Windsor36

Hi,

One of our goldish (an Oranda) suddenly became very lethargic two days ago and began to spend almost all of her time laying on the bottom of the tank. Yesterday she also began to have difficulty breathing, with rapid respiration (90-120 times/minute) and opening her mouth widely with each breath. Both of her eyes also seemed to develop a slight bulge. She has also stopped eating.

Her general appearance is fine other than these symptoms. There are no signs of any injury, discolored scales, etc. even when I examined her with a 4x magnifying glass.

Other info: We have three gold fish (2-3 inches in legnth, excluding tails) in a 29 gallon tank. The tank has been cycling for several months without any problems. We have had the fish for about 1 year (but they were previously in a smaller tank).

The other two fish appear to be fine and do not exhibit any symptoms of illness or unusual behavior. The ammonia in the 29 gal tank is at 0.25 ppm and nitrates and nitrites are both at zero. The pH is 7.8 and the tank is kept at room temperature (72 F). I generally add 1 tsp of aquarium salt to the water for every 5 gallons. The sick Oranda was moved to a separate tank when she became ill. The ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are all zero in the hopsital tank.

I would appreciate any suggestions that anyone has on possible causes or recommendations on treatment.

Thanks!

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore. :;tth Hope we can help your goldie.

I'm not sure what the pet store has told you, but goldies need lots of room. 20g for the 1st one and 10g for each additional one.

I would recommend not using the salt. It's not something goldies need and it builds up over time, raising the salinity of the tank water. It damages the slime coating of fish, prompting them to produce more slime coating.

What do you use to treat your tap water with? I would recommend Prime. It's a top conditioner and also helps protect fish from the toxins, like ammonia. How often do you clean the tank and do partial water changes? I'd recommend 40% weekly on that tank.

I think your Oranda is developing popeye. This condition is usually brought on by water conditions and the ammonia would account for diffficulty breathing (ammonia poisoning). Maracyn-Two is the med to use for popeye.

Are you adding anything else to the tank water besides the aquarium salt and a tap water conditioner?

Windsor36

Thank you for your suggestion; I appreciate you taking the time to provide advice. I just picked up some Maracyn-Two and added it to the hospital tank.

Regarding your other questions:

I have been using TopFin Water Conditioner to condition tap water. I add the conditioner to tap water in jugs (1 ml/gallon) and let it sit for several days before putting it into the aquarium. I'll try the Prime that you have suggested.

Partial water changes are made weekly; I change 10 gallons each time which works out to 35% of the tank.

When the ammonia level starts to rise I add API AmmoLock and then change more of the water. This works out to changing 16-18 gallons (or a little more than 50% of the tank) about every three weeks (with two 10 gallon change outs in between).

I have also been adding API Stress Coat when I change the water. I add 1 tsp for every 5 gallons that I replace.

COBettaCouple

The Prime conditioner will take the place of both the top fin water conditioner and the ammo lock. We change out 25-40% of the water in our tanks weekly along with cleaning.

MelyBu

Just wanted to sugguest the water temp at 17C-21C which is no higher then 69F. My Oranda stays still and has problems when his water is too hot. I just put a fan on top of the FT or ice in a plastic bag.