Goldfish Are Very Sick

HI everyone. I've signed up here to hopefully get some help with my goldfish tank. Let me start by saying I am NOT new to fish by any means - have been keeping obsessively for 26 years. However, my focus has always been and always will be cichlids. I know plenty about them, but only general info on a lot of non-cichlid species. I have a soft spot for bettas and goldfish though, and every now and then I get an urge to keep one or the other. About two months ago, I got that itch again, and cleared out the cichlids I had in my 125gal (6ft) tank. I apologize for the length post, but details help and I am in desperate need of that help! I'll post this in two stages, taken from posts on another website that I have been trying to use to get help with little success.

Situation as of yesterday (Feb. 1):
I have a 125gal goldfish tank that is suffering from parasites and I'm starting to get really PO'd about it. Here's the scenario: Goldy tank is new, just set up on Dec. 2 (by that I mean tank has been set up for years, but cleared out the cichlids that were in in and stocked with goldfish instead). Had 20-21 fish in it, can't recall. Purchased in two batches - majority on Dec. 2, three individuals added later on Dec. 26. All was great, fish are happy and healthy. Until about two and a half weeks ago. Did my usual weekly water change, few hours later noticed the fish were mopey - a few had clamped fins, unenthusiastic. Assumed I had somehow gotten something in the water during the water change, immediately did another - fish perked up by the next day and all seemed fine. One week later, did my next weekly water change, got the same result a few hours later - unhappy fish, larger portion of the population this time. Second water change did nothing this time around. Water parametres checked and are all good, added a heater to warm it up a smidge for them. Throughout the week, no improvement and more seemed to fall ill. Clamped fins, lethargy, general mopeyness - no happy like goldfish should be. But most, if not all, still eating when fed. Decided it must be parasites, suspected flukes perhaps after doing some reasearch - went out last Saturday and purchased HikarI Prazipro, and dosed the tank per the instructions that day. Three days later, no improvement, dosed tank again. By this time almost all the fish are affected to varying stages, an am seeing some fish start to look thin and some with white stringy poop. Fewer perk up at feeding time, many hide behind the plants, some swimming a little "wonky". This is where I'm at now, after two doses of Prazipro, I haven't seen any improvement. Decided today perhaps I should try a "stronger" parasite med, went out to purchase API General Cure which I have used in the past - only to discover you can't GET it. Reseach says something about not being able to get in Canada due to permit issues. The only thing I seem to have access to at my LFS is Seachem products - PolyGuard, MetroPlex, ParaGuard. After standing in front of the shelf for 15 minutes, grabbed some PolyGuard. Now doing some more reading, I'm not sure that's the way to go and think perhaps I should use MetroPlex instead. Thoughts?

And now, situation 24 hours later:
Ugh, I'm so frustrated I could cry! Came home today after dosing with a different medication last night (PolyGuard), hoping against hope to see some improvement in my goldfish tank. They're WORSE. After sitting there watching them for ten minutes to get these photos, I'm seriously considering just culling them all at this point. There's a couple that don't seem SO bad (not immune, just not near as bad off as some of the others), but most are not good at all. I don't even know if it IS parasite I'm dealing with at this point. Does anyone have any insights? I have almost NEVER had to deal with diseases/parasites in my tanks, nothing more serious than some scrapes and wounds here and there (as will happen with aggressive cichlids). But this is the incredibly sad state of my tank as of right now. Fish are basically not eating...some act like they are interested, but either ignore the food or spit it back out. There's a few that seem to have their mouths stuck open?? The white fantail was one that seemed to be doing not so bad yesterday, then I came home to his jaws stuck wide open. The little white comet LOOKS the worst by far, but is still more active and attentive than some of the others...but is very skinny. Most are gasping, even with the super bubbler going on. Some look like they have a few missing scales, but could be from bumping around the rocks? The orange and white comet has a small part of his tail fin that looks a bit irritated right in the "v" at centre; looking at the video of the little white comet, looks like his tail fin tips are blackish? Clamped fins as you can see...stringy poop shown in some of the photos...and many of the fish are "weeble wobbling" as they swim, shown in the videos. I don't know what to do at this point.

