Unknown Sickness In Goldfish!

ok guys. I need some help. my freshwater tank is 29 gallons, bare bottom, fluval c3 filter. Tank has been cycled for a few months. ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10, pH 8.2,, I know the pH is high and I have hard water, but it’s that enough to kill my goldfish? I’m having a real problem w my goldfish he looked like he was withering away. Like losing half of his body weight in one day. His eyes looked like they were shrinking into his head?? He also floated at the top but didnt list, there isn’t any bloating or worms or anything, no slime coat changes, I did see his tail looked wispy and split but it didn’t look like fin rot or like he scraped it on anything, some fins even looked like they were curling. also only one of his gills was working. I have an air pump so the water is oxygenated. I just don’t know what’s going on, and I’m afraid to get more fish just in case my water is too bad for them. My oranda died about a week ago, a black moor that I’ve had for over a year died almost a 2 weeks before that, and another black moor 3 weeks before that. I’ve put in a water softener pillow, did more water changes on the now empty tank, rinsed out the mechanical filter media, and disinfected all the silk plants in the tank. is there anything else I should do before getting more fish? The only thing I have in there right now is a nerite snail. Almost forgot to add: I feed my goldfish a mix of sinking goldfish pellets, frozen bloodworms, and deshelled organic peas. tried to feed them lettuce once but they didn’t like it lol.

 

I’d say it was a mix of oH altering chemicals and ammonia. The tank isn’t cycled yet. A cycled tank shouldn’t have ammonia.
What’s the temp?

Pics?

 

I’d say it was a mix of oH altering chemicals and ammonia. The tank isn’t cycled yet. A cycled tank shouldn’t have ammonia.
What’s the temp?

Pics?

Tank has already cycled water from a previously cycled tank and has been running for months. Pretty sure it’s cycled. Temp perpetually 76°.

 

HI - o your poor fish you must be worried. Is he eating ok? If so he may have internal parasites or worms. There are a lot of treatments available.

However, I agree that your tank isn’t cycled properly. It should have 0 ammonia. I know you say that you used cycled water but there is no such thing as the bacteria that produces the cycle lives in the filter media. So you can transfer that to get a cycle but not just the water.

These symptoms may also be caused by exposure to ammonia. If your tank has been showing 0.25 for some time this may well have built up. The only way to stop this is large frequent water changes. Then you are doing a fish in cycle google it for helpful tips. You don’t mention if you are treating your water as you can’t use plain tap water. Also filter media should be simply rinsed in tank water around once a month.

Hope this helps!

Ps try blanched broccolI - mine love it!

 

HI - o your poor fish you must be worried. Is he eating ok? If so he may have internal parasites or worms. There are a lot of treatments available.

However, I agree that your tank isn’t cycled properly. It should have 0 ammonia. I know you say that you used cycled water but there is no such thing as the bacteria that produces the cycle lives in the filter media. So you can transfer that to get a cycle but not just the water.

These symptoms may also be caused by exposure to ammonia. If your tank has been showing 0.25 for some time this may well have built up. The only way to stop this is large frequent water changes. Then you are doing a fish in cycle google it for helpful tips. You don’t mention if you are treating your water as you can’t use plain tap water. Also filter media should be simply rinsed in tank water around once a month.

Hope this helps!

Ps try blanched broccolI - mine love it!

I do use treated well water and I do rinse the filter media in the tank water once a month. He wasn’t eating anything . He died a week before I posted this, I’m just trying to figure out what he had so I know how to clean the tank properly and prevent it from happening again.

 

I do use treated well water and I do rinse the filter media in the tank water once a month. He wasn’t eating anything . He died a week before I posted this, I’m just trying to figure out what he had so I know how to clean the tank properly and prevent it from happening again.

So sorry misread and didn't realise you'd already lost him

I'm afraid I can't tell you for sure what he had. Sometimes it can be a couple of things and you only pin it down when they improve...

If you now have an empty tank you can use diluted unperfumed plain bleach to make sure any nasty stuff is gone, you can use this on decorations gravel etc too. Just make sure you rinse several times really well and thoroughly air dry. I have also used oxyclean which is a laundry additive (sorry if you know but not sure if you are uk based!) and, strangely, is aquarium safe! White vinegar is also used. As with the bleach rinse rinse and air dry.

Unless you have a good trusted fish source it is best to give them a quick preventative dose of something like Paragaurd to make sure they haven't come to you with existing problems. My local store quarantine and treat when they receive stock and I have had no problems with their fish until now - but I have tetras which are notoriously sensitive and disease prone!

Hope everything goes well in future.

 

Clean and disinfect the entire tank. Afterwards, get it cycled before purchasing more fish. Seachem Prime is an ideal dechlorinator to detoxify ammonia if you have any more trouble.