Tropical Fish Forums

[Vertebraillemery]

Tank: 55g planted
Fish: (all goldfish)
Black Moor (1 inch)
Pearlscale x2 (1 1/2 inch)
Fantail fancy (2 inch)
Filter: Eheim 2215
Gravel... not sure what kind but it is about 5inches deep?

This tank has been set up for almost 2 years.

Water changes weekly, occasionally bi-weekly. I change about 1/3 of it out. I add API Stress Coat Fish and Tap water conditioner.

Food Type: TetraFin goldfish flakes once daily. Peas and Lettuce once every couple days. Bloodworms once in a while also.

Tested water:GH 180
KH 180
pH7.5
N02 0
N03 40
Ammonia alert is at the safe mark.

It is my fantail who is sick. I noticed him yesterday resting on the bottom of the tank throughout the day. He was still eating and swimming around with his friends. Today he has been resting and hiding at the bottom in-between plants. He has a thin foggy looking layer over his eyes. His fins are limp and almost clamped down.

No other fish in this tank are showing any signs of stress or change in behavior.

I am very worried about him! Please help with any knowledge or advice you have.

Thanks in advance!


**Please move my post if it is in the wrong spot
(I also apologize if there is a similar post I should have posted on. I spent a decent amount of time looking and did not find anything.)

[diademhill]

How long have you had these fish?

[Vertebraillemery]

I have had the fantail for almost 4 years now. The other ones I have had for around 4 months.

[diademhill]

Something is seriously wrong if a 4 year pld(+) fantail is only 2"
What tests are you using?
How do you do water changes?

[Vertebraillemery]

Wrong... how? He's been healthy his whole life up until this point

I am using API 5 in 1 aquarium test strips.

I change the water by siphoning the gravel.

[Vertebraillemery]

I feel there is not much time left for him This really sucks.

[bignellm]

I really want to give you the best advice here. I found a website for diagnosing Gold Fish ailments.
http://www.goldfish-emergency.com/viewpage.php?page_id=174

A close up picture might help some of us here discern what might be the problem. From the symptoms I'd say it's possibly Nitrate Poisoning, according to the site.

You said you have 5" of gravel? Is any of it Planted? A planted tank will help to reduce the Nitrates over time. The site also said that a fish who has a type of ailment is more likely to be sensitive to the environment that caused it. Maybe the Fan tail suffered Nitrate Poisoning before and survived. Its a hypothesis.

I would recommend you visit the site, look over all the symptoms and ailments there. Then take corrective action. I hope this all pans out for you. Also, it might help to understand the tank problem, if you have a comprehensive water test done. If your using testing strips, sometimes they can be unreliable or expired.

Are all the other Gold Fish still acting normal by the way?

[diademhill]

[Vertebraillemery]

It's actually 2 1/2 inches of gravel. I totally estimated before, and I just measured now. Sorry, that was a dumb decision.

Yes, the other goldfish are all fine.

My filter is an eheim 2215

Yes it is a planted tank.

I do dig deep when gravel cleaning, and I have assorted plants. Hygro's and Swords are the ones I know off the top of my head.

I am going to do a water change now then, my nitrate levels are usually at 0, and them being at 40 may be an indication of something?

I will also look at that website, thank you. I'll take a picture as well at some point today.

[bignellm]