GOLDFISH HELP NEEDED: Idleness, Fungus, Bruise?

Question

My goldfish has been acting very idle these past few days. He has not been very active, even when I approach the tank, almost as if he's sleeping a lot. What are the causes and prevention of goldfish idleness?

He has also developed some white fungus on his upper lip. He has had this before, and I bought some stuff to put in the water to help it, and it did, considerably. This time, it's not working so well. What else can I do? Or are there some very exceptional products?

One more thing... He has a bruise on his left side. I'm not sure if he ran into something in the tank or not, but it's very red like there's internal bleeding. Any causes or suggestions?

Answer 1

Your goldfish sounds very sick.

You did not specify his living conditions? Is he in a bowl, or tank, with or without filtration?
If he is in a bowl, then the bowl is the cause of his problems. Goldfish produce huge amounts of ammonia, and just not suitable to living in a bowl or small tank. The ammonia poisons them and they develop illnesses like fungus, bacterial infections, finrot, and general lethargy. A fancy goldfish needs a minimum of 15 gallons of water to be healthy.

If your goldfish IS in a 15 gallon tank, then you'll have to test your water parameters, namely ammonia and nitrites, which should both be at 0. In the meantime, keep doing water changes at a rate of 20% every 5 days to keep the water as clean as possible.

Answer 2

You have a problem that sounds like cottony mouth fungus. It sounds like it has gone systemic (internal). Try this first before medication. 1 teaspoon of non idoized salt per gallon in the morning and then repeat in the afternoon, then repeat the next day for a total of 4 teaspoons a gallon. Go to Goldfish Connection and order and ask for quick delivery of Medi-Gold and feed as instructed. If the fish is down and not eating you amy have to force feed him. Hold him slightly below the water's edge and stick his snoot out of the water. He will open his mouth when he breaks the surface, put a pellet in and hope he swallows it. Isolate him in a hospital tank if you can. Your water is BAD if this is happening to you. You can get a 10 gallon hospital tank at Petco or Petsmart for under 10 dollars. It will also require an air stone and filter. If you are running air in your tank then just move one of the air stones to the new tank. You may have to purchase a filter. Sorry to tell you this but he probably won't make it. Before you go and get another fish do a heavy water change in the main aquirium and test the water the next day. You should change 25% of the water 1 time per week or 50% every two weeks or so. Then 2 times a year do 100% water change. Clean out your filter 1 time a month or when it gets so dirty that water flow is hindered. Wash Biological media in a bucket of tank water. Replace carbon 1 time a month and DO NOT USE ZEOLITE. Especially if you are going to use salt, BC it swaps salt for ammonia. I.E. it will dump ammonia into the system in great quantities. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Answer 3

All of this stuff is symptomatic of bad water,high ammonia,and probably low pH.Don't change all of the water at once! Start doing small water changes every day,(no more than 10% at a time.)Faster changes will raise the pH and make the excessive ammonia more toxic.The thing on its side that looks like a bruise is probably an ammonia burn,clean water will help this situation also. After the ammonia problem is cleared up, you may need to treat the burn by adding Stresscote or some similar product,but dumping chemicals in a tank usually kills more fish than it saves. Good luck.PeeTee

Answer 4

Sounds like ick. How big is your tank??? If he has internal bleed ing he would be gone within a day. It could be parasites. Good luck.

Answer 5

try some other kind of medicine. my goldfish did that b 4 he died.

Answer 6

for more fish help please check out bettachris: A Fish Forum

http://fishroom.proboards106.com/index.cgi

it is a free, fish forum and bettachris has over 13 years experience as well as other members who can help ya.