Lethargic goldie!?

Question

My goldfish has been mostly inactive (except feedings) the past few days and has been hanging out by the heater... I thought the tank might be too cold, so I turned it up a notch (about 5 degrees warmer), but it hasn't changed its behavior. It normally wanders around the tank a lot but hasn't been the past couple of days. He recently had an Ick infestation, but I took care of that and it's been a couple of weeks since then... what could it be? It's a baby goldie (1.5 inches) in a 1-gallon tank (going to upgrade as soon as he reaches 2 inches) and there are places for him to play in. He usually likes to play in the bubbles, but hasn't even been doing that either. Help!

Answer 1

The tanks is WAY to small.

Fancy gold fish(6") will require 55gallons as adults and common gold (12") fish require 100 gallons as adults. The reason for the large tanks is the amount of waste and slime goldfish produce. The bioload is just to much for a small tank to handle.

He needs a bigger tank pronto. In the mean time continue with large water changes.
A 20-30 gallon will do for a while until you can buy a larger tank.

He may already be stunted, depending on how long you have kept him the the bowl.

Answer 2

Eventhough your tank is small this is not causing the problem with your gold fish and his health does not suffer because of it.

First off get rid of the heater. Warm water makes goldfish lethargic. they are cold water fish. The temperature in the tank should be around 65.

Also, do you have a filter on this one gallon? The reason everyone is telling you this tank is too small is because goldfish require lots of what they call Dissolved Oxygen (DO2). This can only enter the tank water by movement. Waterfalls like your filter, fountains, wind/waves water movement. Air stones do not move the water enough to add this to your tank. If you do not have a filter on the tank you can scoop up cups of his tank water and pour them back into the tank. Doing this a few times a day will help your fish. Even so much as a partial water change will add DO2 back into your tank.

What is the water testing at in your aquarium? Ammonia poisoning is the main cause of goldfish deaths. It is a silent killer. If you have not done a 25% water change in his tank within a few days, now is the time to do it. Try not to use too cold of water since you have a heater on in the tank.

Turn the heater off, change the water and test. Your fish should come to life.

If you are still having problems feel free to email me or repost.

Good luck

Answer 3

Your tank is way too small for him right now. He needs at least a 10 gallon tank. Goldfish produce a lot of ammonia and thus, the ammonia levels in your tank are probably high. Change about 40% of your water ASAP. How warm do you keep your tank? Goldfish usually do not require heat. The warmer he is the less active he is probably going to be.

Get him into a larger tank and you may be supprised at how fast he will grow. But first, do that water change and get those ammonia levels down before it causes any damage.

Good Luck

As the person before me said, this fish will require a very large tank. The 10 gallon will be much better than what you have now, but he will need 40-50 gal if he is going to be kept alone.

Answer 4

goldfish do fine in the colder temps just not too extreme in too short of a time period

the tank is way to damn small.

get at least a 10 gallon if hes a fancy. if hes a comet or a common get rid of him or get a pond or a huge tank.

Answer 5

goldfish don't apply to the 1" per gallon "rule" (infact most fish don't). goldfish need 10gallons when young and 20gallons when adults... per fish. well 20 plus 10 for each additional goldfish when adults. and that's only if they're fancies (like Ryukins and Black Moors), commons or slim bodied need to be in ponds, or 40 gallons each.

what are you keeping the temp at? goldfish are coldwater fish and don't need heaters unless the temp in your house normally drops into the low 50's.

you need a bigger tank ASAP. get at least a 10 gallon and a good filter. cycle the tank, and until the tank has cycled do 20% water changes everyday with a gravel vacuum or turkey baster.

cycling:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/tom01.html

Answer 6

at the start i could want to assist you be attentive to that, a gold fish want minimum 30 gal of water for its own, so for 3 gold fish you like ninety gal of water. yet you may upload some small fish as tank friends. With 3 gold fish living in a 25 gal tank is in no way been healthful on your fishes, they only merely survived. while they're small they produce much less wastage and while they're enormous they produce plenty greater waste and pollute the water greater. Your fish is tormented by inner infections. upload antibiotic drugs on your tank and attempt to get a greater robust aquarium if obtainable on your fish to be healthful. including salt will additionally carry out a little disinfection yet on your case it wont assist you plenty. additionally do no longer over feed your fish. And for the ill fish, provide him a greater robust tank or something with greater water. do no longer feed him for 2 days and feed him merely as quickly as there after for one million week. he would be o.k..