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I have a Goldfish, that once upon a time was a feeder and I ‘rescued’ her from this fate (I fell in love when I saw it react to the laser pointer when we were playing with the other animals in the house) – Turns out my feeder was a pond goldfish, and sadly is about as big as her tank will allow her to be (If the fish survives till consistent warm weather, she will be put in a friends pond) but the past couple of weeks the fish is acting odd. My mom looked it up online and says the fish is depressed? – The past 4 or 5 days the fish barely moves out of a corner of the tank, doesn’t really seem to have a big care in eating. Was wondering if anyone has any other theory’s? or an idea on how to change this “moodiness”?
The water is gettin changed (again) today, since the lack of eating its algae wafer thingies, the tank is gettin murky, the fish has moved so little some of that gook is actually hanging off the fish (Just noticed that this morning)
Could it all be caused by something in the tank?I’m not a fish person, I figured a goldfish would easy and cute XD ‘n there is a bottom feeder in the tank with it, that usually keeps the algae down real well
If there is a gooky film on the fish it might have a bacterial infection of its slime coat(the natural layer of slime that protects a fish from disease). Sick fish are very lethargic and tend to sit on the bottom like you described. With a picture I could help better though.
If she know’s it is cold she could be going into a simi-hybernation state were they slow down their own bodies funcion and you only have to feed them once a week or so. My parent’s have some in a pond up in the mountain’s and they say their’s hardly move around right now. My Mom was worried they were going to die until the handyman told her about this.
PIXI-DUST know’s alot about goldfish also.
*** Always looking for Brindles..*** AWD Pieces **** Lavender Coiled Mother with Globe**** if you have one you would like to sell or trade please contact me ?
If she know’s it is cold she could be going into a simi-hybernation state were they slow down their own bodies funcion and you only have to feed them once a week or so. My parent’s have some in a pond up in the mountain’s and they say their’s hardly move around right now. My Mom was worried they were going to die until the handyman told her about this.
PIXI-DUST know’s alot about goldfish also.
I kinda wondered about this. I haven’t been using the top light as much (Which is about the only way I have to warm the water right now) because I put an air pump in the tank, and it’s been gettin the top pretty soggy, being a non-expensive setup that didn’t come with an air pump, I don’t trust the top to be able to handle much moisture without causing electric problems. So since temps here have lowered, ‘n the house can get a lil chilly sometimes, the water is cooler too.
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I’ll get you a photo of her up soon, Wampus. If this is the problem I obviously want to get some sort of treatment in the tank (or whatever is required to be done) to make her all better! I’ve had the fish for over a year now, and have grown an attachment to her, I’d hate to see something happen to her after all I’ve gone through thus far with this silly fish 😉 lol.
Her fins are starting to look a bit tattered too, I hadn’t noticed this till recently, couple of weeks ago she had gorgeous unharmed fins that she would stretch… this past week I haven’t seen her stretch hardly at all and noticed the tattered ends.. I’m unsure if this is because she didn’t have enough room and was ripping them up on the things in the tank (I removed the plant that used to be in there about a wk ago) or if something else is causing this.Are the fins tattered with any red streaks at all anywhere? That can be another sign of infection.
Goldfish can stand extremely cold temperatures. They are basically a cold water carp and prefer their water to be around 55-65 degrees. Below 50 can trigger hibernation.
They also produce a lot of waste and can get dirty very quickly. Especially your comet goldfish. I recommend having a real filter of some kind if you dont already have one. If its a bacterial infection it would be hard to treat without one.
It’s hard to say without more info!
How many gallons is the tank?
How many inches long is your comet?
What has the diet been?
What filter do you use?
How often do you do partial water changes?
Do you have a way to test the water– and if so, what are your ammonia, nitrates and nitrites reading?
You mentioned another fish, what kind is it and how big?This and a photo will help diagnose! I worked in the specialty freshwater aquarium business for many years and I’ve seen a little bit of everything.
