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foxgirl158

foxgirl158

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HELP!!
My butterfly tailed shubunkin goldfish is dying. I don't know what's wrong with her. There's no sign of injury, fungus, or ich, but there is something very obviously wrong. She was sitting on the bottom gasping yesterday, and when I got back from a trip today she is on her side heaving for breath. My other two goldfish seem to be ok for now. I tested my parameters on Monday. Temp: 75 (Its always been that high and they have been fine.) PH: 7.8 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 20 (I have been battling high nitrates for almost a month) Alkalinity: 120 Hardness: 150 Chlorine: 0. I have a 30 gallon tank with a good carbon filter and a bubbler. I treated with API Aquarium salt, and when that didn't help I treated with API Stress Coat, but that didn't seem to help either. What can I do to either A: help her, B: put her out of her misery, and C: Make sure my other fish don't die as well?
 
Pictures and video of the fish?

Test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?
Have you added anything to the tank in the last 2 weeks?
Is the fish eating?
What does the fish's poop look like?
Has the fish swollen up overnight?
Do its scales stick out form the body?

---------------------
First aid for fish.
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the problem is identified.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

---------------------
Check the tap water for nitrates. If the tap water has 0 nitrates, then do bigger water changes more often to reduce them. you can also reduce feeding and this will help keep nitrates lower.
 
foxgirl158 said:
HELP!!
My butterfly tailed shubunkin goldfish is dying. I don't know what's wrong with her. There's no sign of injury, fungus, or ich, but there is something very obviously wrong. She was sitting on the bottom gasping yesterday, and when I got back from a trip today she is on her side heaving for breath. My other two goldfish seem to be ok for now. I tested my parameters on Monday. Temp: 75 (Its always been that high and they have been fine.) PH: 7.8 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 20 (I have been battling high nitrates for almost a month) Alkalinity: 120 Hardness: 150 Chlorine: 0. I have a 30 gallon tank with a good carbon filter and a bubbler. I treated with API Aquarium salt, and when that didn't help I treated with API Stress Coat, but that didn't seem to help either. What can I do to either A: help her, B: put her out of her misery, and C: Make sure my other fish don't die as well?
Click to expand...
I have a 30Gallon tank but don't have goldfish I wanted some but since they grew so big and are very "Dirty" I chose not to get them and got other fish, but if it was me choosing I would try and help her and I recommend @Colin_T post that he just posted. other than that I can't really help you :(
 
This was her on Sunday night. I will attach a video as soon as I can get it downloaded.
IMG_20210801_220732402.jpg
 
foxgirl158 said:
This was her on Sunday night. I will attach a video as soon as I can get it downloaded.
View attachment 140875
Click to expand...
Just out of curiosity what's your tank temp? and is there ich in the tank at all maybe? Like I said I'm not good with goldfish since I don't have them but I figured I'd try and help a little I'm no expert but I'm just stating the simple things, and if it's not ich I'll leave it to professionals to answer them :) maybe someone here has goldfish and can answer it.

Edit: after a quick google I found these:
Recommended conditions:
  • Temperature: 65-72°F.
  • pH: 6.0-8.0.
  • Hardness 5 – 19 dGH.

also does your tank have an aerator at all? airstones, decorations with air, etc? it could be lack of oxygen but usually they'd be near the top if it's lack of oxygen
 
Colin_T said:
Pictures and video of the fish?

Test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?
Have you added anything to the tank in the last 2 weeks?
Is the fish eating?
What does the fish's poop look like?
Has the fish swollen up overnight?
Do its scales stick out form the body?

---------------------
First aid for fish.
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the problem is identified.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

---------------------
Check the tap water for nitrates. If the tap water has 0 nitrates, then do bigger water changes more often to reduce them. you can also reduce feeding and this will help keep nitrates lower.
Click to expand...
I usually do a 25% water change once a month, but I have been doing one almost every other week lately to get the nitrates down. It used to be 40 ppm, so it has gotten better but is still high.
I also clean my filter around once a month, but not at the same time as the water change. I take out the carbon and put new carbon in the bag. I do not clean the bag very often, probably around once every three-four months because of the good bacteria that gets caught in the floss.
No additions have gone in, although I have three platys in a different tank waiting for fry they have not been in the main tank since I got them.
The person taking care of them while I was away said that she ate a small bit this morning, but they didn't see her move since then
I don't know what her poop looks like.
She does not look swollen so I do not believe it is dropsy
Her scales are not sticking out
 
Rhys19 said:
Just out of curiosity what's your tank temp? and is there ich in the tank at all maybe? Like I said I'm not good with goldfish since I don't have them but I figured I'd try and help a little I'm no expert but I'm just stating the simple things, and if it's not ich I'll leave it to professionals to answer them :) maybe someone here has goldfish and can answer it.
Click to expand...
My current tank temp is 75 degrees F, and there has never been ich in that particular tank. I don't see any ich on her either.
 
foxgirl158 said:
My current tank temp is 75 degrees F, and there has never been ich in that particular tank. I don't see any ich on her either.
Click to expand...
alright can you see my edit on that message? do you have proper aeration? I'll post it in this post:

Edit: after a quick google I found these:
Recommended conditions:
  • Temperature: 65-72°F.
  • pH: 6.0-8.0.
  • Hardness 5 – 19 dGH.
 
Rhys19 said:
alright can you see my edit on that message? do you have proper aeration? I'll post it in this post:

Edit: after a quick google I found these:
Recommended conditions:
  • Temperature: 65-72°F.
  • pH: 6.0-8.0.
  • Hardness 5 – 19 dGH.
Click to expand...
I do have a bubbler and my filter provides good aeration as well. They have been in 74-75 degree water since I got them over a year ago
 
foxgirl158 said:
I do have a bubbler and my filter provides good aeration as well. They have been in 74-75 degree water since I got them over a year ago
Click to expand...
Unfortunately that's all I can help with as I don't have goldfish :( I hope your fish gets better, like I was saying maybe someone here has a goldfish that can provide you with some help.
 
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