Leaing gold fish off his food

[uk66fastback]

Come back from a couple of sayd away and one of our goldfish is leaning to one side with flat fins - swim bladder problem? Changed the water since we got back ... he's also breathing pretty hard - a lot more tha the other goldfish who he shares the tank with. Lack of oxygen n the water hasn't really beena problem.

Nitrate reading was 80 - Nitrite 0.

Don't know what ekse we can do ... Anyone had anything similar - what was the outcome? Tried the feeding with peas trick but he's not interested.

[Robatr0n]

Normally when they have Swim Bladder problems their belly swells up and they can become quite listless.

Your fish seems to have red streaks in the fins which may be natural colouration but could be Hemorrhagic Septicemia.

A goldfish in our pond showed very similar symptoms to the ones you decribed and we used a course of Myazxin which cleared him up in no time.

Just for the record, I am by no means an expert so it'll probably be worth calling someone like WaterLife to ask for their advice or wait until someone who has more knowledge than myself comes on here and replies.

[Jasandjules]

Isn't 80 Nitrate very high?

[metbandit1]

10% water changes daily until the nitrate is down to a lower level
maybe even a 25% water change asap?

[tenohfive]

metbandit1 said:

10% water changes daily until the nitrate is down to a lower level
maybe even a 25% water change asap?

50% a day is fine. I'd start doing that now - 80 nitrate is quite high. What's the ammonia reading?

[832ark]

How big is your tank and what other inhabitants are there? I assume the water's being dechlorinated before being added?

[otolith]

That fish doesn't look promising to me

[M@verick]

Robatr0n said:

Your fish seems to have red streaks in the fins which may be natural colouration but could be Hemorrhagic Septicemia.

A goldfish in our pond showed very similar symptoms to the ones you decribed and we used a course of Myazxin which cleared him up in no time.

I am not sure on the red streaks in the fins, goldfish often have a red or pink strip near to the tendon which attaches to main bone in their pectoral fins. Fin rot normally manifests with long red streaks throughout the fins. However I do see what you are saying, and would lean towards the early stages of some sort of fungal or bacteria infection since there looks to be a very fine dusting of something on the fish - Myazxin would be a good shout as it does have remedial effects on both of these and is less harsh on the fish than some remedies.

I would also, if you can - increase oxygenation, so drop in an airstone (or anything which creates ripples at the waters surface), and possibly think about using a vitamin soak for food once he does start eating again (if you can get some bloodworm you could try live food to tempt him, but to some extent live food can introduce bacteria into the tank).

Hope this helps.

R.

[uk66fastback]

Unfortunately he has died.

Popped into anaquatic shop and if it was lack of oxygen he would have been up near the surface the guy said - if swim bladder problem then he'd have been swimming - just not straight. But he was motionless. They don't tend to live more than 7-8 years indoors the guy said. And he was 7 or 8 - so fair play.

The one that we have left though - is it kinder to find a home for him - we won't have any more - or keep him on his lonesome?

Thanks for all the responses ...

[832ark]

Sorry to hear that. They should live 15-20 years though. How big is the tank? Goldfish should be kept in multiples so not a good idea to keep just the remaining one - all depends on tank size though