Comet Suddenly Having Clamped Fins

Hello. So a few weeks ago I got a comet goldfish from petsmart. (I know, not the best place for fish) The one I got looked very healthy, nothing on him to suggest that he was sick, as a matter of fact the second I got him home he was very active in the tank. The tank he is in is a 10 gallon (another bad on my part, waiting for my 55) but knowing his tank was over stocked I do very frequent water changes, I'm talking like every other day, sometimes every day if the tank looks especially dirty. It has a HOB filter, with a bit of cycled media in it from a previous tank and a sponge filter just in case. For the first few weeks he was doing amazing, but suddenly a few days ago he just started to have clamped fins, like all of them, top fin, the little ones on his undersides, all but his tail and his side fins really. I don't know why he has this sudden change in him. He was very healthy, the ammonia levels and water quality is fine, I'm just not sure why he is acting so sick. He is not as active but he still moves around the tank when I come close because he is waiting for food, which I guess is a good thing because he still wants to eat, but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here, I know he's not in a right sized tank but I'm sure with keeping everything perfect in this temporary home he would be fine. I really like this fish. I forgot to mention that he is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long so he is just a young fish. Also I just call him a him.

 

Do you know what your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are testing at?

 

Yes, Ammonia is around 0ppm, Nitrite is at between 0 and .25ppm and the Nitrate is at 10 ppm

 

Clamped fins are generally a sign of distress.

What temperature is your water at?

 

And if it’s not stress, it’s external parasites. Believe it or not, even without a heater, room temperature can be too hot for them.

 

The water is room temperature, the thermometer that came with his tank several years ago has been known to give not so accurate readings, but it has no heater. If it is a parasite, could it have been something that I introduced? And if the water is to warm are there ways to cool the tank without buying a chiller or something? I didn't think that the temp would be the problem, with all of the other people I knew with great established tanks never used a heater or anything, and my room is usually not to hot or cold.

 

The water is room temperature, the thermometer that came with his tank several years ago has been known to give not so accurate readings, but it has no heater. If it is a parasite, could it have been something that I introduced? And if the water is to warm are there ways to cool the tank without buying a chiller or something? I didn't think that the temp would be the problem, with all of the other people I knew with great established tanks never used a heater or anything, and my room is usually not to hot or cold.

Do you have perhaps a meat thermometer in your kitchen? If not I'd recommend buying a cheap thermometer at your local fish store, they're very inexpensive and pretty reliable.

Let us know the temp.

As for a parasite, yes you could've introduced it. Have you added anything recently to the aquarium?

 

A small fan blowing at the water. Did you get this fish out of the feeder fish tank?

 

As for a thermometer, we don't have one, but tomorrow morning I'm going out to buy more fish food, so I will try to pick up one while i'm there. As far as I know, I haven't added anything to the tank other than fish things, like tap water conditioners. I never use soap and stuff while cleaning, I try not to even put my hands in the tank unless I really have to. I do have an extra small fan I could set up near him. And yes I did get him out of the feeder fish tank.

 

As for a thermometer, we don't have one, but tomorrow morning I'm going out to buy more fish food, so I will try to pick up one while i'm there. As far as I know, I haven't added anything to the tank other than fish things, like tap water conditioners. I never use soap and stuff while cleaning, I try not to even put my hands in the tank unless I really have to. I do have an extra small fan I could set up near him. And yes I did get him out of the feeder fish tank.

Fish in feeder fish tanks are often riddled with parasites. How long have you had him?

Also, side note - what food are you feeding him? A crucial component to maintaining your fish's health, ESPECIALLY goldfish, is feeding a high quality food.

 

I’ll openly tell people that the feeder fish at my store often have parasites, and they shouldn’t get them to feed to fish they care about.

 

Yeah, most of those tank are disgusting. But i've had him for about 3-4 weeks now. He looked very healthy in the tank, compared to others. He eats flakes, they are tetra fin brand. I know that gel food is supposed to be good for them, but I have looked for it and it is no where to be found at any of my stores, I know I had gotten some in the past.