Help Sick Goldfish

[rachelblatchford]

can anyone help me, I have a 40 litre tank with 2 fantail goldfish. They have been in the tank since October and have both been healthy, the tank was properly cycled and have been checking the water regularly and levels have all been fine. A couple of weeks ago I noticed one of the fish looked liked it had fin rot. I got treatment for it, interpet 8 and treated it. I followed the instructions to the letter, the water became a bit cloudy, normally perfectly clear. I did the required water change at the end of the week and treated them again as the fin had got a black end to it. After treating them again today they were both swimming around happily, checked on them just a minute ago and can hardly see through the water and the fish without fin rot was laying on its side at the top of the tank. what can I do?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hi and welcome to the forum .
The cloudyness is most likely a bacterial bloom, which is suffocating the fish- bacterial blooms are most often caused by quick and large changes in the tanks ecosystem, like an over-cleaning of the filters or cycling tank conditions. Meds can occasionally cause bacterial blooms, although it is a lot more rare.
What exactly were your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate stats or just any stats in general that you are testing for as well as recent results? Without the results/stats, we cannot say it is ok or not, as a lot of people can interperet water quality stats differently sometimes.

The best thing you can do right now is do a 60% water change (if you have a water quality test kit though, test the water before you do the water change) with dechlorinater/water conditioner (are you using this in your water changes to treat the water?) and increase the airation/filtration in the tank to try and help increase oxygen levels and ease the fishes condition.

The black lining surrounding the finrot affected area's can be a sign of the wounded area healing, however you should continue treating the fish (although personally i would not use a full dose, as Interpets anti fungus & finrot med is very strong stuff a full dose could stress the fish out further during this bacterial bloom)- small doses of anti finrot/fungus med and plenty of small and regular water changes will help clear up the last of the finrot (keeping the water sparkling clean is the equivilent to keeping the fishs wounds clean and will help lower desease levels in the tank in general).
If you do this, the finrot should be completely gone within a couple of weeks. Water changes with dechlorinator will also help clear up the bacterial bloom, which should clear up within about a week or less if you do small daily (or every other day) water changes, however remember not to take out more than 60% of the tanks' water a day.

What has been your tank cleaning regime on average so far up until this point and how do you go about it and how often?

 

[black angel]

What she said ^^

Also, your tank isnt really big enough for two fantails and the fin rot is down to bad bacteria building up.
So, you need to up your water changes depending on what you do now.
What filter do you use and how do you clean it out? Are you using a gravel vac?

 

[rachelblatchford]

I have just checked the water, ammonia 0 Nitrite 0.3 and Nitrate 10.
I have been changing 25% of the water weekly using a gravel vac, and putting nutafin cycle and aqua plus in the water before I change it. Unfortunately I am a complete novice at caring for fish, these are my first and I have been doing what the fish shop has told me as I have no fish knowledge of my own, apart from the books I have bought and read up on. I was taking the water to the shop to be tested whilst it was cycling, and all was clear up to now.
I have a Fluval 2 filter in the tank, and I have added the carbon filter to it today, not sure if that was the right thing to do?
I also have an airstone .
Should I do the 60% water change with these water results.
what size tank would be suitable?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have just checked the water, ammonia 0 Nitrite 0.3 and Nitrate 10.
I have been changing 25% of the water weekly using a gravel vac, and putting nutafin cycle and aqua plus in the water before I change it. Unfortunately I am a complete novice at caring for fish, these are my first and I have been doing what the fish shop has told me as I have no fish knowledge of my own, apart from the books I have bought and read up on. I was taking the water to the shop to be tested whilst it was cycling, and all was clear up to now.
I have a Fluval 2 filter in the tank, and I have added the carbon filter to it today, not sure if that was the right thing to do?
I also have an airstone .
Should I do the 60% water change with these water results.
what size tank would be suitable?

You should still do the 60% water change with you water quality test results, as the small amount of nitrite indicates that the tank is still cycling. When the tank is completely cycled, there should be 0 ammonia and nitrItes and at least 1 nitrAtes or more (although preferably not more than 40 nitrates).
You should do a water change any time you see nitrites or ammonia present in the tank as both of these toxins are harmful to fish- as the bacteria matures in your filter sponge though, it should be able to handle processing the ammonia and nitrites a lot better and these stats will eventually stop occuring in your tank once it is completely cycled.
A 30gallon tank would be good for 2 fancy goldfish (this generally the accepted minimum, having 20gals for the first fancy goldfish and 10gallons for every one after that), as these fish will eventually grow to around 8inches long each- a "long" tank is thus better than a "tall" one .

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

This link/article may be of much help to you in explaining the cycling process and new tank syndrome;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

.

 

[rachelblatchford]

thanks for all your help, I will do the water change now.
One last question. I have been rinsing the filter in the aquarum water that i have taken out, when I do a water change, but how well should I be cleaning it and how often should I be changing it.
Should I be cleaning it every water change? I have a rock in the tank that came with it when I bought it and it leaves the filter pads brown, does this affect the filter?
I am off to write my letter to father christmas asking for a bigger tank!!

 

[black angel]

Could it be bogwood in the tank?
If a rock is leeching into the water then maybe you should take it out.
Only clean the filter pad when it slows down the flow of the filter. If you find you need to do this more often than tank water changes then you need a second filter or an upgrade.
Clean it out by squeezing it in a bucket drawn from the tank and if the water is still dirty do it again in the next bucket.