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My art: featherdust.comThis should help some…
This gives a good comparison of the fish together.. The bottom feeder leaves the gold alone, which is good, given this poor gold had trouble with the other bottom feeder I had (I had two of the same but the other was a real bother, not sure why but the other one died a few months back)
I don’t at all remember what the bottom feeder is; at the pet store I was told they’d stay quite small (These grew larger than I was told but not too big for a single, and this one stopped growing a long while back) and was told they were docile.. this one is, but as before mentioned, the other was a pain, I almost took the bottom feeders out ‘n back to the pet store, but once the one died, I’ve seen no probs with this one
Here is the tank. It’s a 5gal. As I mentioned in my first post, this fish has outgrown this tank, but I haven’t been able to afford a larger tank, especially knowing she’ll probably just grow right in-and-out of that tank. Hence wanting to turn her loose in my friends pond come summer..
I cleaned up and dried out the top to turn the light on and warm the tank some, the gold doesn’t seem to care, but the bottom feeder is happier (They’re supposed to be in warmer water, but hasn’t had much issue when it’s gotten cooler. The bottom feeder has been in there for.. I’d say easily 10-11 months) and yes the fish are in the tank ;p they’re just hidden by an optical illusion that rounded front gives..
and here’s the gold fish. I noticed when the fish was showing signs of problems that the fins seemed all.. scrunched up, they weren’t as tattered then. That’s why I quickly got in there and removed the plant, I assume this is because of lack of space? She didn’t seem to have any issues before and moved around often.. She got out and stretched them more, but the ones that’re curling haven’t really stretched back out?
The water changes are about every two weeks unless the water looks like it needs it. Usually I take no more than a third of the water, once in a while I’ll take half if its lookin to really need it. When I did the water change yesterday I went all out, drained a lot of the water (Close to 3/4), got the rocks as clean as I could with the siphon (at least till the water got low enough that I didn’t dare take more), the replaced water was store bought (Just regular water) since the house water has traces of natural gas in it (Well), and was at room temp (Seemed no different than the tank water at the time). Then ran the net around to catch the larger gook still floating in the water. It appeared to be the algae wafers that normally get eaten long before they could do that to the tank.. My goldfish swam around a lot for that, protesting my presence in her tank, lol.. most of the stuff that was hanging off her (that looked the same as what the tank had in it) came off, It still sorta looks like shes got a coating of something in some areas? Not her usual look, anyway.. and I cleaned the whole filtration system all up, anywhere I could think of that had any gook on it or affected the tank I cleaned up (With just warm water and qtips/paper towels, making sure no fibers from that went back into the tank) .. the occasional doghair makes it into the tank, but that’s inevitable life ’round here XD ‘n if I see one I try to get it out..
The food is Tetra brand, TetraVeggie Tropical Algae Wafers. Same food the fish has always been fed, without any prior problems. Silly fish seems to know its kept in the lil drawer right under the tank, so anytime someone opens the drawer it looks like she’s begging, swimming frantically at the front of the tank, she’ll come swimmin up from any part of her tank the moment she feels that drawer, lol. (Hasn’t done that since this whole lethargic thing) Where you see her in the photos is her spot.. doesn’t hardly move out of there.
The filters are Aqueon brand – http://www.aqueonproducts.com/products/small-cartridge.htm
And I don’t have any ways to test the water right now.
I was told by a friend to try putting a mirror behind her so she see’s herself, that worked for a little bit.. she swam around trying to figure it out, lol..
Back when there were two goldfish – I originally had 3 feeder fish gold’s my brothers ex gave me instead of feeding to her other fish (She bought them to test a tank and make sure it was ‘liveable’ when she moved in his house. Laser pointer thing. I fell in love. They became mine. Gist of it ;p lol) and two bottom feeders they seemed to have air issues (I’d have to do water changes once a week) so I got the air pump for em… that helped a lot! Unfortunately the mean bottom feeder attacked the still very small goldfish a lot! and that one didn’t make it.. it was funny seeing the two gold fish, they got along well, but were much different in size after a while! lol.I don’t know how much of that is useful but I put in anything I could think of that might help figure out whats goin on here! Do goldfish actually get depressed? I’m leaning more toward ‘doesn’t feel good’
Yes, fin rot. It can be due to bacteria and/or ammonia. Both are a sign of reduced water quality. Goldfish and koi are “dirty” fish, that is, they create a lot of waste. Do daily water changes (nearly 100% each day) until you can get her moved to a larger place. The rule of thumb for most fish is a gallon per inch, but goldfish and koi need more water and very good filtration.
