nitrates, ammonia, and nitrites do not get too high. I think maybe twice a week, take five or ten percent of the water out and swap it for some new water, or 15-20% if you do it once a week. Like I said, I couldn't guarantee that this will help or prevent toxins from getting too high, but it seems to have worked for me in the past. Good luck, and good job on showing a bit of compassion!
If he has white spot, I would nix the medications immediately. Instead, I would opt for the salt treatment, which has worked amazingly for me. You would have to convert liters to gallons for this, because I don't know how, but I would put about a table spoon of aquarium salt in per five gallons of water. You can buy this at any pet store that sells fish stuff, and like I said, it has worked wonders for me. It is also easier on the fish than harsh chemicals, especially if the tank is not cycled and he is still stressed out. Keep in mind, though, to only use aquarium or pure sea salt because iodized table salt has some chemicals in it that aren't good for your fish. The salt won't filter out or evaporate, so you don't need to add any more once you've put it all in, unless you do a water change. It should take about ten days for all of the white spot to go away, and then you can cycle the salt out by doing water changes whenever you usually do them. Also, if you choose this method, make sure not to shock the fish by putting all the salt in at once. I would add one tablespoon every day, or every other day, until you put as much in as you need to.
The problem with his tail could just be that he got it caught on something, but definitely could be caused by poor water quality like everyone else has already mentioned. In my opinion (not saying this from a professional stand point, but this is what I've done in the past when I've had to abruptly start a new tank because of a rescue), since you can't force a tank to cycle as quickly as you want, do lots of small water changes to be sure the nitrates, ammonia, and nitrites do not get too high. I think maybe twice a week, take five or ten percent of the water out and swap it for some new water, or 15-20% if you do it once a week. Like I said, I couldn't guarantee that this will help or prevent toxins from getting too high, but it seems to have worked for me in the past. Good luck, and good job on showing a bit of compassion!