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Author Topic: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??  (Read 1247 times)
proclis
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Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« on: November 19, 2010, 12:32:13 PM »
My children have 2 fish, one black moor and one fan-tail goldfish. 

For the past couple of weeks the fan-tail goldfish has been swimming upside down.  He will go to the back of the aquarium every once and a while and just stay there.  When we go near the aquarium, he then will swim out and around.  He doesn't do this all the time.  He does come and swim with the black moor.  He seems to be eating fine.  When I go to feed them, he comes right out from whereever he is and gets his fill.  I also find he looks a little bloated.

The black moor is doing fine.

We have never had fish before these two and I am at a loss of what to do.   Cry I have done a 50% water change. I'm not sure what to do next...
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Mindemae
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2010, 12:37:46 PM »
What are you feeding your goldfish? (Brand, type)
Any fresh fruits and veggies?
Do you have a heater in your tank?
What are your water parameters?  (ammonia, nitrites, pH, nitrates)
Can you please post the test results here?
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proclis
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2010, 12:42:30 PM »
What are you feeding your goldfish? (Brand, type) TetraMin Tropical Flakes

Any fresh fruits and veggies? No, I didn't know that I could give fresh fruits and veggies to fish.  How would I do that?

Do you have a heater in your tank? No

What are your water parameters?  (ammonia, nitrites, pH, nitrates)  I have not tested it yet.  My husband has gone to get the stuff to do it.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2010, 12:44:48 PM by proclis » Logged
proclis
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2010, 12:45:40 PM »
Can you tell I have no clue what I am doing?  I do not know how to navigate on this site.

Sorry.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2010, 12:47:58 PM by proclis » Logged
Nossie
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2010, 01:14:22 PM »
First of all, you have to get some proper goldfish food! You have two egg-shaped goldfish, and these tend to get constipated. As a result, they get swim bladder issues and start floating upside-down.
Buy some good quality goldfish pellet! Like Hikari, JBL, Sera... to name a few brands. Buy two or three different kinds of pellets, some sinking ones may be good Smiley

Second, vegetables can be cut in smaller pieces and fed to the goldfish. Now I'd suggest you start with frozen peas Smiley Buy some of those, thaw them and pop them out of their shells. If needed you can cut them into smaller pieces so that it'd be easier for the fish to eat Smiley Later, you can start introducing sliced cucumber, zucchini, lettuce or spinach to the fish!
But it might help your fantail if you'd feed the fish only peas for a couple of days.

Test the water asap and post the results please Smiley I'd also like to know how big this tank is? What type of tank is it, and do you have any filtration?
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Mindemae
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2010, 01:16:10 PM »
well, you did pretty well answering the questions. Cheesy
thank you!
How big is the tank you currently have your goldfish housed in?

You can feed frozen or canned peas, wih the skin taken off, finely chopped spinach or broccoli, zucchini, red leaf lettuce, orange pulp.
Egg bodied fish such as moors and fantails and such tend to get constipated when feeding just flake food.  switch to small sinking pelleted food instead.  Keep the flakes and feed only once in awhile as a treat.  Feed fresh fruits and veggies as a treat.
I have an oranda with swim bladder issues too.  As long as I feed fresh fruits and veggies and keep a constant temperature of 68-70F  He does really well.  Great fluctuations in temperature can bring on bouts of swim bladder problems too.
Other foods you should try are frozen food you can get at the petshop, brine shrimp, tubifex worms, blood worms, and any omnivoire frozen cubes are good too.   Off the shelf, you can find freeze dried blood worms, shrimp, etc.  the shrimp being high in fiber.
A fish can get swim bladder problems when constipated because the intestines are so close to the swim bladder itself.
You can also try raising the temp to 80F in the tank and treat with epsoms salts 1/4 tsp per gallon of water, for a few days.
Drop the epsoms salts right in front of him and see if you can get him to eat a piece!  This will really help with constipation issues!
 Smiley
« Last Edit: November 19, 2010, 01:20:27 PM by Mindemae » Logged
Nossie
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2010, 01:25:29 PM »
Just to add about the Epsom salt, I bought 1kg of it myself recently to treat one of my fish with, and you can get it really easily from the pharmacy Smiley Ask for Epsom salt or Magnesium sulfate!
It's a muscle relaxant, so that's probably why it relieves swim bladder problems.
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proclis
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2010, 02:05:56 PM »
The information you are providing is so helpful.

How often should I feed them fresh fruit and veggies.  Should this be all that I feed him for a couple of days and then feed them the pellets? 

The tank is a 2 - 3 gallon tank.  I do have a filter in the tank.  I change the cartridge every 3 weeks.

If I put epsom salts in the tank, will it affect the black moor or will it also do him some good?
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Nossie
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2010, 02:20:14 PM »
Salt is never a bad thing to add to the water Smiley And healthy fish will be just fine!
BUT, you cannot keep two goldfish in such a small tank! The best thing you can do to help both of them is to buy yourself a proper 20 gallon! Each fancy goldfish needs a 10 gallon minimum, because they grow really big! Smiley Your fantail and moor may reach a body length of 6-8 inches if you're lucky and providing them space, good water and good food Smiley

And yes, about the peas. Don't feed the fish at all for two days or so, and then give them peas until you notice an improvement in the swimming habits of the fantail. This should work wonders combined with the Epsom salts! Smiley
After your fish are healthy, you can feed them peas and other veggies a few times a week. I feed mine three times a day, pellets in the morning and evening, and then vegetables or live foods for dinner Smiley
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Mindemae
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2010, 02:45:12 PM »
well I bet if you test your water you will find that you have some water quality issues due to overcrowding.
Your fish may be suffereing from a bacterial infection also because of too much waste in such a small container!!
Please get your fish something bigger as soon as possible!!  goldfish need room to grow and are extrememly messy meaning that they give off alot of waste just by breathing and eating.  The bi-product of waste is ammonia.  It is very lethal to fish and can cause all sorts of health problems.  Goldfish if kept in proper conditions will grow and become really beautiful and live 10 years or more! Smiley
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Andrea
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Re: Fan-tail goldfish is ill??
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2010, 01:01:47 AM »
Everything has already been covered, the peas would be a great idea for now and of course buying some pellets. A much bigger tank is 100% necessary at this moment but make sure you cycle it first. Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? If not, just look it up on the net as there is alot of information on it and it is very important Smiley

Best of luck, good to hear that you care Smiley
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