My poor baby!

[Caughtinapond]

Hi! I am fairly new to the hobby...when I say this I mean I am just now starting to go in "deep" (no pun intended hehe). It all started when my daughter got a fish as a faire prize and we somehow managed to keep it alive long enough for it to grow into a behemoth (by my standards anyways) with very little knowledge of fishkeeping until it eventually quite clearly outgrew its little 5 gallon tank (by this time I had bought him a 10 cent companion from petco who also flourished). This is when the saga really begins...I knew I needed a bigger tank for my two fishies who are very much part of my family at this point and once I saw a killer deal on a 40 gallon tank with stand on Black Friday I did not even hesitate. I set this new habitat up and did SOME research on YouTube (I throughly regret not doing more) and prepped the tank....unfortunately, this during this process I purchased 3 other little fishies to be new additions to the family....And this my friends is where that lack of research comes in to haunt me...
Come to find out, as you all well know I'm sure, fish from fish stores come with more than just fish...
I had introduced ALL of my fish in my same 5 gallon tank housing them temporarily while I prepared the main tanks water.
After verifying all water levels I transfered my fishies...and everything was going so well for about a week or so...
Then the cloudy water struck.
I didn't realize at the time about beneficial bacteria and cycling tanks. I knew about chemical levels and test kits...etc...but not about bacteria of all things...also I began to question how much I was feeding my fish (que the start of endless research).

In retrospect I believe this to be the key factor to what lay ahead....there may be some underlying factors prior to this, but please, please, be warned any new fish owner; WATER QUALITY SHOULD BE YOUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY

So I figured out that I needed bacteria and I ran to the pet store as fast as I could (keep in mind I am an absolute novice to put lightly and hadn't even considered the the existence of "local fish stores") and bought a myriad of products. I found maybe a quarter of those things I was seeking from experts on the net and the other half the pet store didn't have (reality check!)

Fast forward 3 trips to petco and finally one trip to my LFS (look at me now!) I still am uncertain whats plaguing my lil guys.

So after the backstory which probably wasn't needed (figured it'd be like my introduction post too <3) I have unfortunately already lost one of the new fish who I actually tried to quarantine but she didn't make it...she started doing "back flips" and swimming very erratically so I'm assuming something went wrong with her swim bladder? BUT she also was pooping stringy poops which leads to all of my concerns below.

My next fish im worried about is quarantined now as well. She has been pooping stringy poops that look like very thin dental floss. I have tried medicating her with general cure and ich-x (the ich was all over and I was just ignorant to it because she's a white fish; I feel terrible). I have now done almost a weeks worth of treatment and she just hangs around the filter barely moving but she does eat however. I am hopeful that she is getting better but im not really sure how I can BE sure? It looks like she has scarring on her, presumably from the ich, God forbid from the chemicals, but it definitely looks like she has skin coming off her - is this common after ice? Her Appetite is up and she will eat but then go back to her little hidey hole by the filter.


The last fish I have concerns with I just quarantined tonight (I went and bought a separate 10 gallon tank and treated the water accordingly) and he had signs of ich which I had previously been treating in my main tank with ich-x but he is now also pooping that same stringy poop. His appetite seems to be dropping but i can't be certain if its due to the tank change as he did eat previously in the day or just not being hungry.

On top of everything im super concerned that my original two fish have now been compromised...**I have treated them with general cure and ich-x as well

They are all goldfish cause I wanted it to be easy but now I've grown attached and don't know if there's anything I can do more to save my lil guys or gals!

If there is anything anyone can think of please let me know! Sorry for the long post but given in the last month I've acquired so many tanks you'll most likely be subject to more of my incoherent ramblings

Most of all;

THANK YOU

 

[Colin_T]

Have a read of the following 2 links, post some pictures, and sum up whatever the problem is.

What to do if your fish gets sick

If your fish ever looks sick or unwell, then the following steps might help. Test the Water and Clean the Tank. Test the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH and write the results down in numbers. Check it for general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) too if you can, but...

www.fishforums.net

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Naughts]

As you have deduced, you have two major issues and one secondary issue.

1. An uncycled tank. Test for ammonia and nitrite every day, any day that either is above zero do a large water change. Dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank.
2. Introduced disease - you are assuming ich and intestinal parasites or bacteria. You can follow Colin's guides but also post photos of the fish with problems in case it's something else.
3. A mixture of problems and treatments. For example doing large water changes but needing to maintain the correct dosage of medications. Chemicals that are not designed to be used together can cause reactions that damage the fish. Which treatments did you buy/ are you using?

Sorry for the loss of your fish.

 

[Caughtinapond]

I lost her a couple of weeks ago ...but the good news is that all my other fish seem to be doing well. I want to thank you all for your help...thank you for your advice and your kindness. Its been a learning experience for sure, and I am extremely grateful for all of the help you have provided. I didnt realize this forum was for tropical fish until a couple days after I posted, but you have all been so helpful regardless, never even questioning... I went through all of the stickys and provided posts and as a novice fish keeper they have all proved to be extremely valuable. So thank you all for everything.
Take care and thank you again

 

[Colin_T]

I didnt realize this forum was for tropical fish until a couple days after I posted,

It's not just for tropical fish. It's for all aquarium fish, snails, shrimp and other creatures that live in aquariums. There are sections for goldfish, tropical fish, marine fish, plants, general chat, and a whole range of other subjects.

 

[FishGuest5123]

@Caughtinapond I have 14 tanks (plus a goldfish pond now). My first love is goldfish. I have a 75G that houses 2 black moor’s and a pleco, a 45G that house a calico ranchu and a red cap oranda, and a 125 gallon garden pond that houses 4 single tailed goldfish. I want to commend you on all of your work. However, I must warn you that single tails goldfish grow over 10”. That’s how I ended up with a pond on my patio. They outgrew a 1OG, then a 29G, and then came the pond. That was for 2 goldfish. I now have 4 in the pond because a couple of babies somehow survived. Rule of thumb is 100G for a single tailed goldfish and 20G for the first fancy tail with an additional 10G for each additional fancy one. My black moor’s are now over 8” long and why I only have 2 in a 75G tank. Moral of story...start saving for 100+G tank. You can do it and survive.