Goldfish not eating

[MightyT]

1. I'm using Omega One.
2. Yes
3. 68-69 degrees
4. The Goldfish are about 3 inches
5. I water change every two weeks.
6. 15 %
7. Haven't checked in a while, I know for sure that nitrites and ammonia are 0
8. A few weeks.

 

[CaptainAquatics]

1. I'm using Omega One.
2. Yes
3. 68-69 degrees
4. The Goldfish are about 3 inches
5. I water change every two weeks.
6. 15 %
7. Haven't checked in a while, I know for sure that nitrites and ammonia are 0
8. A few weeks.

Ok, so:
1. Is it flakes, or pellets
2. You need to water change EVERY week of 50% each time. You may be able to get away with 25% weekly but goldfish do need extra because they are very messy.

If you are feeding flakes, switch to pellets. I find my goldfish like those more.

 

[MightyT]

It's pellets.

 

[Skavatar]

you could put the pellets where the water exits your filter, it'll help push the pellets down.

15% every 2 weeks is not enough. you need to do atleast 50% weekly. I do 70-75% weekly.

 

[MightyT]

you could put the pellets where the water exits your filter, it'll help push the pellets down.

15% every 2 weeks is not enough. you need to do atleast 50% weekly. I do 70-75% weekly.

I do put the pellets there. When the pellets hit the ground, the fish doesn't eat it.

 

[Skavatar]

that's weird b/c goldfish love to scavenge for food.

 

[MightyT]

The problem is it spits it out.

 

[CaptainAquatics]

The problem is it spits it out.

I do put the pellets there. When the pellets hit the ground, the fish doesn't eat it.

What substrate do you have? Goldfish can only sift through sand.

 

[MightyT]

When the fish picks it off the gravel, it spits it out.

 

[Skavatar]

any other odd behavior with the ryukin? have you had it since it was small?

 

[MightyT]

It's fixed, he started realizing he was hungry and started eating it off the ground. The problem was probably that he was used to different food. Thanks.

 

[Amythe]

my goldfish isn't eationg, we have no other food to feed it except for pellets and we dont even hae peas. how to make her eat?

she began quieting about a week ago, now that I think about it. Goldenpool began shhowing symptoms of food refusment, but only a bit, 3 days ago. she started floating near the bottom yeterday, and has not ate since. P.S, no photos, sorry
Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 10 Gallon
How long has the tank been running? 3 months
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater?Yes
What is the water temperature? 79
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
1 goldfish, very small about 3 inches

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? once a month
How much of the water do you change? 50-100%
What do you use to treat your water? Nothing
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? everyting

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?No
What do you use to test the water? None
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia:0.02
Nitrite:0.05
Nitrate: 5
pH:.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? daily
How much do you feed your fish? 2-3 pellets
What brand of food do you feed your fish? goldfish colour pellets
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 3 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 2 days ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?not eating, staying at bottom of tank
Have you started any treatment for the illness? hand feeding
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchasenot this one, another that was living in the same tank had ich
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

 

[Amythe]

I'm worried, she's the3rd goldfish to become ill. Poor Goldenpool.

 

[e_watson09]

A couple issues that could be causing it, it could be any of these

#1: Your tank is cycling which is VERY stressful on fish. Any amount of ammonia and nitrites can be devastating to fish.
#2: Your pH is really acidic for goldies. Usually pH 6 is the lowest you want it to be.
#3: Tank is much too small for a goldfish of any kind, especially a 3" long one.
#4: The water is pretty warm for goldies, usually about 75 degrees is about the highest you want it to be.

It really could be any one of the items I listed above or a combination of them. I would try to address as many of the issues as possible and maybe look into some frozen foods to entice him into eating

 

[Amythe]

A couple issues that could be causing it, it could be any of these

#1: Your tank is cycling which is VERY stressful on fish. Any amount of ammonia and nitrites can be devastating to fish.
#2: Your pH is really acidic for goldies. Usually pH 6 is the lowest you want it to be.
#3: Tank is much too small for a goldfish of any kind, especially a 3" long one.
#4: The water is pretty warm for goldies, usually about 75 degrees is about the highest you want it to be.

