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If you get floating food, I’d recommend pellets over flakes. Flakes tend to ‘melt’ into the water faster, and sometimes before the fish can eat them. Goldfish and comets tend to be able to take a small round pelleted food the easiest (in my experience). There are a lot to choose from, but the ones without dyes are the best if you can find them. Of the fish foods you are likely to find at Petsmart/Petco (I worked at both, haha) the Hikari is about the best that you can find, their ‘gold’ or ‘oranda’ line contains a lot less junk filler in it.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comI dunno if my good news is good anymore =
I walked by a few mins ago and the fish was just sorta there… the back half of her body sunk down more while keeping her head up.. I made her move and swim around some… ‘n she swam for a couple mins fine, but shes back up in her corner, I don’t want to spook her badly, just wanted to get her swimming from that state she looked like she was in.. but she doesn’t look so good right now =
I didn’t get to the store.. family things came up around the house *faceplant* (That tends to happen when I least need it. Long story!)
She got a minor water change a few hrs ago, so her water should be mostly fine right now..Edit– Photos
You can see here that she’s sorta leaning on the filter (The fish is actually leaning a lil, I just didn’t take the photo straight. *Shown by the angle the filter/side of the tank is in the photo*)
Just another photo. She did the zooming thing a few times today, could she have hit the glass too hard?
The tips of her fins that curled are also turning dark? They haven’t been visibly affected by the fin rot, is this just another sign of that?
Hi Kay,
I’ve been following your thread. Everything that’s been said is fantastic advice! If her fins are turning dark, she may very well be experiencing ammonnia burn. I can’t remember if anyone has mentioned this or not, but don’t clean your filter with straight tap water or you will kill off your good bacteria. Good water quality is the best thing you can do for your fish.
Good luck! She is lucky to have such a caring owner! 🙂
Gosh, it’s really hard to tell from the photos. Are her scales dull looking too? She looks very listless and at the very least her system is unhappy.
Would you describe the edges of her fins as ragged, or are they ‘melting’ away with a whitish line where they are ‘melting’?She could be facing trouble from ‘bad’ bacteria, or fungus, or both. It’s really hard to tell. Both problems stem from water quality and stressed fish.
Her posture and overall appearance reads to me as ‘really ill fish’. 🙁 Not trying to alarm you but she does not look well.
When you get to the pet store, take your water samples. Depending on how the tests come out, you might consider getting a small bottle of “Prime” by Seachem and adding a dose when you do a water change next (I’d suggest soon). Use 1 ml for each 10 gallons of water. Prime will chemically change any ammonia or nitrite in your water to be inert to your fish, but it’s just a baind-aid solution for now since time is starting to become of the essence.
This is what it looks like: http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html
You only need to get the smallest bottle for your little tank.Now, I worked at Petsmart and Petco and I can tell you that the employees only receive minimal training on aquarium and fish care (sometimes none at all if there is bad management). Unless the person helping you seems genuinely knowledgeable and that they care, take any advice with a grain of salt, and don’t let them sell you any chemicals or treatments outside of the ones I suggested above. There are some genuinely knowledgeable associates out there, goodness knows, but they sadly tend to be the exception so use your best judgement.
I’ll be keeping you both in my thoughts!
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comShe worried me a lot yesterday! She’s more lively looking today (Yesterday she just looked lackluster, nothing outright visible, just her general ‘mood’ appeared blah) but I’ll probably get a bottle of that prime. Depending on what the water comes back with
Would one of these be a good idea with the small tank?
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147371Her scales don’t seem very dull, but around her head seems kinda.. off.. I can’t quite put my finger on it (More around the front of her face)
The fins seem more raggy than melting, though a couple days in there they looked sort of melting.. they actually appear a lil better looking now (Don’t seem to be deteriorating as much, at least as quick)Shes definitely favoring the water coming out of her filter, swimming close to where it lets out at, and even turning more on her side at the top to get more into it (She’s fine to swim normally, it just looks like she’s trying harder to get into that filtered water) So I’m thinking there is definitely something in that water she’s bothered by. I’ve been keeping up with water changes, lil more than 1/3 of the water per change..
So I think I’ll also test the water that we’re putting into her tank, more for curiosity’s sake than anything
It’s a great idea to test the water you are using! I recommend it.
How is her breathing? Is she taking breaths at the surface with her mouth, or is she gill-breathing only?
