Golfish Sat At Bottom

[dredge3]

HI again. My fish are now spending most off the time laying at the bottom of the tank looking sad.I even thought 1 of them was starting to sway a bit I added a little salt a changed a few buckets of water. Then I added some finrot anti bacterial stuff in. The 1 that was not moving 2 days later became more active again. Then another 1 did the same. This 1 looked so sad.It eat a little.Then my big goldfish (9inch)started to rest a lot.Now I am panicking, so I read links here etc and come with that I need either Flukes tabs or nalidixic acid and lots more on the list. The fish had no bad signs other than 1 of them having inflamed rear fin, which it has had quite a long time. I had recently added rainbow pleques plus some new gravel.
I have never done a water test in the 11 or so years I have had goldfish....now was the time.So I fo out and get a master kit.These are the results......NITRATE 160...OMONIA 0ppm...NITRITE 0PPM...PH HIGH below 7.8...PH 7.2....My first ever test and all were spot on. NOW WHAT? Next I buy some Methylene blue. I pour a cap full in and the tank went blue.I pooed my self, spilled the stuff all over.Well does it bugger come off.My hand is blue, tank etc.Does this stuff stain the tank? How/when does the blue go away?

 

[Tempestuousfury]

If your tank has silicone in it, it's dyed for life. Your hand'll return to the normal color in due time.

How big is the tank? You have pretty big fish and the nitrates seem very high, so you might want to do more water changes and perhaps move the big fish out if you have another tank for him. How often do you do water changes? How much water do you usually change out?

 

[oneponygirl]

Yeah, I have to agree about the nitrates. My test kit says anything over 40 is not good. I wonder if it was accurate or if there is a problem.

 

[dredge3]

My tank is 36x15x18. I think it is 30 gallons. I usualy do 1 bucket change every week but sometimes every 2 weeks. I just did a test again and the colour card is a bit hard to read.It is a dark red but my colour card starts at yellow and ends in dark red . The 40 and 80 seem the wrong way round. 80 looks lighter than 40 Anyway its more 80 now. Still no good.I don't know if the blue water will alter the colour outcome. I did another bucket change.Ill do another tomorrow night and test again. What else could give it a high reading ?

 

[debiasir]

hiya

maybe up your water change to 2 to 3 buckets a week (i am guessing they are normal sized buckets) this is what i do and have been problem free so far (touch wood)

 

[dredge3]

You could be correct.The funny thing is when I used my old tank which is half the size, with a poxy internal filter, which was always blocked and did a bucket change every 2 to 4 weeks, all was ok for 5 years. I get a dogs whatsit ext filter, a bigger tank some new gravel and a few small plaques and all has gone to pot. You would think that more water mass would make maters lbetter.

 

[shockwave]

How many fish do you have in your 30 gal? You said one of them is 9 inches, so I'm guessing your goldies are pretty damn big. At the very MAXIMUM, only 3 goldies should be in there. I only have 2 goldies in my 30g and won't put in any more because I know they'll grow to be big.

If getting another tank isn't an option, step up the water changes. Goodluck, hopefully everything turns out ok B)

 

[dredge3]

How many fish do you have in your 30 gal? You said one of them is 9 inches, so I'm guessing your goldies are pretty damn big. At the very MAXIMUM, only 3 goldies should be in there. I only have 2 goldies in my 30g and won't put in any more because I know they'll grow to be big.

If getting another tank isn't an option, step up the water changes. Goodluck, hopefully everything turns out ok B)

I have 3. Only the 1 is so big. Another is abut 5 inch and the last 1 is a normal small one. Funny thing is all were purched together and all were shabunkins (cant spell it).I didnt think the big one would grow so big.Soon ill be able to sell it to the fish shop as a special

 

[black angel]

Shubunkin can grow to over a foot long when kept in enough space. Bottom sitting is a sign of a bacterial problem so up your water changes.

 

[dredge3]

Shubunkin can grow to over a foot long when kept in enough space. Bottom sitting is a sign of a bacterial problem so up your water changes.

Thanks.Ive done a bucket change every day and today they are all looking happy.I am sure it is from introducing the pleques.
OVER A FOOT LONG Ill need a 12ft lonmg tank.Where will my wife let me put one of those

 

[black angel]

Great excuse for a pond if you have a garden.

 

[dredge3]

Great excuse for a pond if you have a garden.

I have a very long garden, but i know its a lot of hard work keeping up to one of those.Also I can't sit eating my tea and look at them swim around