It really could be any one of the items I listed above or a combination of them. I would try to address as many of the issues as possible and maybe look into some frozen foods to entice him into eating

Thankks for your help, she died today, or more correctly, I euthanized her today, there was no chance she'd recover

 

[Amythe]

ead:

 

[Ryz]

RIP Goldenpool, my condolences.

One bit of advice I could think of for the future; One water change a month for a 10 gal with a goldfish living in it, is not sufficient to keep good water perameters. Maybe if you barely feed the fish, like once every 3-4 days(which I would never do because I consider it unnecessarily fasting a goldfish ie, light weight starving) Even if the levels spike without your notice, it could permanently damage a fish's body. I'd recommend weekly changes or a drastically bigger tank like 30-40+ for a once a month, and that would be for the one 3in goldfish. That and plants, and let algae grow. Also idk what kind of water you have, but if your not using a water conditioner(because maybe your blessed to have awsome water), and you were "fish-in cycling" You would have been having to do pretty much 100% water changes for at least 3-4 weeks(probably). If you werent doing the daily changes, the ammonia and nitrite almost indefinitely damaged Goldenpools body.
Also the ammonia and nitrite shoulda been zero for 100% cycled system. Since the nitrates were there, it probably means your had a small crash, which is another reason your little guy wasn't doing so hot.

Bless.

 

[VZZ]

Hi everyone,
I’m a beginner fish keeper and need help with some symptoms my goldfish has been displaying. Its a long one, but I tried to stick just to important details. The “TLDR” version is: my fish stopped eating around may 17th, and then went back to eating his normal twice a day feedings a week later. Then suddenly last week he only wanted to eat once a day. Now, since moving to a larger tank, he has only (barely) minimally eatten and i can see some veins on his pectoral and tail fins. He has no blood spots on his body and is swimming around, no clamped fins.
———————
I have a situation and I’m looking for help. I have a 4 year old common goldfish that gets fed twice a day. Starting around May 17, he stopped eating when I’d feed him. He didn’t look or act off in any way. I know he can be picky and figured he was getting tired of the pellets. I tried different food, but still no interest.

I only had water test strips (I’ve heard they can be inaccurate) and the parameters checked out fine. The tank was a 20 gallon that had been set up for about 2.5-3 years. I decided to do 50% water changes every other day when he wasn’t eating just in case. (I also changed the filter at the end of the week) After a week, he went back to eating completly normal. Actively waiting to be fed and devouring everything I fed twice a day.

Then around last Friday (6/4), he began to only be interested in eating once a day. In the mean time, I had a 55 gallon that I had planned to move him into. I moved him Sunday (6/6) into the new tank with all his plants, substrate, filter and filter media, as well as transfering over all the water (i’ve heard mixed opinions on moving over old water but did it to be cautious). I topped the tank off with fresh water and moved him in.

He settled in quickly and immediately began pecking around looking for food. I fed him and he ate everything.

The next day, monday (6/7), I tried feeding him and he was disinterested in eating again. I left the food in the tank, but he still didn’t touch it by tuesday morning. I siphoned everything out and didn’t feed again until Wednesday evening. He wasn’t interested again.

I left those pellets in the tank until this morning. I’m really not sure if he ate any, but I did (TMI?) find one fish poop with food in it.

I also noticed since Monday (6/7), I can see the veins in his pectoral and tail fins more. He does not have blood spots on his body or clamped fins. He is moving around doing his thing, just not normally eating.

Could the veins be because of stress from the move? Could he be sick? How should I proceed?

I got an API master test kit and have been testing the water. I’ll include those as well as a comparison to my well well.

What could be going on?
I attached photos of my water tests, and my well water. I added a photo of his tail. I can’t get the veins to show up on camera and getting a good picture is difficult because he’s swimming around, but i did the best i could! thanks

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 55 gallon
How long has the tank been running? Appox 1 week, but 2.5-3 years in the prior 20 gallon
Does it have a filter? Yes- aqueon hang over 75 gallon
Does it have a heater? No
What is the water temperature? Not sure
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) Only 1 common goldfish

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Every 1-2 weeks, there was a period between Feb-April that i changed it every 4 weeks.
How much of the water do you change? 50-75% every 1-2 weeks. 80-90% when it i had done it once a month
What do you use to treat your water? I have well water and have never treated it with anything
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Vacuum the substrate every time

