Goldfish relocation project...pics...

Ok, so I have my healthy goldfish sitting in the 36 bowfront and the sick guy in a hospital tank (been 3 days...no improvement so far )

Here are some before and after pics....

 

Hello,

Did you cycle your 36 gallon before adding the goldfish? From the pictures, it looks as if not (Plus in your aquarium info, it shows that you don't know what the nitrogen cycle is). The nitrogen cycle is essential to starting a keeping an aquarium. I recommend that you read about it here: The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle .

Since you already have your goldfish in the aquarium, you are going to have to do a fish-in cycle at that. Luckily common or comet (which ever one you have) are quite hardy and can stand the ammonia and nitrite levels that are in the tank, but that gives no excuse to do a water changes. Now, I would recommend that you start doing water changes daily (10-25%) to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down. Now, I also recommend going out and getting the product Tetra SafeStart. Tetra SafeStart (Also known as TSS) is a bacterial additive to help cycle a tank with fish (Add it to the fish tank, stop doing daily water changes and test your water 10 days after adding it. Make sure to add as much as it says on the directions. Tetra SafeStart will cycles your aquarium 2-3X the speed of what it usually takes and also makes it safe for the fish in the process.

Also, if you do not have a test kit, I recommend that you go and one. Get a liquid test kit (I recommend the API Master Freshwater test kit), not test strips (Test froms From My Experience are highly inaccurate and give false results each time).

What type of disease or symptoms does the goldfish have that is sick? I may be able to assist..

And if I must say, the Goldfish are going to get way too big for your tank. From the looks of it, it looks as if you have comet goldfish. Comet goldfish get up to 12+ inches each and need a pond of at least 100+ gallons. If kept in smaller tanks, the growth of the goldfish might be stunted and possibly kill it. Sorry. Possibly once your tank is cycled, you can get rid of the goldfish and get either some Tropical Freshwater fish or fancy goldfish (Dont get near as big) - (You could probably fit 3-4 depending the type you get).

Good Luck!

 

PHP, I have two prior posts regarding this situation...long story short I had 2 golds that my kids won in a carnival. Not knowing better at the time we picked up a 1.7G "Goldfish Tank" (that's exactly how it was marketed on the box ). You can read them if you want to get all the info but here's a quick rundown of your questions.

I found this site after that so I started doing some research and decided to get a 36G (I know they will outgrow even this...I plan to re-home them and restock with tetra's, a DG and maybe a corycat).

I figure getting them out of the 1.7 took precedence, especially with one of them coming down with something. I TSS'd the new tank and moved the healthy gold into it. The sick gold I put in a Home Depot bucket I set up as a hospital tank with the filter from the old tank (to try to keep the cycle on it to a minimum) and right now I am treating him (although he's not looking better at all yet...)

As far as the sick guy...he is acting fine...however he has white fluff on both sides, looks to be developing ulcers (I see red blood spots on him) and his top fin looks like it got shredded, but that was after I moved him (perhaps happened during the move). Right now he's in the hospital tank and I'm using Melafix per a couple of suggestions I got.

I do know the nitrogen cycle...I haven't had a chance to fully update my profile yet...I figured getting them out of that sardine box was more important than making sure they had a fully cycled tank waiting.

 

Ok well that's glad to know that you know your stuff and your doing it right

 

Dino power! I dinos. I wanted to put I <heart> dinos but I couldn't find a <heart> smiley. So sad. I do have a I heart dinos t-shirt. Geologists don't get out much. Good thing I'm a geologist working as a firefighter.

 

Well thank you (I think)...

Yeah my older kid has been all about the dino's lately...dino shows...dine toys...dino books...

 

The Goldfish with fluff on his side.. Which came first, the Fluff or the "ulcers"? Melafix is fine for small bacterial infections, but this sounds like Columnaris, which turns deadly pretty quickly, and time would NOT be on your side. It is not uncomon to see a flexibacter columnaris outbreak, allowing for a secondary aeronomas infection (that "Ulcer" of which you spoke).. this disease might very well kill your fish if not treated with the CORRECT meds. immediately. here is an article on it:

 

I agree with PHP. those comets are active and need a lot of space. plus it is cruel to give away goldfish as prizes. In my area it is banned. You could keep some smaller species of goldfish like the fancy varities. So anyway good luck with your tank.

