Tropical Fish Forums

[akaSnoops]

My friend has 2 small goldfish in a 10G. They've both been doing fine for the past 3-4 weeks since she got them but when she came home today one of them was bent or curved to the left and at first she thought he was dead but then saw he was breathing very slowly. She's very meticulous about her tank and water levels and it doesn't show ammonia but she just (unknowingly) ran out of testing strips so is unable to test other elements. Is this a common ailment perhaps not related to water levels?

[Myshuki]

It's usually be squished, when one of my fish died something scared it to the corner and it was curved, and wouldn't go back to normal.
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29g - Misc. Fish
-Hopefully-
10g Saltwater

[piranha]

I've had a comet do the same and if I recall, it was low levels of oxygen that was the cause.

[akaSnoops]

She put him in a hospital tank by himself and dropped a bit of epsom salt in just in case he ate to much and it seemed he was moving a bet more but he was dead by morning. Her other fish appear fine but we can't imagine what would have crushed him if that was the cause.

[Oscer]

I agree with Piranha, low levels of oxygen could be the cause, but I doubt it. If it was the cause then the other fish should have had the same symptoms.

It's probably due to an internal problem or maybe a tumour (not likely in this case).

By the way, a 10g to small for two gold fish, if they are to spend their entire life in it.
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Years of fish keeping = Good advice

[piranha]

The water parameters were perfect when my comet died. What led to his demise was in fact oxygen deficiency. When I placed an airstone in the tank his condition improved and he started swimming again, but suffered irrepairable damage and eventually it led to his demise. I agree though that a ten gallon is way too small even for one goldfish.At least 15 gallons per goldie is acceptable because they're such waste producers.No two fish are alike. It's more than likely the other fish was stronger or had a stronger immune system.

[Oscer]

As Piranha's experience has shown, if you eliminate a problem it dose not mean you have reversed the consequences, symptoms or damage
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Years of fish keeping = Good advice

[akaSnoops]

I think she's going to get a bigger tank but they were less than two inches in size. So now she has the one goldfish in a 10 gallon. Does she need to upgrade now or wait until she notices him growing?

[Oscer]

Well; no, 10g is not okay. The Goldie needs to see he can grow other wise he gets stunned.

Now in your case the gold fish dose not have to be moving immediately, I know it's not always possible to get a bigger tank for what ever reason, but for Goldies it's needed. So rather now than later, and you can add more gold fish to a bigger tank
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Years of fish keeping = Good advice

[akaSnoops]

I personally only have danios--it's been 1.5 years now. But this info is good because I considered goldfish but was unsure. I'm still learning how to keep my plants so I'll stick with what I have for now.