Sick Goldfish - Help

matt.thomas73

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Hi folks

Can someone please help me.

I have a goldfish who must now be about 8 years old. Up until recently he's been the hardiest of creatures, and never once been sick. About 3 weeks ago my partner did a partial water change in the tank, and she used tap safe and a balance for ph. That said, within a few days we noticed he was lethargic and not eating and then one day when I returned from work I noticed that his fins were turning white. I did my research and could only conclude that this was fin rot brought on by stress. There was also a cotton-wool like substance on his fins and later on, within his gills. A later sympton I noticed was that he had some form of ulcers on each of his gills, although these seem to have calmed down now (although still visible).

For weeks I have treated the water with Mela-fix and Pima-fix, followed by water changes when it suggests its necessary. For the last week I have expected him to die as he has been lying on his side in the tank, but he is still breathing strongly and when I pick him up he still has some strength in his body to pull from my hand. I have noticed that his right side pelvic fin has all but gone. He does look better now in terms of colour, but he is quite simply lying on the bottom of the tank. I have done water tests and everything is normal although the water is at the top end of teh hardness scale (180) - although teh leaflet does say this is ok for goldfish.

If there is a chance he'll get better then I want to do waht I can as I've had him for years, but if there is little chance of that I want to try and put him out of his misery as he must be suffering. Just not sure what else I can do?

Can anyone advise?
 
Hi. :)

In order to help you more, we'll need to know the exact test results for the tank. What are the exact readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? What size is the tank? (in litres or gallons). What filter is running on the tank, and what kind of maintenance routine do you have? Is it a fancy or common goldfish, and what size?

You really don't need to be concerned about PH and hardness where goldfish are involved. Only the most sensitive, highly adapted tropical fish need specific water parameters and those are best achieved with natural methods, not the use of PH additives. I am suspicious that the PH buffer used may have caused a 'crash' of the water conditions.
 
yeah id have said a ph crash has happened.

whats the ph from the tap? unless very acidic theres never any reason to change it.
 

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