Tail And Fin Rot Spreading

[emilythestrange]

My first goldfish died this morning with fin rot, even though i treated it as soon as i noticed it,

Now my other goldfish has it


Other than water changes and treatment... theres nothing else i know that i could do

Im just dreading another burial
Most of his lovely tail about 3/4 has become very wispy, this morning i saw one black part on his tail, now its gone

 

[SharonCC]

I'm so sorry to hear that. Is the tank newly set up? Could you post the readings for your water...finrot is usually connected to water quality. What temp is the water? What are you using to treat?

 

[emilythestrange]

The Temp in my room is just right for goldfish, I know this is all down to ammonia levels, should i just clean the whole tank out because new water doesnt have ammonia, i know theres too much.. .it WILL kill my fish.
All yesterday they were lying on the bottom hardly moving ina cluster
I dont think the fact that 1 goldfish died in there helps

The pet shop worker told my to only remove a tiny bit of water (because i was taking out the good stuff aswell)
But i think the best thing is to restart most of the water... it must be polluted
I need to do something
Every morning im terrified of seeing another one dead

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you're quite right the important thing is to get ammonia levels as low as is possible, do as many large water changes as you need to to do this.

Start off with a 50% water change, 1 hr after this re-test the water, if ammonia is still above 0.25ppm then do another water change, keep going like this until ammonia is below 0.25ppm (get it down to 0 if you can). You should do this every day to keep the water as clean as possible.

 

[Corleone]

You're not taking out good stuff with water changes. The bacteria you want live on surfaces, especially high flow spots like your filter - there'll be a tiny amount present in the water, but not that much. Do a 20-30% water change, wait an hour, and do another. Repeat until you get ammonia readings under 0.25. You might be able to do it all at once, but there's the other end of bad water quality that sometimes when things get very bad, too much improvement too quickly can shock fish just as bad.

Once you have ammonia down, change as much water as it takes to assure it never gets over .25.

One last consideration (though looking at your post history I and several others covered this with you already): The tank is 27 liters. It's simply too small for the fish you have, and you may never resolve the ammonia problems. Alternately, you'll resolve them for now, but eventually the fish will outgrow the filter and tank and things will get even worse. They won't stop growing to fit the tank, but they may become stunted, which tends to lead to death not long after.

For long term health, fancy goldfish needs at least 20 gallons of well filtered tank for the first fish and 10 for each additional. For the fish you have, you'll want at least a 30-40 gallon tank. A 20 gallon tank may work short term, but your tank is about 7 gallons.

 

[NonstickRon]

Have you tested the levels of the water you're putting into the tank?

 

[emilythestrange]

Have you tested the levels of the water you're putting into the tank?

Yes it was high,
Now Ive Buried my second goldfish, i saw him touching the other one when he had it,
Now so far ive got 3 left now


The disease is working through the tank, ill be lucky if any pull through but im doing my best for them at the moment, I read some posts on the treatment and i saw one saying that it took 3-4 days to clear... but it never recovers on mine, i am doing LARGE water changes, the water looks very clear, I just hope that some pull through

 

[NonstickRon]

Ok, if the levels in your source water are high, then just doing tons of water changes aren't going to help. You neeeeed to detoxify the water with something like Prime before you add it to the tank.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Finrot with fancy goldfish can often be fatal unfortunately. There is nothing more that you can do other than keep ammonia levels down with regular water changes and using a finrot treatment. What treatment are using by the way? I have found treatment with melafix and pimafix to be effective. As already mentioned though your tank is far too small and the other 3 are very likely to die or be permanently damaged from ammonia poisoning if you don't make some changes asap. I'm afraid you really need to either return all the goldfish and buy something more suited to such a small tank or invest in a suitably sized tank, 30 gallon minimum for 3 goldfish.



ps I also find it hard to believe that you have any ammonia or nitrite in your tap water. Low nitrate levels are not uncommon but there shouldn't be any ammonia or nitrite.

 

[Corleone]

A great many people have ammonia in their tap water. Chloramine is chlorine with ammonia. Some dechlorinators will remove the ammonia entirely, but not all of them.

 

[emilythestrange]

Ok, if the levels in your source water are high, then just doing tons of water changes aren't going to help. You neeeeed to detoxify the water with something like Prime before you add it to the tank.

Prime?

Never heard of it sorry

Finrot with fancy goldfish can often be fatal unfortunately. There is nothing more that you can do other than keep ammonia levels down with regular water changes and using a finrot treatment. What treatment are using by the way? I have found treatment with melafix and pimafix to be effective. As already mentioned though your tank is far too small and the other 3 are very likely to die or be permanently damaged from ammonia poisoning if you don't make some changes asap. I'm afraid you really need to either return all the goldfish and buy something more suited to such a small tank or invest in a suitably sized tank, 30 gallon minimum for 3 goldfish.



ps I also find it hard to believe that you have any ammonia or nitrite in your tap water. Low nitrate levels are not uncommon but there shouldn't be any ammonia or nitrite.

Im using Interpet Anti Fungus and fin rot

P.s i know this sounds dumb but i saw somebody put US gallons after their amount?
Obviousely mine arent in US measurements

Im just wondering

 

[Corleone]

Yes, we were converting, as many stocking figures are in done in US gallons and inches. To convert, 3 fancy goldfish will require a bare minimum of around 110 liters, and preferably closer to 150 liters.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

when you say the water levels in your tap water are 'high' what exactly do you mean, what are the actual numbers for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in your tap water?

 

[mark.w.jones]

Seachems Prime is a water conditioner that removes chloramine and ammonia from tapwater as well, as the usual chlorine, which not all of them do.



Corleone: I was also under the impression that the chloromine compound does not break down into ammonia and chlorine within water, although I could be mistaken. I was talking about having pure ammonia in your tapwater which I thought was a very rare occurance and not the norm. Does an ammonia test kit test for just pure ammonia within your water or will it show a reading if there is chloromine present? Chemists

 

[rhostog]

Seachems Prime is a water conditioner that removes chloramine and ammonia from tapwater as well, as the usual chlorine, which not all of them do.



Corleone: I was also under the impression that the chloromine compound does not break down into ammonia and chlorine within water, although I could be mistaken. I was talking about having pure ammonia in your tapwater which I thought was a very rare occurance and not the norm. Does an ammonia test kit test for just pure ammonia within your water or will it show a reading if there is chloromine present? Chemists

Chemists? Many years ago, seems like another life... Let's see...

Chloramine is very stable, and doesn't break down easily in water on its own. Most water conditioners available here will remove chlorine and break down chloramine into chlorine and ammonia.

The amounts of ammonia released by this process are normally very low - like many people, my tapwater contains chloramine, but I've never had a measurable reading for ammonia, using a reasonably sensitive liquid test. And while it's not unheard of to have measurable ammonia in your tap water, it's unusual, and should never be more than 0.5mg/l in the UK (I'd agree it's more likely the 'high' measurement in the earlier post referred to pH or nitrate).

However, if you're already struggling with ammonia levels, then using a conditioner or treatment that locks up ammonia as suggested above (in conjunction with water changes) is probably a good idea until you have the problem under control.