Sick/Lethargic Goldfish??

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 40 gal
How long has the tank been running? 1 year
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? 75 F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 3 goldfish (ryukin)

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? once a week
How much of the water do you change? About 70%
What do you use to treat your water? API stress coat and API Tap water conditioner
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? just water

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? yes
What do you use to test the water? test strips and API water test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: Lost test tube, currently don't know
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm
pH: 6.4

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? once a day
How much do you feed your fish? 1x1 cube of repashy
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Repashy
Do you feed frozen? Yes, bloodworms
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 1 year
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 2 days ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Lethargic, sitting in the corner of the tank
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Salt dip (only for a day)
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? no
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Lethargic, but still eats

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)
After coming back from college, one of my goldfish has been in the corner of the tank unless it is being fed. The other two do not pick on him so I know he's not getting bullied. One of my other goldfish recently passed away and it could be due to swim bladder issues or some kind of infection, but I am not sure. I performed a salt dip on all of them yesterday and he does not seem to be getting much better. He also goes up and gulps air, but they have been doing that since I've first got them. I am thinking of using medications to treat internal parasites but I don't want to start until I know what the problem is. Also checked for dropsy, red velvet, but no signs of it. Also, any help with having my goldfish not go and gulp air would be appreciated.

Include pictures

 

Hi, with the fish being lethargic & all of them going up to gulp air my thinking would be not enough dissolved oxygen in the water, what's the surface agitation like in the tank? Do you have an airstone running?

 

Hi, with the fish being lethargic & all of them going up to gulp air my thinking would be not enough dissolved oxygen in the water, what's the surface agitation like in the tank? Do you have an airstone running?

Yes, i have two airstones running

 

I also noticed you replace 70% of the water per week, so between that and the airstones, a lack of oxygen is highly unlikely unless you have a severe algae problem. I did notice your PH is 6.4? Has it always been this way? That's not very low, I concede, but it's lower than goldfish usually prefer, and sometimes PH imbalance can cause labored breathing. That's the only idea I have so far.

 

I also noticed you replace 70% of the water per week, so between that and the airstones, a lack of oxygen is highly unlikely unless you have a severe algae problem. I did notice your PH is 6.4? Has it always been this way? That's not very low, I concede, but it's lower than goldfish usually prefer, and sometimes PH imbalance can cause labored breathing. That's the only idea I have so far.

The pH here has always been 6.4 and my tank does not have any severe algae problems. There has been a bit of green on the corners of the tank but that's about it. I tested the water yesterday before and after a water change and it was still 6.4. But my goldfish has been living in a 6.4 pH for a year now and nothing happened until this week.

 

Hi, what were the symptoms of your goldfish that passed away? How long was he sick for?

 

Hi, what were the symptoms of your goldfish that passed away? How long was he sick for?

I was in college so I don't know much, but my sister sent a picture of him extremely lethargic and then died the next day. Also, I just noticed this white thing on his head. Im guessing its a parasite? What should I do?


I have decided to add Ich-X and do a salt dip every other day. I'm not sure what I should be treating for but I can't afford to lose another goldfish. Any other suggesstions will be appreciated

 

It’s definitely not ich, so I wouldn’t use a treatment like that if not needed. It doesn’t look like a parasite.

You need to find out what your ammonia is, can you pick up a test kit today?

What are your filter routines? Have you thrown out any filter media recently? How do you clean the filter?

In the mean time you can add salt at 1 tsp per gallon, dissolve it in some removed tank water. You can use aquarium salt, sea-salt, canning/pickling salt, basically any non-iodized salt. You can leave it in for a couple weeks. When you do water changes, it removes the salt so if you change out 5 gallons, dissolve 5 tsp again and add it back in.

Have you ever treated for parasites? do they ever scratch against ornaments etc?

 

It’s definitely not ich, so I wouldn’t use a treatment like that if not needed. It doesn’t look like a parasite.

You need to find out what your ammonia is, can you pick up a test kit today?

What are your filter routines? Have you thrown out any filter media recently? How do you clean the filter?

In the mean time you can add salt at 1 tsp per gallon, dissolve it in some removed tank water. You can use aquarium salt, sea-salt, canning/pickling salt, basically any non-iodized salt. You can leave it in for a couple weeks. When you do water changes, it removes the salt so if you change out 5 gallons, dissolve 5 tsp again and add it back in.

Have you ever treated for parasites? do they ever scratch against ornaments etc?

I just tested my ammonia levels and it's 0ppm. I clean my filters every 3 months and I would just clean everything with tank water. Haven't thrown out any filter media. I don't have ornaments or substrates in the tank and I've never treated them with any meds. Could it be a bacterial infection since the previous fish did pass away?

 

That white patch doesn't look like ich, could just be a raised scale as it doesn't look like a parasite or a fungal patch either. It's good to have air stones but in reality they don't provide much dissolved oxygen to the water column, most of the oxygen is dissolved at the water's surface by water agitation. If nothing else has changed in the tank & all your parameters are good I'm still think oxygen deprivation, looking at the first pic again the surface of the water does look very still.

 

That white patch doesn't look like ich, could just be a raised scale as it doesn't look like a parasite or a fungal patch either. It's good to have air stones but in reality they don't provide much dissolved oxygen to the water column, most of the oxygen is dissolved at the water's surface by water agitation. If nothing else has changed in the tank & all your parameters are good I'm still think oxygen deprivation, looking at the first pic again the surface of the water does look very still.

How do I provide more dissolved oxygen?

 

How do I provide more dissolved oxygen?

You need to provide some surface movement, can you direct the outflow from your filter to agitate the surface? or you can buy a mini 'wave maker' powerhead, I have a well stocked 6 foot tank so do both on mine.