Yarkii
Fish Fanatic
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2017
- Messages
- 159
- Reaction score
- 2
On a separate note, I found a new home (a pond) for my son's goldfish, but for various reasons hadn't yet managed to take him there. The past week he's been slowing down & appearing quite lethargic most of the time, with spurts of normal activity if anything happens around him.
Today, he's been a mess, getting stuck in the plants and unable to get himself out. I wondered if it was because I filled the water too high at the last water change a couple of days ago, and no air bubbles were getting into the tank (usually the water drops down from the filter and creates bubbles that fall into the tank). I also wondered if it was because I cleaned the filter media (in the removed tank water). Lots of gunk was in there & became dislodged, and I didn't wash the actual filter that holds the media. Two fish have previously died in this tank that I know of.
Today I went to the local fish store, even though I don't have much faith in them, and asked for help. I described what was happening, and once of the guys said that sometimes goldfish get an air bubble inside their lungs, and that this is what's happened to Goldie. They have me something that is mostly non-iodised salt, and said to use that plus boil a couple of peas, take off the skin & feed him that.
I asked them why/how they were so confident that this is what the problem was, and they both said "because it is. It's very common". AAAAAARGH! I regret not pushing them for more possibilities.
I've done what they said, and Goldie is just getting progressively worse. Now there are also pea pieces at the bottom of his tank, as they just dropped right past him. I've removed the plants he was getting stuck in, but he seems incapable of moving of his own volition. When I removed the plants he was stuck in, he got swept up in the current of the filter and neat looked totally panicked. Oh - earlier when I got him or if the plants he sort of twirled around instead of swimming straight. Sometimes he tried to swim straight up and just sank backwards. Most of the time he's stuck on his side, mostly floating, and kind-of gasping for air.
It's the middle of the night, so I don't think there's anything I can do, and I'll be very surprised if he's alive in the morning.
If he is still alive, what do I do?
If he dies....... what can I do to make this tank healthy for fish? I will never get goldfish again, but if I can make this tank clean and safe, I'll use it as a quarantine tank, to try to keep sick fish & dirty plants etc out of my big tank.
If it's some kind of parasite, how do I confidently get rid of it? Do I need to throw out all the filter media & gravel & the ornaments (I don't love the ornaments). How do I successfully clean the tank itself plus the filter, without putting in anything dangerous for future fish? I'm happy to start from scratch and cycle this little tank while I cycle the big one. I've absolutely avoided using anything from this tank in the new/big one.
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Today, he's been a mess, getting stuck in the plants and unable to get himself out. I wondered if it was because I filled the water too high at the last water change a couple of days ago, and no air bubbles were getting into the tank (usually the water drops down from the filter and creates bubbles that fall into the tank). I also wondered if it was because I cleaned the filter media (in the removed tank water). Lots of gunk was in there & became dislodged, and I didn't wash the actual filter that holds the media. Two fish have previously died in this tank that I know of.
Today I went to the local fish store, even though I don't have much faith in them, and asked for help. I described what was happening, and once of the guys said that sometimes goldfish get an air bubble inside their lungs, and that this is what's happened to Goldie. They have me something that is mostly non-iodised salt, and said to use that plus boil a couple of peas, take off the skin & feed him that.
I asked them why/how they were so confident that this is what the problem was, and they both said "because it is. It's very common". AAAAAARGH! I regret not pushing them for more possibilities.
I've done what they said, and Goldie is just getting progressively worse. Now there are also pea pieces at the bottom of his tank, as they just dropped right past him. I've removed the plants he was getting stuck in, but he seems incapable of moving of his own volition. When I removed the plants he was stuck in, he got swept up in the current of the filter and neat looked totally panicked. Oh - earlier when I got him or if the plants he sort of twirled around instead of swimming straight. Sometimes he tried to swim straight up and just sank backwards. Most of the time he's stuck on his side, mostly floating, and kind-of gasping for air.
It's the middle of the night, so I don't think there's anything I can do, and I'll be very surprised if he's alive in the morning.
If he is still alive, what do I do?
If he dies....... what can I do to make this tank healthy for fish? I will never get goldfish again, but if I can make this tank clean and safe, I'll use it as a quarantine tank, to try to keep sick fish & dirty plants etc out of my big tank.
If it's some kind of parasite, how do I confidently get rid of it? Do I need to throw out all the filter media & gravel & the ornaments (I don't love the ornaments). How do I successfully clean the tank itself plus the filter, without putting in anything dangerous for future fish? I'm happy to start from scratch and cycle this little tank while I cycle the big one. I've absolutely avoided using anything from this tank in the new/big one.
Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk