Sugie

Hi,
I am new at all of this...computer, and goldfish. I am hopeing you can help me.

Today I noticed my Red Cap Oranda Goldfish was staying at the top of the water he seems very tired. He is just floating in one spot mostly, not really swimming around. I also have (1) Black Moore (1) Calico (1) Orange Oranda.

I changed the water 4 days ago . We also have well water with iron in it, which leaves residue on the gravel, plants, and accesories.

I feed them Wardley essentials Goldfish flakes, which is about 1 year old food that I thought would be ok, but just found out that it is not a good idea.

I have a 20 gallon tank and I bought the fish about 1 month ago. All the other fish are acting fine. Oh yes, I checked the ammonia levels today and they are 0.

I hope this is enough info that maybe you could tell me what's wrong. I don't want to lose my little guy.

Thanks!

aquarist48

Sorry to hear that your goldie isn't doing well. Sugie have you also checked the Nitrites and NItrates? High nitrites can be just as bad as ammonia poisoning. Too, I hate to say that you are a bit over stocked. When it comes to Gold Fish there should be 20 gallons for the first fish and 10 gallons for every gold fish after that. If there is any way possible I would suggest moving 2 of them into another tank. They will eventually out grow the tank they are in (if they aren't already). They are big waste producers and you may need to do more frequent water changes to keep them alive.
I hope it gets well soon. It's always sad when our fish are ill. Good luck.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore sugie!!

I agree with aquarist...the tank is way overstocked and im sure the waste these guys give off, is starting to affect them ...is the residue brown like? if so, thats a new tank algae called diatoms and it will eventually go away.........without knowing the nitrites and ntirates, we dont know if the cycle is complete...in the meantime, some daily water changes with some prime conditioner will do wonders...the prime will detoxify any poisions (ammonia and nitrites) in case they are in there...goodluck!

sirdarksol

Welcome to Fishlore!

As was said above, check your nitrite and nitrate levels.
Partial water changes will help with almost any problem (pristine water quality gives the fishes' bodies a chance to fight off whatever ails them).

Sugie

Thank you so much everyone. I've been holding my breath all night.

No I haven't checked the nitrate, and nitrite because I had no idea of this. I was stupid and didn't research enough. I got my little guys at Pet Smart and the girl helping me seemed to know a lot. I guess Pet Smart maybe isn't so smart.

But my orange goldfish is only about 2 inches long, the other 3 are smaller. That is why I only got 4 because the girl said no more than 4 to a 20 gallon tank. And I also have a 100 gallon that I was going to put them in as they got bigger.

I'm going to go here shortjy and get all the test kits I need, and do a 50% water change. Do you think that is a good start? I will post the nitrate/nitrite results as soon as available. Any additional advice would be welcome.

p.s. Today Red is still staying near the top of the tank, and he has gone through the motion of eating, but is spitting the food back out. Every time he touches the side of the tank or another fish, he gets very startled.

Shawnie

aww dont think you are stupid...you came here so that says something about the love for your fish!! MOST of us have had and continue to have bad advice from those we think should know better....goodluck and I hope he does better sooooon! see if you can find some prime, that will help him be safe until another water change in 24 hours

sirdarksol

Like Shawnie said, you're not stupid.

Let's see... what brought me here...?
Oh, that's right. I had a 20g aquarium stocked with a koi, a goldfish, three gold barbs, a corydora, a blue gourami, and a couple of painted glassfish. There were so many problems with that tank that it took me the better part of a year to get them straightened out (and not all of the fish survived that time, either.) I didn't know about testing, either (I didn't even know about ammonia until the gourami died of ammonia poisoning.)

This forum is meant for people like us; who jumped in the deep end before we knew how to swim.

You'll get things sorted out, and any questions you have along the way, please feel free to ask.

Also, if you can't find Prime; Ultimate, NovAqua+, or AmQuel+ are all equivalent products.

Sugie

Thank you shawnie , sirdarksol for your reply. I didn't get to read your reply untill I got back from the store.Your not going to believe it sirdarksol, I ended up buying the same thing you had said to try, the NovAqua plus. I was standing there looking at what felt like a hundred different bottles of stuff. But I just had a feeling this was the thing to help Red (thats my little guy's name), so when I saw that you had suggested the same thing I had bought, I thought maybe I had made a good guess. I was so happy I could of danced, if I weren't cross eyed from staring into a tank for hours. lol But any way, I bought a kit with my husband helping me too.

Checked the water.The nitrate was 20 PPM,the nitrite 0, hardness 150, chlorine 0, alkalinity 120 ppm, pH that one was a little ify 7.8- 8.4. So I decided to not change the water yet and just put in the NovAqua, 2 teaspoons. My husband got me an airstone that he put in, and low and behold, in about twenty minutes, Red was moving around. He swam to the other end of the tank and back. And the other fish are jacked up on bubbles, they seem to like them. So I'll stop talking you all to death and go watch Red and make sure he keeps doing better. Thank you all so much, you have been a big help. LATER