Attached are some photos from an hour or two ago. I've basically accepted at this point that the whole tank is going to be wiped out, and wondering if I should just end their suffering and cull them all tomorrow? But I do need to understand what the issue IS so that I can make the tank safe again and eventually restock. So I'm hoping for some help determining exactly what my issue is - parasites? Something else? - and how to fix it. If these fish can't be saved at this point, then what do I need to do to get things back on track and be able to safely keep fish in this tank again?












20180202_170556 by Alaina Dugas, on Flickr

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. You said your parameters were OK. Would you care to share the specifics?

What temperature are you keeping them in? At first, I was going to say you're way over stocked with 20 goldfish in a 125, but the photos you provided showed that most are juveniles....so that isn't the case.

When you broke down the tank (moved cichlids out), did you make sure to keep the BB colony safe? I'm assuming you kept the filters and biomedia wet with tank water and the filters/bio media weren't contaminated with chlorinated tap water?

 

Yes, sorry - pH is 7.4-7.6, ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, nitrate is 0-5ppm. When I first moved them in, the tank had no heater, but when I started to notice issues I did some reading and saw a few articles that said they like a tank around 71-75° or so, so that's when I added the heater to the tank and it's now sitting at 73°.

Oh, of course. The cichlids were cleared out (after being happy and healthy in this tank for over a year, and the colony in it before them happy and healthy for ages...I've never had any health issues with the fish kept in this tank previous to the goldfish switch) in the morning, and less than 12 hours later the goldfish were introduced. There was never any shut down of anything, tank remained fully cycled. The filters weren't even shut off.

Yes, these fish are all small juveniles...the plan was to pick some favourites as they matured and thin out the heard when need be. The largest fish is the mostly orange sarasa (?) with half white long tail...he's about 5" including his tail. The fantails and comets are about 2-3" in size.

Hmm that second post was supposed to be a video...seem to have messed it up.



Hopefully you are able to view the video now when you click the link?

 

Not sure what article you read but Goldie’s prefer 68 to 70F. Anything over that can stress them. I would take the heater out. Higher heat also deplenishes oxygen and may be why they are gulping. My Goldie tanks stay at 65 to 70F always. Never any higher. They look stressed. I bet if you remove the heater you will see an improvement! Don’t cool it down though by adding cold water. That could kill them. Just let it drop on its own.

 

No, I would never cool it down that way...I'm just very confused now. I have never had a heater in a goldfish tank over the years and not had any issues, it's true...but I read a few articles claiming it should be warmer than I had it, which is why I added the heater. Without the heater it was sitting at a cooler temp than 68° though, I'm fairly certain...can't remember now.

 

Goldie’s are cold water fish. I suggest you Google the proper temp for goldfish. Best of luck getting them healthy again!

 

I DID google the proper temp for goldfish, that's what I'm saying. I know they're cold water fish, I have never before now used a heater with goldfish. But I have read multiple articles - by googling - in the last couple of weeks that have said the temp for goldfish should be kept around the 71-75 mark.

https://howtotakecareofgoldfish.com/whats-perfect-temperature-goldfish-water/

Goldfish tank temperature





They all say the same thing.

 

Good luck. I hope all works out for you.

 

Thanks for your help

 

HI everyone. I've signed up here to hopefully get some help with my goldfish tank. Let me start by saying I am NOT new to fish by any means - have been keeping obsessively for 26 years. However, my focus has always been and always will be cichlids. I know plenty about them, but only general info on a lot of non-cichlid species. I have a soft spot for bettas and goldfish though, and every now and then I get an urge to keep one or the other. About two months ago, I got that itch again, and cleared out the cichlids I had in my 125gal (6ft) tank. I apologize for the length post, but details help and I am in desperate need of that help! I'll post this in two stages, taken from posts on another website that I have been trying to use to get help with little success.

