Red1313

I'll have pics and video posted by tonight but I wanted to post this now so I can finally get back to work.
Charlie has been acting "off" for awhile now. At first I blamed it on ammonia and nitrite etc. However daily water changes weren't making much of an improvement. Over the last few days he's gotten way worse. Before I'd still see him swimming around but now all he does is lay tucked into a corner. He hides behind/beside the big pot. Today he wouldn't come out and swim around for break-fast and when I dropped some flakes in from him he ran away from them! He's also seeming to spend more and more time swimming on the bottom of the tank (I mean sometimes he doesn't even pick his belly off the bottom). He's also started racing around and running into things and the stuff he doesn't run into he "hugs" as he swims around it and keeps pressing himself against it like he's using it as a guide...
His eyes look fine but I'm at a loss of what to do.... I'm hoping that it's just a mood he's in but I don't know...

iloveengl

Jeeze Red! I'm sorry your Charlie is acting wonky. Hopefully someone will have some useful insight, but I'll send you and Charlie good fishy vibes.

Shawnie

oh no!!!!!! it so sounds like ammonia..especially for a goldie they are never still until they are much larger as they are just lazy fat kids the bigger they get..but also, they do love others of their own and ive seen mine get lonely but never to the effect of not eating...thats always a give away for them ...they ALWAYS eat unless they are sickie ..pleaaaaaaaaaase charlie hang in there!!!!!!!!

Red1313

Thanks. <hugs>
Shawnie you ....
I was worried it was the ammonia to. But I did a water change like 2 hours before I added the TSS yesterday...

Shawnie

could he have been effected prior? if he was exposed to ammonia/nitrites before you added it, it might be playing an effect on him now....and he has to go 7 days ..did you test the tank prior to adding to see if there was any ammonia/nitrites?
ill be giving him lots of goldie prayers!!!!!!!! hang in there charlie its really going to get much much better!

Tony G.

Oh no red! im sorry he isnt doing so good

Red1313

It was like a 75% change and I'd added a cycled filter to the tank to help out prior to the TSS getting there. How much ammonia can a Goldi make in a couple hours? When I added it he was still fairly active but I really wish it would kick in faster.... I may add a dose of prime tonight when I get back and see if that helps him out or not...

Shawnie

prime will effect the way tss works but if he isnt better, id risk loosing the tss instead of him

Red1313

We need this smiley....

gremlin

Rubbing up against stuff sounds like some type of irritation, but not wanting to eat - has Charlie pooped? Is it normal? Could Charlie be constipated? Rubbing and sitting in the corner would be consistent with either constipation or some type of skin irritation.

Red1313

Gremlin you may have something with the consitpation idea there... Charlie looks like he's in the middle of an elephant size poop....
pics/video on it's way... (no not of the poop)

Red1313

Ok Pics first (since the vids still need to get up on youtube) The video's are better but these were the only non blury pics I could get. Notice how he's staring me down in most of them

If you recall my thread about him having black all over his face you can sort of see what i mean. Most of it seems to have faded now so perhaps it was a color change. ( the last pic is how he used to look)

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Tony G.

ok he is such a cutie!
it sucks he isnt doing well. IMO it looks like he's been going through color changes. but thats just me, is he still lethargic?

Red1313

kinda... <insert smiley banging head against wall> he was when I got home but I apparently scared the poop out of him trying to get some vids etc... and now he seems more like his old self... though he could just be trying to "play" with the goldi he sees in the mirror I propped up behind his tank because I thought he was lonely...

Tony G.

this is heart breaking! maybe you could get him another buddy?

Red1313

Ok... so in this one he does look REALLY fat... but in my defense he didn't look like this in the first one which I took at lunch time...

Red1313

That's the plan but the tank needs to settle down and cycle first... then I need to find a place where the goldfish DON'T all have ICH...

Tony G.

are you going through a mini cycle?
man those things are nasty. I just went through one last week. Thank god i had prepared myself with TONS of sponges, so i just transfered them and it fixed the problem.

Also, one thing to check for.
Some LFS run one filter for all their tanks. So you should check on that as if one tank has ICH, then they all do. I noticed this at one of my LFS. One tank had some flashing mollies, and then i noticed the filter was for all the tanks.

Man red, i hope you dont struggle anymore, you seem to have it rough

Hugs from Mexico, and i hope it all works out for you

Red1313

Thanks Tony
If it turns out the Charlie is simply constipated then he'll just have to wait a few days and everything will be better. By then the TSS should have kicked it and he'll be ready to go.
Then we both just need to wait of a paycheck
Most of the pet stores around here run everything on a central filtration unit. So I'll probably have to QT the new guy regardless.

gremlin

Some people have good luck giving part of a pea to help with constipation. I've never had to worry about that with my goldies (thank goodness). I think a combination of no other food and a piece or two of pea may help. The black on his face looks like he is just going through normal color changes. Hopefully Charlie will be doing better soon. I'll keep my fingers crossed that "this too, shall pass".

Shawnie

he is a cute lil bugger and a face to die for I just love him and miss mine a ton!!!!! but he doesnt look constipated at least to me...so keep a good eye on his behavoir and try the pea as soon as you can...if that doesnt perk him up, you may have to ditch the tss idea and use prime ......if hes doing better, im glad!!!! and still praying he pulls thru....I just adore hiM!

shellbell4ever

He is a cute little one...I second the pea idea my goldies just love theirs Hope Charlie gets to feeling better real soon!!!

yukoandk

Awww, he's gorgeous! Hope he gets better soon. I'm sorry I don't know the history of cherlie's tank, but going through a cycle is stressful for both the fish and the keeper. Cutting back on feeding and giving him a little green peas is a sound advice. Do you have any nitrate? If your ammonia, nitrite and/or nitrate readings are high, it's probably better to do a couple of smaller water changes in a day than one large one. What is TSS?

Red1313

TSS is Tetra Safe Start. It's basically bacteria in a bottle. You add it and your fish togeather and it cycles your tank in a week without water changes. Shawnie managed to ship me a bottle after my cycle crashed. I just added it the other day. If Charlie starts to falter though I'll definetly to a WC.

Shawnie

how is he today red?

Red1313

He was doing well when I left this morning. Still hanging out in his corner but at least not laying down. I won't be back home till late tonight but I'll definitely post an update for you guys on how he's doing then.
Thanks for asking Shawnie,

Tony G.

Red, how is he doing?

Tony G.

oh.. wait... duh you just posted it lol
i thought i read am...

anyway, please give us an update as soon as you can

Red1313

No worries Tony I'll forgive you
However I'm still on campus working on a paper...
I shall update the moment I get home (or if that happens to be am time then I'll do it when I wake up).
hehe

Tony G.

wow... youre on campus this late....
you will be a great and succesful business person