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? This was a cycled tank that i moved to a bigger aquarium
What do you use to test the water? Api master test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: either 0 or .25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5ppm
pH: 8.2

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 2 times a day
How much do you feed your fish? The size of his eye
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Omega one small sinking goldfish pellets
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?
I use to feed freeze dried brine shrimp, but then he decided he didn’t like that anymore.
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 4 years
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? May 17 (ish)
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? See above
Have you started any treatment for the illness? No medications, just daily or ever other day water changes
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? See above

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now) see above

 

[Fawkes21]

Does he eat food and spit it out or is he just not interested in it?

Is there any bottom sitting, lethargy, heavy breathing etc?

 

[VZZ]

Does he eat food and spit it out or is he just not interested in it?

Is there any bottom sitting, lethargy, heavy breathing etc?
—————————

Hi Fawkes, he is not interested in it.
Its odd because he’ll follow me from side to side when I’m around the tank, which was his usual behavior around feeding time. Yet, I’ll pour the pellets right in front of him and he’ll just leave insead of eat.

He’s isn’t acting different than his typical behavior around the tank. No heavy breathing or bottom sitting. The only thing I’ve noticed physically is that since monday, his veins are more visible in the pectoral and tail fin. I can’t get it to pick up on camera, unfortunately. He’s pretty active it’s hard to get a good pic.

 

[jtjgg]

when i upgraded tanks, i moved most of the old tank water and topped off with new water, its the same as doing a large water change.

i would suggest doing weekly water changes. its more than just removing nitrates. there's also phosphates, heavy metals, dissolved organic compounds, etc. also replenishes trace minerals in the water.

fast for 3-4 days.

is he pooping? if not, try feeding blanched peas/broccoli.

 

[Fawkes21]

Does he eat food and spit it out or is he just not interested in it?

Is there any bottom sitting, lethargy, heavy breathing etc?
—————————

Hi Fawkes, he is not interested in it.
Its odd because he’ll follow me from side to side when I’m around the tank, which was his usual behavior around feeding time. Yet, I’ll pour the pellets right in front of him and he’ll just leave insead of eat.

He’s isn’t acting different than his typical behavior around the tank. No heavy breathing or bottom sitting. The only thing I’ve noticed physically is that since monday, his veins are more visible in the pectoral and tail fin. I can’t get it to pick up on camera, unfortunately. He’s pretty active it’s hard to get a good pic.

Have you tried other kinds of foods?

Also do you use a conditioner when you do water changes? The streaking could indicate some irritant in the water

 

[VZZ]

when i upgraded tanks, i moved most of the old tank water and topped off with new water, its the same as doing a large water change.

i would suggest doing weekly water changes. its more than just removing nitrates. there's also phosphates, heavy metals, dissolved organic compounds, etc. also replenishes trace minerals in the water.

fast for 3-4 days.

is he pooping? if not, try feeding blanched peas/broccoli.

———————————-

Hi jtjgg, thanks for your response. I fasted him all of Tuesday and Wednesday until late evening. I offered him food then, but he didn’t want it. I removed it and decided not to feed for another day. Yesterday, friday morning I tried again to feed him. He didn’t come to eat, but I left home for 2-3 hours and when I got back all the food was gone.

I offered the second feeding that evening and he wasn’t interested. I left it until this morning and it’s debatable if he ate anything. But, I did find fish poop with food in it this morning.

———————————-

Have you tried other kinds of foods?

Also do you use a conditioner when you do water changes? The streaking could indicate some irritant in the water
—————————-
Hi Fawkes, I have tried some other foods. At first I thought he was getting tired of the pellets so I went to the store and bought a variety of different flakes (unfortunately they didn’t carry any pellet options) i would soak the flakes for a couple seconds before feeding so it sunk like his old food. The only one he seemed to like was the bug bites, but it can still be hit or miss. I ordered more pellets and bloodworms online to try, they should be here any day. I’ve also tried peas, brine shrimp, and lettuce.

I have never conditioned his water in the 4 years I’ve had him. I “rescued” him from one of my neighbors who had him as bug control in her horse’s water trough. She was going to leave him freeze over the winter, so I took him. All these years I’ve just been replicating the well water environment he had in the trough. At the time, I was worried changing it too much might have done harm to him.