Situation as of yesterday (Feb. 1):
I have a 125gal goldfish tank that is suffering from parasites and I'm starting to get really PO'd about it. Here's the scenario: Goldy tank is new, just set up on Dec. 2 (by that I mean tank has been set up for years, but cleared out the cichlids that were in in and stocked with goldfish instead). Had 20-21 fish in it, can't recall. Purchased in two batches - majority on Dec. 2, three individuals added later on Dec. 26. All was great, fish are happy and healthy. Until about two and a half weeks ago. Did my usual weekly water change, few hours later noticed the fish were mopey - a few had clamped fins, unenthusiastic. Assumed I had somehow gotten something in the water during the water change, immediately did another - fish perked up by the next day and all seemed fine. One week later, did my next weekly water change, got the same result a few hours later - unhappy fish, larger portion of the population this time. Second water change did nothing this time around. Water parametres checked and are all good, added a heater to warm it up a smidge for them. Throughout the week, no improvement and more seemed to fall ill. Clamped fins, lethargy, general mopeyness - no happy like goldfish should be. But most, if not all, still eating when fed. Decided it must be parasites, suspected flukes perhaps after doing some reasearch - went out last Saturday and purchased HikarI Prazipro, and dosed the tank per the instructions that day. Three days later, no improvement, dosed tank again. By this time almost all the fish are affected to varying stages, an am seeing some fish start to look thin and some with white stringy poop. Fewer perk up at feeding time, many hide behind the plants, some swimming a little "wonky". This is where I'm at now, after two doses of Prazipro, I haven't seen any improvement. Decided today perhaps I should try a "stronger" parasite med, went out to purchase API General Cure which I have used in the past - only to discover you can't GET it. Reseach says something about not being able to get in Canada due to permit issues. The only thing I seem to have access to at my LFS is Seachem products - PolyGuard, MetroPlex, ParaGuard. After standing in front of the shelf for 15 minutes, grabbed some PolyGuard. Now doing some more reading, I'm not sure that's the way to go and think perhaps I should use MetroPlex instead. Thoughts?

And now, situation 24 hours later:
Ugh, I'm so frustrated I could cry! Came home today after dosing with a different medication last night (PolyGuard), hoping against hope to see some improvement in my goldfish tank. They're WORSE. After sitting there watching them for ten minutes to get these photos, I'm seriously considering just culling them all at this point. There's a couple that don't seem SO bad (not immune, just not near as bad off as some of the others), but most are not good at all. I don't even know if it IS parasite I'm dealing with at this point. Does anyone have any insights? I have almost NEVER had to deal with diseases/parasites in my tanks, nothing more serious than some scrapes and wounds here and there (as will happen with aggressive cichlids). But this is the incredibly sad state of my tank as of right now. Fish are basically not eating...some act like they are interested, but either ignore the food or spit it back out. There's a few that seem to have their mouths stuck open?? The white fantail was one that seemed to be doing not so bad yesterday, then I came home to his jaws stuck wide open. The little white comet LOOKS the worst by far, but is still more active and attentive than some of the others...but is very skinny. Most are gasping, even with the super bubbler going on. Some look like they have a few missing scales, but could be from bumping around the rocks? The orange and white comet has a small part of his tail fin that looks a bit irritated right in the "v" at centre; looking at the video of the little white comet, looks like his tail fin tips are blackish? Clamped fins as you can see...stringy poop shown in some of the photos...and many of the fish are "weeble wobbling" as they swim, shown in the videos. I don't know what to do at this point.

Attached are some photos from an hour or two ago. I've basically accepted at this point that the whole tank is going to be wiped out, and wondering if I should just end their suffering and cull them all tomorrow? But I do need to understand what the issue IS so that I can make the tank safe again and eventually restock. So I'm hoping for some help determining exactly what my issue is - parasites? Something else? - and how to fix it. If these fish can't be saved at this point, then what do I need to do to get things back on track and be able to safely keep fish in this tank again?
View attachment 405437 View attachment 405438 View attachment 405439 View attachment 405443 View attachment 405442 View attachment 405441 View attachment 405440 View attachment 405435 View attachment 405436

View attachment 40545420180202_170556 by Alaina Dugas, on Flickr

To me these look like feeder goldies. Which means they are born to die basically. So that's why you see so many overstocked in a tank at the store. They'll die really quickly if they are not eaten.

 

There Are fancies in there which should not be in with the single tails. The comets/ commons are pond fish which will eventually get way too big for your tank although you do have a large tank. They say comets/commons needs a 100 G for one after they reach adults. My comets are in a pond because they grew from 2 inches to over 6” in about 6 months. My fancies are in a tank. What are your water parameters, how often do you do water changes, how many fish, and what filtration do you have? A lot of questions but this will help us help you. Here are my comets/commons. I’vte Had the big one 9 mos. and he has grown about 6” bigger in that time making him 8” now. The other 2nd largest I’ve had for 6 mos and he’s about 4.5” now. The Shubunkin is only 3 mos. and has grown about an inch.