 

I agree with PHP. those comets are active and need a lot of space. plus it is cruel to give away goldfish as prizes. In my area it is banned. You could keep some smaller species of goldfish like the fancy varities. So anyway good luck with your tank.

not planning on keeping them in the 36G indefinitely...short term it was moving them out of the 1.7G...think I found a place to re-home them permenantly (friend's pond) however I;m going to keep them in the 36 at least through the winter...they're not big enough to go into the pond anyway...the other fish will probably eat them.

And just to add, yeah knowing what I do now it's craptastic that a) they give away fish that will end up growing greater than 10x their size and b) that companies will advertise tanks less than 5G as "Goldfish tanks"

I do not have the means to support 2 comets at full size, however I'm trying to do what I can for them at least in the short term.

 

not planning on keeping them in the 36G indefinitely...short term it was moving them out of the 1.7G...think I found a place to re-home them permenantly (friend's pond) however I;m going to keep them in the 36 at least through the winter...they're not big enough to go into the pond anyway...the other fish will probably eat them.

Good plan.

 

Sounds like you're really well informed now, and you're doing the right thing. Just thought I'd say that, though I don't have any advice about the sick goldie. I hope he pulls through! Thanks for being a good fish owner!

 

Thanks Twi...I'm trying. Hard trying to explain to a 4 yr old that you might have to relocate her goldfish...she heard my wife and I talking about it and it was instant waterfalls.

Regardless, he'll be with us until the spring...so we'll see then.

 

And just to add I picked up a second AC70 today.

Now the main thing is trying to get the 2nd goldie healthy...

 

what all are you using with the sick Goldie?

 

what all are you using with the sick Goldie?

I'm about to finish a Melafix cycle (on day 9)...

He's not looking better by any means...but he's still swimming and eating...which is weird. I figure if there's something tearing him up from the outside he'd act different.

 

HI jamus, The new tank looks great!

Sorry one of them is still sick. You said white film on his sides followed by some redness? Do you have any medication on hand other than Melafix? From what I understand, melafix targets a very specific, but very common, type of bacteria, and if your fish doesn’t have that, it doesn’t do any good. After 9 days with no improvement means you should try something else. I’d say salt is one option, but it depends on how bad the infection is. Antibacterial food such as Medi-gold or Jungle brand is very helpful, and it should be used with some waterborne meds if you have something parasitic or fungal. Some pictures may help us guide you in the right direction. Keep up the water changes for the little guy.

 

Hello Yuk!

Thanks for the advice....wish I can get a pic but he's still swimming around like a madfish...so it's difficult (plus he's in a bucket so it would be top down view only).

questions

1) Salt - can I use table salt and if so how much? Right now he's in a 5G HD bucket I converted into a holding / hospital tank.

2) Where can I get "good" fish medication? I just see the generic stuff at the local Petco / Petsmart...don't really have too many LFS around.

 

Try this: it treats several problems.

 

I've had success treating fish with Maracyn and Maracyn 2 in the past. Both meds, along with Triple Sulfa can be found at PetSmart.

 

Maracyn never worked for me.

 

did a full water change and I'm now dosing with Triple Sulfa

 

I sometimes use bigalspets.com orthatpetplace for my fish stuff, whichever has a good promo like free shipping. I was going to say Furan-2 or Bifuran+ mixed with Kanaplex, but as you can see, there are many choices and it takes a bit of research and trial to find what works. Antibiotics should help with the redness and the white stuff if it’s bacterial—but we can’t rule out parasites or fungus not quite yet. I haven’t used triple sulfa personally, but let’s see how it does. It may take 3+ days to start seeing improvements. Keep us posted.

For future reference, you can use any kind of salt—table salt, kosher salt, sea salt, etc—but avoid the ones that have additives such as yellow prussiate of soda. Basically it should only say salt under the ingredients. Salt canbe useful because it’s cheaper, readily available, and can inhibit several conditions including bacterial, fungal and parasitic when you’re not sure what exactly is wrong. Around .3% concentration (1 table spoon or 3 teaspoons per gallon) for 1 to 2 weeks is a good starting point as treatment of mild to moderate infections.