I did pick up prime conditioner from the pet store when i was there. How would I go about adding that to his tank? Do i put the full amount needed into a small bucketed portion of water and pour it in? Or do i add to the tank directly?

 

[Fawkes21]

when i upgraded tanks, i moved most of the old tank water and topped off with new water, its the same as doing a large water change.

i would suggest doing weekly water changes. its more than just removing nitrates. there's also phosphates, heavy metals, dissolved organic compounds, etc. also replenishes trace minerals in the water.

fast for 3-4 days.

is he pooping? if not, try feeding blanched peas/broccoli.

———————————-

Hi jtjgg, thanks for your response. I fasted him all of Tuesday and Wednesday until late evening. I offered him food then, but he didn’t want it. I removed it and decided not to feed for another day. Yesterday, friday morning I tried again to feed him. He didn’t come to eat, but I left home for 2-3 hours and when I got back all the food was gone.

I offered the second feeding that evening and he wasn’t interested. I left it until this morning and it’s debatable if he ate anything. But, I did find fish poop with food in it this morning.

———————————-

Have you tried other kinds of foods?

Also do you use a conditioner when you do water changes? The streaking could indicate some irritant in the water
—————————-
Hi Fawkes, I have tried some other foods. At first I thought he was getting tired of the pellets so I went to the store and bought a variety of different flakes (unfortunately they didn’t carry any pellet options) i would soak the flakes for a couple seconds before feeding so it sunk like his old food. The only one he seemed to like was the bug bites, but it can still be hit or miss. I ordered more pellets and bloodworms online to try, they should be here any day. I’ve also tried peas, brine shrimp, and lettuce.

I have never conditioned his water in the 4 years I’ve had him. I “rescued” him from one of my neighbors who had him as bug control in her horse’s water trough. She was going to leave him freeze over the winter, so I took him. All these years I’ve just been replicating the well water environment he had in the trough. At the time, I was worried changing it too much might have done harm to him.

I did pick up prime conditioner from the pet store when i was there. How would I go about adding that to his tank? Do i put the full amount needed into a small bucketed portion of water and pour it in? Or do i add to the tank directly?

You can add prime directly to the tank or add it to your bucket of new water during water changes

The good thing with prime is that you can dose daily and it's very difficult to overdose it and you can use 5x recommended dose if dealing with emergency nitrite/ammonia spikes

It'll bind any ammonia and nitrites for up to 48hrs so it's good to use for dealing with any suspected spikes

Might be a good idea to dose prime directly in your tank every day for the next few days to see if that helps

 

[VZZ]

You can add prime directly to the tank or add it to your bucket of new water during water changes

The good thing with prime is that you can dose daily and it's very difficult to overdose it and you can use 5x recommended dose if dealing with emergency nitrite/ammonia spikes

It'll bind any ammonia and nitrites for up to 48hrs so it's good to use for dealing with any suspected spikes

Might be a good idea to dose prime directly in your tank every day for the next few days to see if that helps
————————
Okay, I will give that a try and see if it helps. This is my tank’s parameters yesterday before prime.
I can’t decide if the ammonia is closer to 0 or .25ppm. Does anything look really off with this test?

My first thought was that its something involving the water because he went though a bout of this in May. He was disinterested in food for a week, then started eating normally again for two weeks. Now he’s back to being disinterested.

 

[Fawkes21]

The only thing that looks a bit off to me is the ammonia, looks between 0 and 0.25

However I can never get my own api ammonia to read 0ppm as its always between 0-0.25ppm and I know my ammonia is 0 because my seachem ammonia alerts are reading 0 and so is my salifert ammonia kit. I've had issues with the api ammonia kit and know others have as well re false positives

It could be an issue with your kit but I would definitely rule out water quality first though it could be worth buying another ammonia kit to confirm

Have you got him to eat bloodworms at all?

Also do you know if your city could be flushing stuff down your taps/well? I'm in the UK so we don't really have wells here, so not sure how they work but is that a possibility?

 

[VZZ]

Unfortunately my blood worms haven’t arrived yet. The mail service says the package will be here Monday or Tuesday. I did get him to eat pellets on Friday, and finally found some fish poop with food in it. At least thats a good thing. However, he hasn’t been interested since then.

