i have gold fish who is somehow shedding his tail? what should i do?

Question

and also how to clean the fish tank and fish bowl that i have?

Answer 1

I certainly hope this bowl you are talking about isn't the home for your goldfish. See source links for information about appropriate goldfish homes (you'll notice in none of those links do they recommend a bowl - this is because he will die within a couple of weeks in a bowl).

That being said, this sounds like fin rot, which is a common occurrence in poor water conditions (which, if your fish was living in a bowl, is almost a given). First thing's first, you need to keep on top of your water changes. If the fish is in a bowl, you will need to do DAILY 50% water changes just to combat the ammonia levels, and you WILL need to get him a tank ASAP. If he's in a tank, you should be doing WEEKLY changes of 30-40% (possibly more often if your nitrates regularly hit over 40ppm). Before you can even think about medicating him, you will have to make sure he has clean water ALL THE TIME. If you cannot do this, you need to return the fish to a pet store.

Now, after you do your water change, you can add aquarium salt to his tank (at the rate of 1 tablespoon per five gallons of water). Salt will discourage any other diseases or infection, as it will also add electrolytes to the water to promote healing. Also, go to your pet store and get StressCoat (contains aloe and electrolytes to also promote healing). Continue this treatment for a good 3-4 weeks. You will need to continue doing your water changes, as well, and add salt and StressCoat to the water you're adding back into the tank.

And remember - if you have that fish in anything less than a 20-gallon tank without adequate filtration and aeration, you're killing him.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Do you have other fish in the tank with the goldfish? They could be biting his tail off. Cleaning Your Aquarium
Performing Your Weekly 10-15% Water Change
For all of you who have asked about cleaning tanks... Cleaning your aquarium is a simple and straight forward task, and should not take very long. The better care you provide for your tank, the healthier your fish will be, the nicer your tank will look and the easier your tank will be to care for in the future. You should not need to take all the stuff out of the tank when you clean it, in fact, I would not recommend it. Every surface in the tank will grow some beneficial bacteria that are part of the biological filter. By removing and cleaning the decorations you stress (and may even kill) some of this bacteria, reducing the quality of your filtration.

When cleaning your aquarium, you should just remove part (10-15%) of the water and replace it with fresh, dechlorinated tap water (bowls and vases require larger water changes more often). While you are doing this, you should use your siphon to suck up some of the gunk that collects in the gravel and decorations. If you have an under gravel filter, it is very important to clean the gravel when you do your weekly water changes, this will prevent detritus and other decaying organic matter from blocking the passages between the pebbles and restricting water flow. Generally, you can clean 25-33% (1/4-1/3) of the gravel while siphoning out 10-15% of the water.

If you have algae growing on the surface of the tank or ornaments, you should get an algae scraper of some sort and scrub the glass before removing water. Many varieties of algae scrapers or scrubbers are available at your local pet store. For additional cleanliness, you could get algae eating catfish and/or scavengers to pick up some of this work for you, however, having catfish in the tank does NOT mean that you don't need to clean. In fact, algae eaters and catfish, like any other fish, will add to the biological load of your tank and increase maintenance requirements

Answer 3

First, goldfish CANNOT live in bowls. They need LARGE tanks with lots of filtration and its baby-juvenile fancy goldfish needs 10 gallons per fish, long bodied baby-juvenile goldfish need 20 gallons per fish. Adults need 50 gallons per fish.
They excrete copius amount of ammonia and NEED regular partial waterchanges.
Your fish has fin rot from bad water quality.
You need to do an immediate waterchange and be sure that the new water is dechlorinated and the same temperature as the water the fish is in. You will need to keep the water pristine so his fins can heal and grow back. Get medicine called Pimafix for fungal and bacterial infections and get Melafix for rapid healing.

Here is a tip, you can get a 40-50 gallon rubbermaid storage bin from a dept store for 10-15 bucks. Most are clear and seethru now and a hang on the back filter fits on the lip. Its cheap, and large, and fish dont care if the sides are see thru. Many people use them for hospital tanks and when the fish is all better they dump it out and store it away.

Answer 4

It sounds like fin and tail rot, which is a fungal infection that fish can get. You can get tabs of medicine to put in the water to fix it. If you have a filter on the tank, make sure you remove the charcoal while using the medication or it won't work.

Here is a website with more info and some pics of what this looks like in goldfish:
http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/finrot.htm

Good luck!

Answer 5

hi i also have an aquarium so i know very well that why ur gold fish is shedding his tail. actually in fishes also there r many diseases & ur "fish is suffering from tail rot", so it is imp. that u should put medicine in it weekly.
to clean ur fish tank u should first take out all the fishes in another container & then u can wash it & when ur refilling the clean waterin it "do not use the chlorine water."

Answer 6

Are you sure!! Is the goldfish male? It must be going bald ! Ya know ! Like many men do.

And for cleaning the fish tank/bowl, you don't have to lift a finger. Just go to the pet store, and buy a alge eating fish that sucks the alge off the tank walls and make a living that way.

Answer 7

Normally if they are "shedding" its tails, its actually called "rot" its due to fungus and i would suggest you get some Fungus clear meds. you can get them at Walmart for cheap. Also go to a local pet store and ask if they have any reading material on fish care. I have a "Jungle" fish care chart. It comes in handy!!!! Pictures and everything! LOL Its explains just about everything you need to know about your fish and tank care.

Answer 8

well ur first question i can't give any suggestion but i can of second...

take a bowl and put the fish and dirty water in it.clean the fish bowl and fill fresh water........then quickly take a soup making spoon and put the fish back in the fresh water....my maid use to do like this....

Answer 9

Your goldfish has fin rot. Change the water often, make sure there is no chlorine in it (use dechlor), and get some antibiotics fast...your fish will die soon if you do not...Always change water often, for goldfish emit a lot of ammonia, and it is poisonous to them. Puts them in stress and the are subject to fin rot when stressed.

Answer 10

This is a sure sign of dehydration which is caused from not drinking enough water,