Goldfish question

[cougargirl50]

*SICK*
Hi I have a 10 gallon aquarium, that I have 8 goldfish in it right now. That tank has been up for about a month now, and the fish looked great, well the other day I seen that they all had ick, so I treated the tank and now the fish all look good but my one. The ick on its body and tail are all gone, and the fish has really good color in it, but it just swims around the top around my bubbles, and it doesn't swim around the tank like it used to. I also took notice this morning when I fed them that it really didn't go after the food, so I really don't know if it ate or not.
As far as the other 7 fish in there as well the color looks awesome on them. And they are swimming around like they are supposed to be.

can someone help me as to why my one goldfish is acting this way. It puts me in mind of a loner fish that don't like to be around the other ones. But it wasn't like that before they developed the ick.

Got any suggestions.
Thanks in advance

 

[ashleigh]

Well, I'm not positive what is wrong with him - but I woudl guess he is reacting to stress in his environment. I'm really sorry to tell you this but there is not a single species of goldfish that can't reach a foot in length. On top of that, these are a fairly messy type of fish that need a lot of room, a lot of filtration and a lot of water changes in even a fairly large tank. A ten gallon tank really isn't suitable for one of these fish for more than a few months. Assuming you aren't planning a pond any time soon I would return them to the store.

 

[cougargirl50]

Thanks for your information. But I asked if anyone could help me about my one goldfish that is sick. I didn't say anything about how big my fish get or is my fish tank to small for my fish.
I have plans for these fish. Not that anybody needs to know them. And I have had this many fish in my 10 gallon before and they were fine.
I know how big and how messy gold fish are. And I take very good care of the fish that I already have.

Thank you

 

[goldfish125girl]

The reson the size of goldfish was mentioned is because poor water quality can really stress goldfish. Since you did have ick and it is a paracite that shows up in stressed fish in poor conditions you should consider their care. Have you tested the water for ammoina, nitrite, nitrAte and Ph. Many ich meds can cause a tank to cycle again due to the meds killing the good bacteria in the tank. So if the ammoina and nitrite are not exactly 0 you are poisoning the fish. Just because one is reacting does not mean anything, some fish react differently. I would check the water readings as they will more than likely be way off currently after the use of an ick med. As for the tank size I would really get them moved into a more appropriate tank. I have been keeping and breeding goldfish for 16 years, and would like to mention the long term stunting over crowding can have on goldfish especially since they live well over 20 years and a bad start when they are young and growing the most can have major effects on organ development.

 

[cougargirl50]

Thank you goldfish girl. We are looking into getting a bigger tank for them. The only reason there is as many in there as there is right now because we bought feeder fish, and usually I end up losing a bunch of them so I figured that if I got a couple then if a couple of them die, we would still have 2 or 3. Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way. But for some type of reason this set of fish is doing very well so we are looking into a bigger aquarium for these fish.
I haven't checked the levels on the Nirtrites or Nitrates or Ammionia. But I will check them. I just did a water change and 2 filter changes because I have a undergravel filter running and 2 ober the back filters running. The tank looks great its just my one fish.

but like I said thanks alot for your help Goldfish girl.

 

[goldfish125girl]

Some advice on 'feeders' aka common and sometimes commet goldfish. The record lifespan is 42 years. They mature to 14 inches in less than 4 years. Coming as feeders they usually have flukes (which can very safely be treated with prazipro.) They tend to be very hardy fish. Normal stocking size is 1 fish per 20 gallons of water. They need room to swim so look into a long tank versus a tall tank. I have taken in a few that lived in to small of tanks and they had no swimming abiltiy for months due to poor use of their body and little exercise. If you have room a horse tank can make a great summer pond for them, and they will look amazing by the end of summer. I used to have two 14" sets of breeders and raised about 30 to 150 fry from them for years. The babies always looked great after a summer outside, and the alge and bug larva are great food sources. If you do put them out side make sure it is covered with a good net as racoons and cats will take advantage of the set up. Good luck with the litlle guys.

 

[f8fan]

Thanks for your information. But I asked if anyone could help me about my one goldfish that is sick. I didn't say anything about how big my fish get or is my fish tank to small for my fish.
I have plans for these fish. Not that anybody needs to know them. And I have had this many fish in my 10 gallon before and they were fine.
I know how big and how messy gold fish are. And I take very good care of the fish that I already have.

Thank you

I think Ashleigh was just trying to help you understand the results of the imminent over-stocking issue you will be facing soon and trying to help you understand that it's becasue of the currently possible water quality issue that could be the culprit of your ill goldfish.
Best of luck! Keep us posted ok?

 

[ashleigh]

It is- overstocking leads to stress, stress leads to illness. I understand what you are saying about buying a lot of fish hoping that some make it- my Mom does the same thing with her pond every year although I have explained why I don't think that's the best plan. I think the reason your fish have been dying when you buy them in batches is that they are unhealthy in the store. The store has no money in those fish, so it follows that they get the absolute worst care in the store. It's not your fault that they die- but by putting several in the tank you are accidentally furthering their stress. Even in this case, it's not your fault, you are kind enough to put them in a well filtered tank, try and cure their illnesses and feed them. But I think the thing is, if you are buying feeder goldfish, because of the bad care they get at the store, and at the wholesaler's, their survival in your tank is always going to be hit or miss. If this batch does well and you want to move them to their new nice tank that's great, but if not, I woudl suggest that in the future you buy no more than two at a time. Does that make any sense?

 

[cougargirl50]

Yes that does make sense. And thank you all for all your help. I guess I am just asking to much out of feeder fish. And yeah I do realize that goldfish get big. I would love to move up a notch on the goldfish thing. I get bored with looking are normal old feeder fish that I would like to move to a different kind of gold fish, but for as much as some of them are, heck I can't keep a regular old goldfish how can I keep the more expensive ones. *twirlysmi
But I do understand what you are all saying.
The other thing I was looking at that right now I realize that they are babies (so to speak) and 4 or 5 of them look better in a tank than only 1. Isn't that only 1 goldfish lonely? When I asked the one girl at Petsmart the other day how many goldfish can you put in a 10 gallon aquarium and she said only 1 or 2 I thought she was nuts. That big aquarium and 2 little ole fish. But I guess that girl knew more that I thought she did. I did learn something else to the other day. Goldfish love peas. Course I have to shell mine cause they are to big for my fish. But the girl at the pet store told me to throw a couple in.

I really hope that I can get the goldfish straightened out, because I'm starting up a 29 gallon tropical fish aquarium. I have been doing alot of research on the pc for tropical fish and I didn't do any for raising goldfish. Boy have a learned somethings. DO THE RESEARCH....... I know that if i cant raise goldfish, tropical fish sound harder.

I also wanted to let you all know that we had a burial at sea this morning. 2 of the goldfish were dead. So I am down to 6 but let me tell yous. They wont be in that tank for long. I am going to do something about that. Thanks to all your help.

This is to Ashleigh
Please don't take my first reply post to hard. It sounded a little harsh I think and it wasn't meant to be that way. I'm sorry if you took it that way, or just blew it off. Hope there is no hard feelings.

Thanks
Cougargirl50 *SUNSMILE*

 

[ashleigh]

Don't worry about it at all. Sorry you had some losses- You know what though, about tropicals sounding harder, I think if you read about cycling (we have some stickies here) you'll be in really good shape. Starting is the hardest part to any of it. Feeder goldfish are maybe hardier once you get them healthy, but getting them there is tougher than maintaining a tropical tank.