The red lines in his fins are pretty much gone at this point. But since last night, I’ve noticed he’ll stop swimming and clamp his dorsal and pelvic fin. Then after a few minutes, they go back up and he starts swimming around. I attached a picture of the clamping, and then him swimming around. The first two photos were taken just a minute apart.

When he’s clamped, he breathes very slow and minimal. It’s kind of like he zones out. Then he’ll “jump” out of it, like if you woke a person up from sleeping. He seems to do it more when there’s less activity in the room. If I hang around the tank he’ll swim to me.

The wells where I’m at are private, so each home has their own personal water source. Its a small machine on the property, about 600-800 feet in the ground, that pulls up water and sends it to a system in your house. Chemicals that are applied on the ground can seep through to the water and it also tends to have a lot of minerals.

 

[Fawkes21]

Unfortunately my blood worms haven’t arrived yet. The mail service says the package will be here Monday or Tuesday. I did get him to eat pellets on Friday, and finally found some fish poop with food in it. At least thats a good thing. However, he hasn’t been interested since then.

The red lines in his fins are pretty much gone at this point. But since last night, I’ve noticed he’ll stop swimming and clamp his dorsal and pelvic fin. Then after a few minutes, they go back up and he starts swimming around. I attached a picture of the clamping, and then him swimming around. The first two photos were taken just a minute apart.

When he’s clamped, he breathes very slow and minimal. It’s kind of like he zones out. Then he’ll “jump” out of it, like if you woke a person up from sleeping. He seems to do it more when there’s less activity in the room. If I hang around the tank he’ll swim to me.

The wells where I’m at are private, so each home has their own personal water source. Its a small machine on the property, about 600-800 feet in the ground, that pulls up water and sends it to a system in your house. Chemicals that are applied on the ground can seep through to the water and it also tends to have a lot of minerals.

He looks pretty big and healthy to me!

I've seen some of my fish rest in my tank, they stay still and sometimes clamp their fins but snap out of it and start begging when they see me

Have the bloodworms arrived?

 

[VZZ]

He looks pretty big and healthy to me!

I've seen some of my fish rest in my tank, they stay still and sometimes clamp their fins but snap out of it and start begging when they see me

Have the bloodworms arrived?
——————————————-
Thanks, he is a big fish; about 8 inches not including his tail. He hasn’t done any clamping that I’ve seen since Tuesday, even when resting.

I did get the blood worms. I fed him some last night and he wouldn’t eat in front of me. I came back after a little while and they were mostly gone, so I can assume he did eat some.

 

[Fawkes21]

He looks pretty big and healthy to me!

I've seen some of my fish rest in my tank, they stay still and sometimes clamp their fins but snap out of it and start begging when they see me

Have the bloodworms arrived?
——————————————-
Thanks, he is a big fish; about 8 inches not including his tail. He hasn’t done any clamping that I’ve seen since Tuesday, even when resting.

I did get the blood worms. I fed him some last night and he wouldn’t eat in front of me. I came back after a little while and they were mostly gone, so I can assume he did eat some.

Do you see any poop (lol) to suggest that he's been eating?

I had a danio who spat out all my foods (and I tried half a dozen) and would only accept crushed up bug bites and he only started eating normally once I got him tank mates

You might also want to try some blanched kale or spinach. I blanch some spinach/kale and use a clip to attach it to the tank and they love it, especially the kale. Plus it's a good way of seeing if they're eating because they usually eat everything bar the stems

To be honest, I would just continue keeping an eye, keep up with the water changes and maybe dose a bit of aquarium salt

 

[VZZ]

I have seen some poop, I’ll attach photos. The first one, I don’t think has any food in it. The second two have food, but are a little stringy.

I may try some kale and see if he likes that.

 

[Fawkes21]

I have seen some poop, I’ll attach photos. The first one, I don’t think has any food in it. The second two have food, but are a little stringy.

I may try some kale and see if he likes that.

