Common Goldfish Gasping at Bottom of Tank

Hey everyone,
My common goldfish (about 8 years old) has been acting very lethargic and laying at the bottom of the tank often for some time, and has recently started gasping for air. They started doing this when another goldfish (which had been in the tank for about 3 weeks) died, and it's body was left for roughly a day before removal. The fish mostly lays at the bottom, but will randomly swim very quickly around or to the top of the tank, while breathing very rapidly, then sink back to the bottom.

Template:
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank?
30 gallons
How long has the tank been running?
Tank was completely reset about a month ago, but fish was doing fine for the first ~3 weeks
Does it have a filter?
Tank was switched from powerhead to 2 airstones with activated charcoal filters on each, gravel was cleaned but there should still be bacteria
Does it have a heater?
No heater
What is the water temperature?
Room is roughly 65 degrees F so water is presumably the same
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
1 common goldfish, about 5" in length

Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
Water has not been changed since tank was reset
How much of the water do you change?
N/a
What do you use to treat your water?
N/a
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
vacuum was used on gravel and water during tank reset

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
No, however the gravel and a portion of the old tank water was used when resetting
What do you use to test the water?
Susswasser test kit for ammonia
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0 ppm
I am planning on buying a testing kit first thing tomorrow to test the rest
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
Once per day
How much do you feed your fish?
1 small pinch of pellet food
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Wardley small goldfish food
Do you feed frozen?
No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?
No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
8 years
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
symptoms started 2 or so weeks ago and worsened in the past 48 hours
Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Not as of now
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
No noticeable change in appearance


Images:
fish on bottom of tank:

https://imgur.com/a/J6XtAes

fish swimming to top:

https://imgur.com/a/b3lDcMD

top down photos of fish:

https://imgur.com/a/WTEfxOA

https://imgur.com/a/SE3VkD5

Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks
Viole

 

Would start with a water change since you don't know your parameters. Goldfish produce alot of waste there probably isn't enough beneficial bacteria to support the bioload even when using bacteria to speed up the cycle.

 

Would start with a water change since you don't know your parameters. Goldfish produce alot of waste there probably isn't enough beneficial bacteria to support the bioload even when using bacteria to speed up the cycle.

How much of the water should I replace? And should I add any treatment before adding the new water other than chlorine neutralizer?

 

I would do 50% same temp water with dechlorinator added to water before putting water in tank.

 

I would do 50% same temp water with dechlorinator added to water before putting water in tank.

Alright, I'll do that tomorrow if I see no change. After a few days I may look at putting him to sleep, he seems to be having a lot of trouble :<

 

Hi viole8
Welcome to fishlore.
I would also suggest a water change of 45% to 50% . Followed by another 45% in 4 or more hours. And another in 4 hours or at your convenience. The tank has lost some of the cycle by the way I read what happened when it was reset with a gravel clean and filter change. That I believe is the heart of the issue. Plus it’s been 3 weeks without a water change in a tank with less than normal amounts of bacteria.

 

Update: I got some testing strips to read the parameters of the tank.
pH: 7.0-7.5
Alkalinity: 300 ppm
Hardness: ~700 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: ~100-160 ppm (harmful according to tester)

 

Yes any nitrates over 100 ppm is considered very harmful by everyone.
Any nitrates over 40 ppm is considered harmful long term by most people.
Any nitrates over 20 ppm is considered undesirable by some people.


To remove nitrates change some water often.
Up to 50% at one time will not shock the fish.
Waiting until the next day before changing another 50% is a way of helping the fish adjust.

Any ammonia at all can be toxic.
As you don’t have an ammonia test that can be looked at with a free shop water test .

Continue changing water daily until you can establish if the tank and you tap water have ammonia.

The PH and hardness are good for goldfish.

 

Yes any nitrates over 100 ppm is considered very harmful by everyone.
Any nitrates over 40 ppm is considered harmful long term by most people.
Any nitrates over 20 ppm is considered undesirable by some people.


To remove nitrates change some water often.
Up to 50% at one time will not shock the fish.
Waiting until the next day before changing another 50% is a way of helping the fish adjust.

Any ammonia at all can be toxic.
As you don’t have an ammonia test that can be looked at with a free shop water test .

Continue changing water daily until you can establish if the tank and you tap water have ammonia.

The PH and hardness are good for goldfish.

Just completed ~30% water change, I'll keep the thread updated with changes. I used an ammonia tester and it read 0ppm, however it expired 7 years ago, so the results may not be accurate.

 

A 30% water change will lower nitrates to 70 ppm- 112 ppm . That is still dangerously high long term . I suggest another 30% in 4 hours. Or more than 30%? But never more than 50% incase the temperature or other parameters are different.

Nitrates are bacteria poop not the bacteria themselves. There is almost no bacteria in the water. Most of the bacteria lives on hard surfaces, mostly ON the filter but also ON the gravel and ornaments etc.

Any sign of improvement with the bottom sitter ?

 

A 30% water change will lower nitrates to 70 ppm- 112 ppm . That is still dangerously high long term . I suggest another 30% in 4 hours. Or more than 30%? But never more than 50% incase the temperature or other parameters are different.

Nitrates are bacteria poop not the bacteria themselves. There is almost no bacteria in the water. Most of the bacteria lives on hard surfaces, mostly ON the filter but also ON the gravel and ornaments etc.

Any sign of improvement with the bottom sitter ?

I'll make sure to do a second one, thanks :>
No improvement as of yet, but I may try switching the tank back to a powerhead to get a bit more water circulation.
Second water change done, did about 40% this time. Nitrate went down to a much safer level (20-30 ppm), and the fish is still eating, however there's been no change in behavior yet.

 

Did another 40% water change and I added some API Ammo-Lock to hopefully stabilize the tank levels some more. Fish has stopped eating, not sure how to proceed :/