Poorly goldfish

[fatbobsufc]

Hi,

One of my goldfish has spent the last few days sulking at the bottom of the tank. He rests on the bottom and his dorsal fin is only half raised.

He can swim up and down the tank but it seems like he always comes to rest on the bottom. I wonder if it could be swimbladder disease? If so - can anyone suggest a treatment?

Thanks in advance.

 

[WILDER]

Can you post water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, what size tank how many fish and which type.

 

[black angel]

usually when fish lay on the bottom its down to a bacteial infection and not necessarily the swimbladder.
could you give some stats on your set up.
water tests are vital, so ammonia, nitrite,nitrate and ph are advisable to do. if you dont have the test kits them the pet store can usually test for you, but you need to get them to write it all down.

how big is the tank and what filtration do you have. goldfish need 20 gallons each and the fancy types 10 gallons. filtration needs to be x10 tank capacity.

how do you do water changes and how much each week. doing gravel vacs with every change of water is essential as bad bacteria can build up in the gravel releasing toxins which can kill fish. if the filter is good enough then doing 25% weekly is sufficient but any less and you could be looking at 30% twice a week.

how long has the tank been running. if less than six weeks then your tank could still be going through a cycle and this slows fish down too.

so if everything checks out ok with the above then we can start looking at disease.
do the fish have any reddening of the fins at all or blotches under the skin?

 

[WILDER]

I agree black angel i was thinking of a bacteria infection.

 

[black angel]

just seen your sig

two adult goldies. how big are they? are they all commons? as i have said above, these fish need 20 gallons for the first fish and then 15 for each one, even when small, and then if they reach adult length they will probably need more and then ponds are the real choice for them, not only for swimming and growing but they are incredible waste machines.
5 gallons i'm afraid is asking for problems, but hopefully we can help you out

 

[fatbobsufc]

Hi guys thanks for your help - sorry for the delay. I have got the test kits now and here are the results:

pH - 8
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 2-3
GH - 260
KH - 50

Checked the pH of my water straight from the tap and it is 7.5.

The tank is 5 Imperial Gallons. It has a bilogical filter.

I have four Goldfish. 2 of them are 3 inches and 2 of them are 2 inches.

Your help is appreciated.

 

[fatbobsufc]

OK so am I right in thinking you guys are as baffled as me!!!???

 

[black angel]

no im not baffled. your tank is too small to support 4 fish. what you are seeing is probably a bacterial infection. do 50% each day in water changing but to be honest, until you get a bigger tank you are on a downward slide, sorry

 

[OohFeeshy]

An adult goldfish is hardly 3 inches. Any goldfish gets to 6 inches plus.