New fantail goldfish seems really stressed out

My new fantail goldfish seems really stressed out.

I re-cycled my 20 gallon tank with TSS and added my goldfish yesterday. He seemed very timid and stressed out as soon as I got him. I remember fantail tank at my LFS had one messed-up fish that was smaller than the rest and hid in the back. I think I might of received this one. As soon as he got in the tank, he immediately went to the back corner and laid on the gravel. He did this for a while but started swimming around. Everytime I check up on him, he hides in the back. He bolts and ends up hitting the glass sometimes into the corner. I thought he would get over it but he isn't yet. He isn't eating and I'm just worried. I would check the water parameters but I am currently out of the test and the tank is being cycled by Tetra Safestart right now. He also seems to be developing fin rot...


I'm not sure what to do. Is it just the goldfish or did I do something wrong?

 

As far as him hiding and not eating, he just needs time to adjust to his new surroundings and to you. If he's the only fish in the tank, he's probably feeling a bit overwhelmed. Goldfish are VERY social creatures and even the company of fish that aren't goldfish helps them feel safe. I just added a baby ryukin to my 55gal and he's out, about and exploring.

With the whole not eating thing, he'll eat when he's ready. I feed my fish every other day, sometimes every third day and they're healthy and hale. Contrary to popular belief, they don't have to eat every day, several times a day.

 

The Diva is correct, fish can go with less food than you would expect. Since they are cold blooded animals, the do not use calories to maintain body heat so a little food goes a long way.

That said, I feed my fish twice a day because...I spoil them.

 

I know most tropical fish can go days without food, which they do in the wild all the time. I normally feed my tropical fish a very small amount twice a day but when I go on vacation I have a friend feed them once every other day. This way I know she doesn’t over feed them while I am gone.

I am no way an expert on Goldfish because I have only kept them a few times and only in larger tanks or ponds but I will still pass on what I was told about them by other keepers. I was always told that Goldfish like to eat almost constantly because they do not have a stomach like most other fish have. This is not to say they have to eat constantly because in the wild during the winter they can go very long periods without eating. This is one reason they do better in ponds with lots of algae growth, they can graze anytime they like.

Goldfish can take some time to warm up to your presents around the tank but they will soon learn that your presents equals food and will start coming to great you. When I was keeping my grandsons Goldfish for him it took a while for them to get use to my daily water changes and feeding but once they did they didn’t even hardly move out of they way when I was cleaning and always came up to check and see if I was dropping in food every time I walked by.

 

Give him a day or two to adjust.

 

I agree with the others. He just needs time to get used to his new place and to you. Make sure he has a lot of cover and things to hide behind to help him feel secure.

 

mine did the same, just provide it with hiding places and it'l calm down a lot

 

And if it doesn't don't be afraid to bring it back and get a healthier one.

 

Thanks for all the replies!

What should I do about the finrot? It isn't really severe but it worsened from yesterday. Do you think after the TSS cycle, the fin rot will heal itself?

 

My new fantail goldfish seems really stressed out.

I re-cycled my 20 gallon tank with TSS and added my goldfish yesterday. He seemed very timid and stressed out as soon as I got him. I remember fantail tank at my LFS had one messed-up fish that was smaller than the rest and hid in the back. I think I might of received this one. As soon as he got in the tank, he immediately went to the back corner and laid on the gravel. He did this for a while but started swimming around. Everytime I check up on him, he hides in the back. He bolts and ends up hitting the glass sometimes into the corner. I thought he would get over it but he isn't yet. He isn't eating and I'm just worried. I would check the water parameters but I am currently out of the test and the tank is being cycled by Tetra Safestart right now. He also seems to be developing fin rot...


I'm not sure what to do. Is it just the goldfish or did I do something wrong?

He'll probably eat when he's ready he may just be scared. Also, I recommend trying to get a 29g, and get your goldfish, and 6-8 neon tetra's. That may be better.

 

Let me start out by saying, I got off to a real bad start thanks to advice I had gotten from a salesgirl at PetSmart. My daughter had won 2 goldfish at a school fair and I went to PerSmart and explained the situation. She sold me a 1 1/2 gallon tank for the two goldfish and no mention for cycling. Needless to say, it didn't work out too well. One of the goldfish died, the other had severe fin rot.