The “Alert” things you put in your tank, like the ammonia alert, are really a crap shoot. Some people swear by them, but they are not very accurate on their best days, and wildly inaccurate on their worst. I always advised my customers to save the money and get a liquid test kit that will last you many years and give you very accurate results instead: http://www.amazon.com/API-FRESHWATER-MASTER-TEST-KIT/dp/B000255NCI/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1327706829&sr=1-1
You might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere. The test tubes are a pain, but it’s not so bad, and you really only need to test for some of the qualities (such as kh, gh, etc) once a month or if you are having an active problem.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comAnd this is why I ask you before I buy 🙂 lol
Today I have noticed she’s breathing at the surface with her mouth, haven’t seen it prior to today though.. at least not since adding the air pump
Is there a smaller kit that you know of? I’m debating on if I’m going to do another tank after this fish *hopefully* gets to the pond (Hard to take care of them properly when going between two places as much as I do right now), so a kit that lasts years isn’t something I really need at the moment, just a couple months 🙂 But it would probably be good to test the water pretty often while trying to get this tank straight…
I hate to bring it down to money, but at the moment I am tight on it, as it is my phone bill is going to have to wait a week or so after the run to the pet store XD So if test strips stand anything of a chance at gettin me by for the next couple months and hopefully get this tank figured out now, then I will probably go that route.. and the easier something is, the better the odds are my family will keep up with it while I’m not here (I’m going to my bfs tomorrow for at least the week, so the fam will be taking over the fish care. They’re willing to, thank god!)I have a full water testing kit I could give you, but it’s the test tube kind. Let me know.
This is probably a stupid question – but you guys don’t have chlorinated water, right? 🙂
I had a goldfish for years and the only thing I did if Goldie got sluggish appearing is put some plain old salt in the water. It seems to work, she looks like she needs a bigger tank to me,but you allready heard that. I just what to say I think you are all wonderful people trying to help her out with her pet, What a nice Forum
She’s gone 🙁
Went to the store specifically for things to try n bring her back.. she seemed well on the mend today, swimming around a lot more normally, more her typical attitude (So I knew my fish a lil too well to know her general attitude) but after we got back from the store she seemed like she was having air issues (Didn’t seem nothing bad, just a sign to fix the tank in a timely manner).. I was gonna make myself dinner and change her water right after and add the Prime (The test at Petsmart came back high in Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates, so I was gonna add the prime to try and help that)
Kept a close eye on her but in about a 10 minute time I had to keep tabs on my diiner, she crashed… She was on her side at the bottom of the tank, not really moving but still breathing.. so I got the net and got her moving again, after about an hour of tryin to get her back on her (feet?) ~ She just stopped moving all together, no breathing… that whole time she had a hard time staying upright. She hasn’t taken to any food (I tried to feed her sm pellets but she didn’t pay them any attention) so I dunno if that was the cause or if the tank just finally did her in, with so much stress of the bad tank water, fin rot and the water changes tryin to bring the tank back, she’s had a rough week!I had an uncomfortable feeling about it, just that *Now that I’ve spent my phone bill on her, its gonna go bad*
Heh, kinda silly how saddening it is, after trying so hard for her!
We may try to get this tank straight and get a small school of fish meant for this sized tank.. Not really sure yet though…
Aw *hugs* I’m sorry. 🙁 I know you tried really hard to save her!
Thanks Kiya! *hugs* We did all we could within our power and knowledge (and with SO much help from Jennifer and everyone! She wouldn’t have made it this long without all your guys help!)
I might take you up on the offer for that test kit in the future.. my mom is missing the fish as much as I do – So odd to walk past the tank and not see a fish. The Algae eater has a hiding spot so you rarely ever see it. – So we’re talking about straightening out this tank and a fresh start with some lil simple, fancy looking fish…Oh, Kaytana, I’m so sorry for your sweet fishy – you are a wonderful person for caring about her enough to try to save her… {hugs}
twindragonsmum
tdm
~~hugs~~~ I’m really sorry your goldfish died….it was a really beautiful fish.
However I’d wait and do a lot of research, and stock up on water quality supplies and new filtration before putting any more fish in there. Fish tanks can cost a lot if the water quality isnt maintained pretty diligently, and that can take good quantities of time and effort.
Some fish…like goldfish, pump out tons of water waste chemicals and are really poor candidates for small tanks period. (I have two EBJDs…in a 125 gallon…which are also high waste fish)
Also be sure to check the adult growth size of any fish purchased in a pet store…you’d be surprised how many of them can potentially get huge, but rarely live to see adulthood because of inadequate tanksize. (bala sharks, and almost any sort of catfish are prime examples of this)
I am sorry for your loss. It can be difficult to turn them around once they are on that path.
My recommendations for future occupants of a tank of that size would be maybe fancy guppies or danios. Most other things either get too big or aren’t as hardy. If you try the goldfish route again, definitely get a larger tank. And speaking from experience, generally a larger aquarium is less of a pain in the butt in the long run.
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