Goldfish Emergency - Urgent

Hello guys!

I hope you are doing well

I have a really serious issue with my goldfish. I recently purchased these fish from someone who was having a pond clear out and decided to buy some of his goldfish for my 400L aquarium. After 1 day, I could see that the fish were not behaving normally. Some were just sitting at the bottom, others would gasp for air at the surface and some would also crazily swim back and forth. I tried treating them with PIMAFIX, but I found that it mad oxygenation levels worse in the tank and they were gasping for air even more. So I did a 100% water change to remove the medication. I tried white spot treatment (blue in colour) with my filter on and 1 day later I can see fin rot and the spotty, gritty, sand-like texture of their fins and eyes.

Guys can you please advise what I need to do, I am super stressed here

 

Welcome!

It looks like some fin rot. Keeping the water really clean will help most.

 

First thing that comes to mind is ammonia and/or nitrite levels. Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? Can you test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and post the number results?

How many fish do you have in there? 400 liters is about 105gals and really that's not very big for common goldfish, especially if you have several of them. They are poop machines and that means they produce a ton of ammonia. The tattered fins, red streaks in the fins, and gasping at the surface all indicate ammonia problems. The white specks on them does indeed look like ich. With that large a tank I'd get a big bottle of Kordon Rid-Ich Plus and start treatment. It will help with the tattered fins too. Also, get some Prime to help with the ammonia and nitrite levels.

 

First thing that comes to mind is ammonia and/or nitrite levels. Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? Can you test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and post the number results?

How many fish do you have in there? 400 liters is about 105gals and really that's not very big for common goldfish, especially if you have several of them. They are poop machines and that means they produce a ton of ammonia. The tattered fins, red streaks in the fins, and gasping at the surface all indicate ammonia problems. The white specks on them does indeed look like ich. With that large a tank I'd get a big bottle of Kordon Rid-Ich Plus and start treatment. It will help with the tattered fins too. Also, get some Prime to help with the ammonia and nitrite levels.

I have done something really stupid. Before collecting them, I basically cleaned out all my filters from my FX6 under tap water. I literally had it for 3-4 years. I am doing daily water changes, ammonia right now is at 1-2ppm. I am really stressed.

First thing that comes to mind is ammonia and/or nitrite levels. Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? Can you test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and post the number results?

How many fish do you have in there? 400 liters is about 105gals and really that's not very big for common goldfish, especially if you have several of them. They are poop machines and that means they produce a ton of ammonia. The tattered fins, red streaks in the fins, and gasping at the surface all indicate ammonia problems. The white specks on them does indeed look like ich. With that large a tank I'd get a big bottle of Kordon Rid-Ich Plus and start treatment. It will help with the tattered fins too. Also, get some Prime to help with the ammonia and nitrite levels.

Also I am in the UK, I do not have this here

 

Do you have ammonia in your tap water? It shouldn't be that high with daily water changes. What size changes are you doing?

 

Do you have ammonia in your tap water? It shouldn't be that high with daily water changes. What size changes are you doing?

100%

 

100%

Is there ammonia in your tap water?

 

Need more information.
emergency template

needing the water parameters of the aquarium and the tap water. pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate for starters and what temp the tank is being kept at.

Easiest solution in this situation is getting sponges/ bacteria from a local aquarium store from one of their bigger system filters that could handle a load of this size and reestablish the biofilter. I don't think you can keep a handle on it otherwise. Bioboosters will not get it under control fast enough. water changing won't get you all the way through a single day.

1-2ppm ammonia a day seems like a lot, but from the pictures it looks like at least 6 goldfish that aren't small. I have 24 angelfish that aren't like goldfish size of course, but they do like 2-3ppm ammonia every 24 hours, I see it in nitrate build up. if there's 6 fish that are a quarter a kilo each that 1.5 kg (maybe half pound) of fish, and that's going to be a lot of ammonia every 24 hours.

I think it's possible to run 2-3 even 4 ammonia in 24 hours depending on the fish, size and numbers.

there's a bunch of different brands of ammonia removers/neutralizers/ lockers, ect. Not really cheap and they will get used up and need replacing and redosing ect.. but also an option.

best bet is to track down established bacteria from somewhere that can handle 3-4ppm ammonia immediately, from a LFS, from a Club, maybe from a friend that keeps fish, something.

 

Need more information.
emergency template

needing the water parameters of the aquarium and the tap water. pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate for starters and what temp the tank is being kept at.

Easiest solution in this situation is getting sponges/ bacteria from a local aquarium store from one of their bigger system filters that could handle a load of this size and reestablish the biofilter. I don't think you can keep a handle on it otherwise. Bioboosters will not get it under control fast enough. water changing won't get you all the way through a single day.

1-2ppm ammonia a day seems like a lot, but from the pictures it looks like at least 6 goldfish that aren't small. I have 24 angelfish that aren't like goldfish size of course, but they do like 2-3ppm ammonia every 24 hours, I see it in nitrate build up. if there's 6 fish that are a quarter a kilo each that 1.5 kg (maybe half pound) of fish, and that's going to be a lot of ammonia every 24 hours.

I think it's possible to run 2-3 even 4 ammonia in 24 hours depending on the fish, size and numbers.

there's a bunch of different brands of ammonia removers/neutralizers/ lockers, ect. Not really cheap and they will get used up and need replacing and redosing ect.. but also an option.

best bet is to track down established bacteria from somewhere that can handle 3-4ppm ammonia immediately, from a LFS, from a Club, maybe from a friend that keeps fish, something.

Tank

Ammonia - 0.5
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5

Tap Water

Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5

I have now lost two fish. Fish show no signs of improvement. Shall I add a heater? Currently treating with PIMAFIX + MELAFIX + MEDIFIN (TETRA) after I changed the water and added Prime and bacteria boost (tetra). I do not think oxygenation is an issue since I have purchased a 500L/H air pump in addition to the existing one I have, as well as lower the water so the outflow from my FX6 ripples on the surface. Yet they are still breathing heavily. I am really stressed

Is there ammonia in your tap water?

Tank

Ammonia - 0.5
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5

Tap Water

Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5

I have now lost two fish. Fish show no signs of improvement. Shall I add a heater? Currently treating with PIMAFIX + MELAFIX + MEDIFIN (TETRA) after I changed the water and added Prime and bacteria boost (tetra). I do not think oxygenation is an issue since I have purchased a 500L/H air pump in addition to the existing one I have, as well as lower the water so the outflow from my FX6 ripples on the surface. Yet they are still breathing heavily. I am really stressed

 

Looks like things are moving in the right direction as far as the cycle goes. Ammonia now down to 0.5. Once the tank is cycled, the BB should be able to handle the added ammonia from the tap water. Until then, water changes are your friend. Try to keep the ammonia below .5ppm with WChanges. What is the pH?

You said Pimafix made things worse, but you are still using it??

Meds are not harmless, so it's good not to use them unless you know what you are treating. The three you are using all seem to do the same thing, so I would use one, not 3. You don't want to increase stress on the fish by over medicating them, they have enough to deal with already.

Other than breathing heavily / rapidly, do you notice anything else about the gills. Abnormal redness, swelling...

If there is gill damage from ammonia or nitrite exposure it can decrease the gills ability to function, causing the fish to breath more rapidly to compensate.

 

Typické ochorenie flexibacter columnaris. Is it getting better?