Well I ended up getting a larger tank and getting it cycled. The goldie with the fin rot grew back all of his fins. That was 4 years ago and he's about 8" long and doing great. So I think that once you get your's in a toxin free environment, he should grow all his fins back.

 

Also, I recommend trying to get a 29g, and get your goldfish, and 6-8 neon tetra's. That may be better.

And why, pray tell, would this be a better idea? Putting a large, very dirty, temperate fish in with extremely sensitive tropical fish? Not a very sound idea. IF the OP were to get a larger tank, other temperate fish would be best suited to living with the goldfish. Fish like gold barbs, danios, or white cloud mountain minnows.

 

HI Legures and Welcome,
If you are not familiar with goldfish, here is a another forum I belong to dedicated to goldfish and the people there also have a lot of great advise: www.petgoldfish.net
Like the others have mentioned your goldfish is probably just stressed out and will seek you out in few days-my newest one was shy for a few days as well, but once he realized I was the person who handed out the food, he was the first one looking out of the aquarium. I have had goldfish on and off for 5 years and after joining this site and the goldfish forum, realized I made some major mistakes, but we live and learn and reading up on cycling and just about your aquarium and fish in general cannot be stressed enough. I only wish I had started REALLY reading and understanding what the heck I was doing a long time ago. Best wishes on your new hobby and let us know how things go.

 

Thanks for all the help guys but I'm afraid my goldfish is about to pass away. He's been acting really funny last night. He acted like he had swim bladder disease but he didn't have it. And now, this morning he is laying on the substrate sideways but he's still breathing. I can't think of a reason why he died (or almost died).
The water parameters look fine and I think it was just a problem with the fish or an internal parasite.

My question is, what's my next step? It's been half a week since I added the fish and my TSS. Will my bacteria die from lack of ammonia or do you think the cycle is done now. I'm planning to get another HEALTHY goldfish tomorrow (hopefully) . I don't really want to get another bottle of TSS since it's expensive so if I do have to re-cycle, I'll probably use live plants.

Also should I put the fish out of his misery or leave him to be? (I'll be coming home at around midnight tonight so he will be alone for 12 hours).

Thanks so much

 

I came back and the fish died. I still need help with the rest of my questions!

My question is, what's my next step? It's been half a week since I added the fish and my TSS. Will my bacteria die from lack of ammonia or do you think the cycle is done now. I'm planning to get another HEALTHY goldfish tomorrow (hopefully) . I don't really want to get another bottle of TSS since it's expensive so if I do have to re-cycle, I'll probably use live plants.

 

If you get another glodfish in there today I would think your SafeStart bacteria would be fine. It is very unlikely that your tank has cycled in half a week, but even if it did, you would need to get fish in there right away to keep the bacteria alive. So either way, get a new fish in there today.

Live plants will not cycle your tank. While they will uptake some ammonia, nitrite and nitrate it will not be nearly enough. Plus, goldfish and live plants don't really work out together. The goldfish will either eat them or uproot them.

If your SafeStart fails, you would really have to resort to doing daily 50% water changes with Prime until cycled. But hopefully your SafeStart will work.

Good luck!

 

The only way to know if your tank is cycled or is still cycling is to run water parameter tests using a liquid test kit. Without knowing the ammonia, nitrites and nitrate levels there is no way anyone can answer the question about your cycle process with any level of accuracy! It will take a few days for the bacteria to die off and it really will only go dormant and not die off completely. If you get a new fish in the next day or so it shouldn’t have too much affect on the cycle process.

 

bowcrazy, I would say that is true for a tank that had been cycled. But the OP just added SafeStart 3 or 4 days ago, so I think there is a much greater chance that the SafeStart bacteria will die off pretty quickly. That is the reason I recommend that the OP gets a fish in there right away.

 

Why would those bacteria be more sensitive to a lack of food than their offspring?

 

As the bacteria gets established it becomes more resilient. The offspring would be more sensitive (when newly formed) than the more established parents.

 

Id like to add that neons are loosely tabled tropical, they don't mind cooler mid and even lower 70s water, ive seen it done with great success, however, adding them with a Goldie, well I'm sure jaysee has an answer for that (I think he know every possible gold fish community combo 0.o)