Goldfish

[newbie_alicia]

Hello...It's has a been a few days and at first he was just sinking to the bottom. Then his fins started splitting...now his fins are getting red vainey marks. Today his gills look inflamed and he is floating on his side. Is it too late? What is wrong with him? ~Alicia~

 

[black angel]

to get any idea whats wrong we need to know the size of tank, filtration, any other fish, the water tests for ph ammonia nitrite and nitrate.

at a guess i would say high ammonia levels. so to begin with do lots of water changes of 50% twice a day with temp matched water and dechlorinated too. adding aquarium salt may help him breathe too, add 1 teaspoon per gallon which will give you .1%. then 12 hours later do this again to get .2%.

how your friend does water changes and how often would be good to know too.

 

[WILDER]

Do a water change immediately, post test results in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph,add some salt to his tank one tablespoon to 5 gallon, red inflanmed gill can be nitrite poisoning, also you have septicemia,second infection there as well with the finrot, all due to poor water quality, how big is the tank and how many fish which type.

 

[newbie_alicia]

Thanks for the help she is doing a water change right now...she has two goldfish in a gallon tank with a mini filter. However she just purchased the filter yesterday.

 

[WILDER]

They need a 10gal tank each more as that's not really big enough, they are going to die in that size tank as it not big enough, the filter will get mucked up in a day as it's not powerful enough to cope with goldfish waste., to keep them goldfish you are talking about a 30 gallon tank.

 

[Teelie]

30 gallons is a minimum for the round bodied types. The longer bodies need a pond size as they grow several feet.

 

[black angel]

15 gallons for the first then 10 for the other but this will only last a year or so at the most. fancy gf can and do grow fine in 10 gallons each.

 

[newbie_alicia]

they are just common goldfish. So do the same rules apply? One is two years old and he's only an inch and a half long.

 

[black angel]

gf are a messy fish so the filtration needs to be really good. you can get away with about 12 gallons when tiny but really you will need to keep buying bigger tanks to stop them from being stunted and deformed, so buying a 25 gallon now will keep them happy for a few years.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I think they should be bigger than an inch and a half. It's called stunting.

 

[The-Wolf]

why not print out the following link and show it to your friend
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=43980

 

[wrs]

well, actually there are some of the smaller goldfish that you need 10 gallons each for. and some places say 5 gallons per inch of goldfish. It all really depends on which forum you go to or what ste you go to, etc.

 

[black angel]

the only gf you can get away with 10 gallons for are the round bodied types and yes lots of forums have different views. some say 10 gallons and some say no tanks for slim gf but ponds only.