Well she definitely has some type of fin rot. Thats usually brought on by bad water quality/dirty tank. Also for a comet goldfish of that size, with no real filter, that tank is way too small. A fish that size should have ten gallons at the very least, closer to 20 for better lifespan(they can live 20 years or more in the right water conditions and space). They can also get a good 8-9 inches long!
Doing a full water change like that can be super stressful and lower their immune response and make the issue worse. If you change her water again any time soon, do no less than 25%, no more than 50%. (25% each day over the course of four days is best).
I worked in a pet store with all types of fish for years but i spent most of my time working with the pond fish(comets included) because I loved them best.
Kaytana, You may want to get the “Gold Fish for Dummies” book. It has ALOT of useful info about them and taking care of them.
Your’s look’s just like to one I have, she is a Fair Fish like in the bowl Fair Fish, and she is outside in a 75 gallon tank. She love’s it out there and I only have to change her water twice a year to just clean the rock’s and gravel. No filter’s or oxygen at all. We don’t have alot of chemicals in our water here. The water stay’s clean and she is very health and about 5 to 6 inches long. Those little feeder fish can grow to a really good size and you have a girl also.
But I would recommend that book and a bigger tank. I believe you now know what she has and can find a place that sells fish and tell them what you have us and they can get you the stuff you need to get her well.
I don’t know alot about your little bottom feeder. Maybe someone here can tell you more about him.
Good luck!!! They are tough fish though so if you catch it now she will probably be OK!!! :bigsmile:
*** Always looking for Brindles..*** AWD Pieces **** Lavender Coiled Mother with Globe**** if you have one you would like to sell or trade please contact me ?
The filtration system in the tank hasn’t had any problems till now. The only other time I saw significant issue was when it was plugged up and we weren’t aware of it right off. It cleaned the tank right up soon as it got cleaned out. (I know the filtration system at the bottom is the preferred?, and if I upgrade tanks will look into this too)
I clean the rocks well when I siphon the water for a change..I usually only do minor water changes, but truth is I was concerned this fish wasn’t going to make it in the water it was in, it seems like overnight it got *bad* (Assuming the algae wafer just absorbed into the water) – May not be the completely right move, but it was the one that I trusted my gut on. I’ll not be doing another like that again though. Now I’ll be sure to change the water more regularly, going to need to stock up next time I’m at the store!
She may get bumped up to a 10gal soon (20 if I can find one for the right price). I don’t want to lose her, since she is quite young, and quite pretty, imo. When I first started this, I thought I was going to be keeping small regular goldfish, but this girl had to break the mold! lol. If she upgrades tank sizes she will likely be moved to my bfs place where the water quality is *much* better than here and I won’t have to buy water for her. ‘n I think the kids would really enjoy her.. Thankfully I think they’re at the age now where they understand fruitloops is not a goldfish diet! lol.. but at first I’ll be sure her stand is high enough that the kids won’t easily reach her (And sturdy that they won’t knock her over, maybe even attach the stand to the wall), or maybe smarter yet is keep her in the bedroom, where they can see her, but won’t have access to her without one of us around, lol – I need to check with the apt and find out if a fish tank falls under the “pet deposit” .. that’ll hurt if it does o.o ($400 pet deposit)
It’s a shame I didn’t know my friend has a pond till right after it started gettin cold! A month or two earlier and my poor girl could be in a real pond! If she can make it for another few months I’ll be sure once the weather is rightly warm to get her in the pond then put a school of smaller (and stays smaller, lol) fish in the tank..
and Thank you everyone for your help here! It is greatly appreciated!
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