rehabilitating abandoned sick fish

[tammy abercrombie]

i am an avid animal lover-having two dogs, four cats, and now fish; all but one dog and one cat have been rescued and we (my family) love them all.

my girlfriend had a forty gallon tank with fish that she didn't want. she was actually waiting for them to die because she felt they tied her down. i told her she was awful- she said then come and get them. thank god i have a big house. anyway, the tank was so dirty that you couldn't see through it and it stunk. we brought them home and found and read some info on the net. we took all the fish out with some of the original water and put them in a ten gallon tank i bought for this purpose. we literally sterilized everything-scrubbing it first with a mild dishsoap and water mixture and then running it through the dish washer without detergent on sterilize setting a couple of times. we then followed the steps found on the internet using new gravel. placing fixtures and adding water. i then added recomended amounts of AQUA PLUS, WASTE CONTROL, and CYCLE. we waited thirty-six hours and introduced the fish. oh, we keep the heater at 78 degrees and there is a filter system with a new charcoal packet thing in it, and we bought those bubble maker things. as far as i can tell from my research, we have three goldfish-one with a brain like bubble on it's head and an orange and white one with a beautiful black and white tail, and another orange and white one who's eyes stick right out the sides of his head. the first two are approximately 4 1/2 inches long, and the third is slightly smaller. there are also two algea eaters wich i think are pleco's and they are approximately seven inches long. the reason i am writing is because as you can tell i have no experience. there were originally four goldfish, one is now burried in my backyard. and recently the one with the brain on his head has periodically mimicked some of the things the recently deceased did right before he died. i think it's called head standing. as well, the slightly smaller of the three always lays on it's side unless it swims up to get food. the girl i got them from says he started doing this shortly after she got them and has done it ever since. also, the two that do swim normally seem to scratch themselves along things. i've read lots in the last week that i have had them and according to pictures that i have seen they do look healthy-but i really don't know. there are piles of suggestions as to what you should add to the water to correct certain health issues but i am afraid that i could misdiagnose and make the problem worse. i called two pet stores one of wich specialized only in fish and they both told me that considering where they came from i should just flush them and if i still want fish i could start fresh. thats not an option considering we did all this to give them a better exhistance. there was also a betta who we put in his own 2 gallon aquarium of his own and he seems to be thriving. anyway, i really don't want any more casualties so could you please give me some suggestions. any suggestion-i haven't a clue really as to what i'm doing and we'll feel awful if we kill the poor guys-they actually seem to get excited when you come into the room to feed them. thats another thing, they always act like they are starving, even the aldea eaters. i put some blanched cucumber weighted to the bottom for the aldea guys because the goldfish seem to eat everything before they even get a chance. one of the pet store people told me to do it and they had eaten all the seeds in a matter of hours. anyway, please help.

 

[Great Lakes]

Tammy, have you got a test kit to check your water parameters? I am afraid you may have added the fish to the new tank kinda fast. But goldfish and plecs are pretty hardy, so we can try to get them well again.

Also, kudos to your compassion for pets..

And Boooo the lfs that tells you to flush your fish, instead of taking the effort to help you.

 

[Angel Lady]

Tammy, have you got a test kit to check your water parameters? I am afraid you may have added the fish to the new tank kinda fast. But goldfish and plecs are pretty hardy, so we can try to get them well again.

Also, kudos to your compassion for pets..

And Boooo the lfs that tells you to flush your fish, instead of taking the effort to help you.

If the fish that's itching has yellowish or white spots it has ick or velvet. Maracide by Mardel is good for that. I can't remember for sure so make sure it is ok for scaleless fish ( your plecos). I also use maracyn for secondary infections that go along with these problems. Also, thereis a chart in with these meds that show the different diseases and cures.
You'll have to keep close watch on the ammonia because it it take awhile for the good bacteria to take. They have kits at the pet store and additives to help. Most likely you will have to make partial water changes.

 

[Jimthefish]

Your new filter won't be doing its main job yet, BIOLOGICAL filtration.
Fish produce ammonia as a waste product. Sadly ammonia is poisonous to fish. You need filter bacteria that EAT ammonia, producing nitrIte as a waste. This is still poison but there are a second set of bacteria that eat nitrite and turn it into nitrAte which thankfully is not poison except in massive doses.
Filters can take 6-8 weeks to mature so your fish may be getting stressed by ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning. This will make them susceptible to any and every infection around. To speed up the maturation of your filter add the Cycle daily. If you know of anyone with a fish tank ask if you can get some gunge from their filter. Filters accumulate brown gunge which you clean out when you clean the filter. This gunge is a rich source of filter bacteria!
For a lot more info on fishkeeping and starting up a tank try my site!