Have you tried Garlic guard by seachem or soaking food in garlic? It's an appetite stimulant

 

[VZZ]

Have you tried Garlic guard by seachem or soaking food in garlic? It's an appetite stimulant
———————————-

I’ve heard that garlic can make them very interested in eating. I haven’t tried it though. He actually started to eat more regularly on Sunday. He ate both feeding. I’ve noticed he can be a little hesitant on the morning feeding, but if I leave the food in the tank, he will eat it after about an hour. In the evening, he’s been going right for the food when I drop it in.

I have however, noticed that even when he eats, he still seems to have stringy white poop. I attached a picture of the one I saw this morning. It’s the same poop just from two different angles (lol)... Could this be an internal disease?

 

[Fawkes21]

Have you tried Garlic guard by seachem or soaking food in garlic? It's an appetite stimulant
———————————-

I’ve heard that garlic can make them very interested in eating. I haven’t tried it though. He actually started to eat more regularly on Sunday. He ate both feeding. I’ve noticed he can be a little hesitant on the morning feeding, but if I leave the food in the tank, he will eat it after about an hour. In the evening, he’s been going right for the food when I drop it in.

I have however, noticed that even when he eats, he still seems to have stringy white poop. I attached a picture of the one I saw this morning. It’s the same poop just from two different angles (lol)... Could this be an internal disease?

Well that's good that he is at least eating something

I sometimes see stool like this with my fish and by itself I don't think it's a sign of anything serious, it's usually when they haven't eaten in while

Here's a good article about it

Stringy White Fish Poop - Aquatic Veterinary Services

 

[VZZ]

Well that's good that he is at least eating something

I sometimes see stool like this with my fish and by itself I don't think it's a sign of anything serious, it's usually when they haven't eaten in while

Here's a good article about it

Stringy White Fish Poop - Aquatic Veterinary Services
————————
Okay, thats good then! Thanks for the article too. He’s been eating both feedings since Sunday, and the poop I saw earlier today looked a lot more normal.

I asked about this in another online group, and people were saying my cycle doesn’t look right because the nitrates are too low. (Along with other various “diagnosing”) I’m going to get seachem stability and add that along with keeping up frequent checks on the parameters. Hopefully, this will keep him happy and willing to eat!

 

[Fawkes21]

Well that's good that he is at least eating something

I sometimes see stool like this with my fish and by itself I don't think it's a sign of anything serious, it's usually when they haven't eaten in while

Here's a good article about it

Stringy White Fish Poop - Aquatic Veterinary Services
————————
Okay, thats good then! Thanks for the article too. He’s been eating both feedings since Sunday, and the poop I saw earlier today looked a lot more normal.

I asked about this in another online group, and people were saying my cycle doesn’t look right because the nitrates are too low. (Along with other various “diagnosing”) I’m going to get seachem stability and add that along with keeping up frequent checks on the parameters. Hopefully, this will keep him happy and willing to eat!

Your nitrates look between 0 to 5ppm to me which is pretty good

Generally you want to keep your nitrates below 40ppm, preferably below 20ppm.

It could be though that your cycle hasn't quite finished which could explain the hint of ammonia and low nitrates, though in my experience the api ammonia is quite notorious for false positives

I would also test your well water for nitrates to see what your levels are. The low nitrates could be from your well water if you well water doesn't have a lot of nitrates and you're doing regular water changes

I have 30 to 50ppm nitrates in my tap water so I need a special filter to keep mine down

 

[VZZ]

Your nitrates look between 0 to 5ppm to me which is pretty good

Generally you want to keep your nitrates below 40ppm, preferably below 20ppm.

It could be though that your cycle hasn't quite finished which could explain the hint of ammonia and low nitrates, though in my experience the api ammonia is quite notorious for false positives

I would also test your well water for nitrates to see what your levels are. The low nitrates could be from your well water if you well water doesn't have a lot of nitrates and you're doing regular water changes

I have 30 to 50ppm nitrates in my tap water so I need a special filter to keep mine down
——————————————-
This was from about two weeks ago when I tested my well water. I’d say 0 ppm ammonia, nitrites & nitrates. That could be part in why my nitrates come back so low.

