paulliveras

Hi Guys,

We have had our goldfish for approx 12 years and all of a sudden she has started to swim round and round and spinning; she is laying on the bottom with her guills moving slowly; can anyone help please.

Thanks,

Paul

Info:
Not sure how big the tank is but its 11" wide, 14" long and 12" deep.
She has been swimming on a little on her side for a while.
I noticed that one of her fins on her underside is not working.
I also noticed a little piece of white poope.
She is not swolen.
The water is clean.
She is our only fish.
I have reduced the water depth to approx 3".

Amanda

Welcome!
I'm sorry to hear that your goldie isn't doing well.
12 yrs. is a long life for a fish. Is she eating normally?
What size tank is she in? What are the water readings?

paulliveras

Hi Amanda,

Thanks for responding.

Unfortunately I am no expert, we have simply always kept the tank clean and changed filters etc.

I dont have a fish water measure however I do have a reading set for our hot tub; hope the following reading from one of the dip strips help:
Bromine = 0
pH = 7.3
alkalinity = Approx 150

Does this help?

Amanda

What we're interested in is the ammonia, nitrite & nitrate readings. Do you know the size of the tank?
Have you recently changed out the filter?

EDIT:
the tank size is roughly 8 gal. according to the tank size calculator. Does that sound about right to you?

paulliveras

Not sure how big the tank is but its 11" wide, 14" long and 12" deep. We last changed the filter 3 weeks ago, however the symptoms only started a two days ago. I will buy a kit tomorrow am ( its 21.15 here in the UK) to measure the amonia levels etc.

Amanda

A pic of the fish may help.
I don't personally own any goldies, but there are a few peoplw here that do.
They'll be here soon.
I'm trying to think of what else this could be.
It may be old age, but it could be a number of other things.

paulliveras

Hi Amanda,
Having only just joined I cant see how I can attach the photo's. The only way I see requires you to upload them on to the web, however I dont know how! I have taken two shots; I could email them to you if thats ok?

Lucy

Hi welcome to Fish Lore
You've obviously taken good care of your goldie, I'm really sorry she isn't feeling well.
Here's how to post a pic:
How Do I: Attach Pictures to my post

paulliveras

Hi Lucy,
Thanks for your help. I have managed to re-size the shot (which is now on my desk top , however I am struggling to find the 'Post' page with the additional options tab to open manage attachments. Sorry to be a pain!

Lucy

You're not being a pain at all! Right below the text box (quick reply box directly below the last post in a thread) is the option to go advanced.....from there you'll see manage my attachments.

paulliveras

Thanks for your help; hopefully the picture of Rosie is now attached!

paulliveras

OK try again!!!

Attached Images

rsz_1no_1.jpg (69.7 KB, 63 views)

Lucy

Oh, poor thing. It must be so hard for you to see her this way.
You said his poo is white? Is it stringy? This is usually a sign of internal parasites. Not sure about the spinning though.
Is she eating at all?

paulliveras

Hi Lucy,
Rosie has been eating well right up till today when she started spinning! Other than that all has been normal; we only noticed the whie poope once, this was about 5mm long.

Lucy

Whenever I hear about a fish spinning, whirling disease comes to mind. Is she spinning like a top? If so it's caused by a parasite.
I don't know much about it, so you might want to google it, see if it sounds like what your fish is going through.
Swim bladder problems also come to mind, in which case, you could try to feed her a few bits of frozen thawed shelled pea, sometimes that helps.
It would help to know the parameters like Amanda suggested, I also see you'll be getting a test kit.
A good water change rarely hurts, no matter what the parameters are.
Hopefully someone who knows more about goldies will have better info than I do.

Good luck, I hope she feels better soon.

gremlin

Your poor goldie. It could be a couple of different things. Internal parasites - there are several good all around parasite treatments. Injury of some sort - melafix is a good all around treatment for injuries and unspecified illness in goldies. Or, much a I hate to bring this up, too small of a tank. I'm not necessarily talking about ammonia poisoning. Goldfish put out a specific pheremone. The concentration of this pheremone in the water tells the goldfish how much room it has to grow. At 12 years of age, your goldfish should be at least 7-8 inches long. From the measurements of your tank, it sounds like it probably holds between 6-8 gallons. Because you have kept up with the water changes and tank cleaning, you have avoided most of the issues from keeping a fish in a too small tank. Unfortunately, your fish's internal organs have continued to grow, at a much reduced rate, but they still have grown. Look at how the skin is stretched - there should be a smooth even topline from the top lip all the way to the dorsal fin. Your goldie has a bulge just behind the head. Also, the scales should overlap, the scales on your goldies sides are stretched enough that you can see the individual scales with a bit of the skin between them. Some of that may just be from the fish being curled over, but some of that is from the insides of your fish taking up more room than there is on the outside. The first thing I would do would be to transfer your goldie into a larger tank. More room would reduce the pheremones in the water and would allow your goldie a chance to grow a bit more. Hopefully, it is not too late for the outside to grow enough to allow the insides room. Unfortunately, all the goldies that I have seen reach the stage yours is in, do not make it. It is a tribute to your wonderful care that your goldie was able to live for 12 years in such a small environment. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you can pull her through for another 40+ years.

grannypammy2j2

I hope you're goldfish is still doing ok....I have 2 Fancy tailed goldfish, and it does sound like she needs a bigger aquarium. What are you feeding her? Have u tried skinned chopped peas? If it's swim bladder issues, this does help. Has there been a drastic change in temperature? I read somewhere that feeding tubar worms can give them parasites

shih-tzu mom

Hi: i would say she has parisites and i would treat her asap!! and do a water change before treatment and 'Jungle makes good parisite treatments hope his helps her bella