sick fish?
- Thread starter Tttap2u
- Start date
Nobody can help without more information. What species of fish is it, what are your specific water parameters, how big is the tank and how long has it been setup, what if any are other tankmates with this fish.
It's not totally unusual for some species of fish to vary color depending on mood/environment.
It's not totally unusual for some species of fish to vary color depending on mood/environment.
That doesn't sound good.
I know from your previous posts that you have 16 goldfish in a 55 gallon. Is this correct?
I've never heard of a goldfish turning gray.
His eyes have turned red?
The only thing I can think of is ammonia poisoning at this point. or nitrite poisoning.
Do you have a test kit? What are the readings?
I know the lfs said your ammonia was high.
I know from your previous posts that you have 16 goldfish in a 55 gallon. Is this correct?
I've never heard of a goldfish turning gray.
His eyes have turned red?
The only thing I can think of is ammonia poisoning at this point. or nitrite poisoning.
Do you have a test kit? What are the readings?
I know the lfs said your ammonia was high.
bluestraggler...You have the right person. I did test the water and it checks out. The ammonia was high but not now. The one I mentioned is a crown pearl goldfish. His eye (one eye) is red around the outside and his body turned grayish. The fish tank was set up 2 months ago. When I set it up I had a high PH then added fish and after testing added ph down. Then added aqua safe which I had asked at the pet store what I should do. I had salt water fish in this tank before but cleaned it out good and bought all new filter items and items inside the tank. The crown pearl comes out to eat but goes back and hides after. I don't know the names of the other fish but they are in the goldfish family. 3 have and orange spot on top and white everywhere else. I have some small ones that are orange. All together I have 13 fish. The others appear to be healthy and I check the water every 2 or 3 days.
Orion.........I am new at this so bear with me.
Orion.........I am new at this so bear with me.
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well for starters 13 goldfish is way too many for a tank. 1 goldfish by itself should have 15-20 gallons. In your 55G it's not recommended to have more than 5 ... 6-7 would be pushing it. You have to consider adult sizes and that goldfish are extremely messy. They love to eat, so they love to excrete wastes also. 13 goldfish are killing each other with their peeing/pooing in your tank, the bioload is just too great for them, regardless of how many water changes you do.
Also, if your tank at the right temps? they are coldwater fish
Also, what type of goldfish are they, commons, a type of fancytail, kois, comets, etc?
how long has the tank been set up, your water parameters, this and all the things youve been doing to the tank we need to know so we can narrow down your problems.
#1 is the excessively high fish load you got. I would work on that first. I would also grab an API master water test kit (drop tests not strips). That's all for now, good luck
lol, then i would let nature take its course and let some of them die off, or euthanize them. you should be able to return them to a LFS also. It's absolutely senseless to keep that many in a tank. Do water changes every other day, and your ammonia level will never be perfect. Theres just too large a bioload for your ammonia to stay at low numbers for even a few days. I'm done w this one gl
Not sure what that may be. May something in the water is irritating that fish.
Can you setup a large bowl with an airstone and keep him in that for observation..or better yet buy a cheap couple gallon fish tank.
Use an airstone or buy a cheap filter.
I would isolate the fish and he may come around or possibly not infect the other fish if the eye problem leads to dropsey or something.
A good thing is he is comming out to eat. Is another fish picking on him?
Can you setup a large bowl with an airstone and keep him in that for observation..or better yet buy a cheap couple gallon fish tank.
Use an airstone or buy a cheap filter.
I would isolate the fish and he may come around or possibly not infect the other fish if the eye problem leads to dropsey or something.
A good thing is he is comming out to eat. Is another fish picking on him?
I'm sure you know this but the only perfect level of ammonia would be 0. Same for nitrite.
Maybe you don't want to set up more tanks but would you be willing to set up a pond outside? Most people do when they realize the goldfish produce high amounts of ammonia.
And since you have a lot, I think you will encounter more health problems down the line.
Or another suggestion would be to provide as much media as possible for the bacteria to be able reproduce. For example another hob filter if possible.
good luck.
Maybe you don't want to set up more tanks but would you be willing to set up a pond outside? Most people do when they realize the goldfish produce high amounts of ammonia.
And since you have a lot, I think you will encounter more health problems down the line.
Or another suggestion would be to provide as much media as possible for the bacteria to be able reproduce. For example another hob filter if possible.
good luck.
2 months is enough time to cycle a tank, but with your current stocking levels, your tank can't support that many fish, it's just too small. Goldfish are huge waste producers so they need larger tanks to support them and their bio loads. Adding PH down was a bad idea, you should never mess with your tank PH (unless you're a pro and you know what you're doing), it is very hard to regulate. This could have caused damage to your fish, and if you are still adding I would suggest that you stop immediately. Further, if you are adding any other chemicals to your tank you could be throwing off your test kits. Things that "elinimate ammonia" (they don't work), "neutralize ammonia", etc. will throw off your test kits so you won't get accurate readings. I would suggest overall to do a large water change in your tank, 50% of treated tap water (with basic water conditioner). Then continually monitor your tank readings, I think you'll find some of them are off. What other chemicals are you adding to your tank?