 

[Mehmet91]

Hi everyone,

Having had my two goldfish for 3 years,

mine being Cometfish and the other a Shubunkin,

I have noticed a change, firstly they wont eat, I use flake food primarily, but have tried bloodworms they won’t touch it, I had tried the Pea method and my Shubunkin had eaten two bits of pea but the cometfish won’t touch anything, It’s now been nearly 7 days since she’s not eaten anything at all I’m really concerned,

secondly here’s my water parameters taken yesterday

nitrates I’d say to be 10/20ppm
Nitrates 0
Ammonia 0
PH not shown in photograph 8.5
Tank size 300L
Filter - Fluval 407

The tank is well established and hasn’t had any water quality issues, However I have noticed that on my cometfishs body I’m seeing specs of white spots now is this Ich or white spot or is it stress related?

Temperatures in London have been really high lately hitting the 32c mark however I have been keeping the aquarium cool with frozen water bottles which had brang the temp down considerably (aquarium fan is waiting to be delivered)

I have treated the entire tank which is 300L aquarium with Interpet Anti White-Spot which it’s hard to diagnose properly I haven’t noticed anymore of these spots come up I could be misdiagnosing?

the fish in general over the 3 years that I’ve had them have been really healthy until now I don’t know what is happening,

also they are staying mid range high in the aquarium which isn’t like them usually they like to chill at the bottom during the night I have turned on the air stones to provide additional oxygen in the tank with the wave makers

the comet fish usually rushes so much for food but for the past 7 days now absolutely nothing, the first day that she wasn’t eating I had noticed she was still pooping but since day 2 nothing, I’m hoping I can save her and my Shubunkin if there is indeed a misdiagnosis,

can anyone shed some advice please?

 

[Force]

Looks like ich but not that much

 

[Mehmet91]

Thankyou for the reply force, can you recommend any specific treatment as I’m not sure that the treatment given will help or will it ? The treatment given was Interpet Anti White Spot

 

[Noroomforshoe]

I do not see any signs of ich. I used rid ich last time my fish had ich and it worked !
Are you saying that you already used interpret white spot? If so use it exactly as the box says, dont stop halfway. if it suggests a water change at the end or fresh carbon, be sure to do it!

 

[Ouse]

Although keeping the temperature low is proving hard for you right now, I would like to add that the temperature should be between 15-18°C. 32°C is very high for even tropical fish, let alone coldwater fish such as goldfish. I have to think this very high temp is playing a big part in this.

 

[Mehmet91]

Hi there sorry I should of been more specific the max temp their tank has been during the is about 23c still on high side but not 32c I meant that was our heatwave temp outside in London, so this did raise the temp high a little bit to 23c, During the cold months temps was perfectly between 17/18c but during the summer I really struggle to maintain this, does this look like ich or something else ?

 

[Ouse]

I can’t see anything in the second photo that suggests your fish has it, but I do see spots in the first.

 

[Mehmet91]

Thankyou for the swift reply, is there anything else I can do to encourage eating at this stage, confused as to what it could be

 

[WRWAquarium]

Hi, heard that food flavoured with garlic is hard for fish to resist.

 

[CrackerboxPalace]

Yep, if you can prefer garlic-soaked flakes or peas, or even pieces of bite-size garlic they will at least check it out.

 

[Force]

Thankyou for the reply force, can you recommend any specific treatment as I’m not sure that the treatment given will help or will it ? The treatment given was Interpet Anti White Spot

Uhh ich-x and others you can search em up

 

[Mehmet91]

Yep, if you can prefer garlic-soaked flakes or peas, or even pieces of bite-size garlic they will at least check it out.

Thankyou for the reply, Unfortunately i have tried the seachem Garlic guard which arrived today soaked in peas and still not interested just not even attracted to the smell its now been 10 days since they haven't eating anything, I can only assume now that whatever they have its making them more weak & more lethargic, Swimming about as usual but no attempt at garlic soaked food can you recommend anything else ?

 

[CrackerboxPalace]

Thankyou for the reply, Unfortunately i have tried the seachem Garlic guard which arrived today soaked in peas and still not interested just not even attracted to the smell its now been 10 days since they haven't eating anything, I can only assume now that whatever they have its making them more weak & more lethargic, Swimming about as usual but no attempt at garlic soaked food can you recommend anything else ?

If you have some tweezers maybe hold a piece of spinach, lettuce etc. soaked in garlic directly in front of them? Make sure to sterilise the tweezers first.