My Goldfish Is Rather Lethargic?

Question

Cosmo (the second) keeps hanging out in the top corner of the tank, like hes looking out of the window lol. his reactions are fine (if i put my fingers near the part of the glass where he is, he'll move away) and hes coming out for food. the reason i say that is the original cosmo became very lethargic and was near the bottom of the tank, and ignored food/fingers...
could my fish be relaxing? why would he be so dis-interested?
(i treat the tank regularly with tetramedica goldmed, have done a water change 2 days ago, checked water levels and they were fine, added a few live bacteria in my new water with tetraaqua safestart and also used dechlorinator) i can't think of anything that would be causing this...i did move their tank around a bit when i changed the water (ie different layout) but could this be an effect of that?

sorry i forgot to mention what type of goldfish he is.
hes just a normal goldfish really, the kind you'd see in a bowl or a pond...
hes a kind of black/grey colour.
hes definitely not a black moore or anything, just a black/grey goldfish

Answer 1

If your sure the water quality is okay, the first thing I would suspect is temperature or water flow.

Goldfish prefer cooler temperatures, because cooler water holds more oxygen, so he may be hanging out closer to the top where the water is better oxygenated.

You don't mention what variety of goldfish he is, so if he's a round-bodied type (oranda, fantain, ryukin, lionhead, pearlscale, etc.), if you've changed the position of your filter (or the rearranging has caused a change in the flow patterns), he might be looking for an area with decreased flow since the round-bodied varieties aren't as strong of swimmers.

Another possibility is that it may be trying to stay out of the way of a bully if there are other fish in the tank.

And it wouldn't hurt, if none of these seem to be the cause, to have a water sample tested by another source, to confirm your previous results. Test kits can go bad after a while.

Answer 2

Adding all sorts of stuff, often due to 'pet store' recommendation is not necessary, and will often do more harm then good. All your water needs is de-chlorinator for the amount of water changed. You don't need those meds because meds are only for sick fish. Just like with humans, medication can have negative side effects and weaken the fish - never use it unless the fish is sick. You don't need that 'start right' because your tank is (should be) cycled and you already have bacteria - plus the stuff doesn't really work very well anyway. Keep it simple and you'll be better off.

Make sure the ammonia and nitrite levels are 0, and that the nitrate is relatively low (under 20 is best, under 50 is good, under 100 is adequate but not great). The temperature should not be too cold, as the colder the water is, the more lethargic the fish becomes. The water should have good surface movement via the filter and/or air pump to ensure plenty of oxygen. Make sure he's in a a reasonable sized tank, and that you are doing partial water changes each week rather then full changes, which can be very stressful to the fish.

If all checks out ok, and the fish is eating fine (but also you are not overfeeding) then don't worry too much about it.

Answer 3

Tetramedica regularly is the problem. You are killing the bacterial system.
The fish is behaving like a stressed fish. Goldfish should be very active the whole time the lights are on. Why are you adding bacteria if the 'water levels' are fine. I assume that means you checked ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and you came up with ammonia and nitrite zero and less than 20ppm of nitrate. You don't need to add bacteria. Check ph to see if its gone acidic, less than 6.8.
Something isn't right in the water and I think you've added too much of the wrong stuff. Change the water and declorinate only. Replace the carbon in the filter. I would leave it in there for about a week and replace the carbon again with a good water change. Goldfish kept in ideal water conditions will not get sick very often, if at all.

Answer 4

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Hello, all those tubs would be a great use. Firstly lets go over what you have done so far, by using the ich medication, you have most likely killed all your bacteria since you used it in the main tank, thats why your seeing the bacteria bloom. The ich has probably come from the new goldfish and they probably died first because they had already been infected by it. Ok now for the course of action, put all the fish into the separate tubs without any substrate and put them in the warmest room in your home, the increased temp. will kill the ich spores. Now do a 50% water change on each tub and vacuum the bottom of each one every day, you are doing this to remove any ich spores that have relocated to the bottom of the tank for their next phase of the battle, if they don't get removed here, they will most likely kill your fish when they move back onto your fish. Since your cycle has already been lost, you might as well use the medication and so use this as the instructions say on each tub. Now while your fish are all in separate tubs, wash out everything that is in your main tank with HOT TAP WATER and put it all back together and start a new cycle or use Tetra Safe Start to get an instant cycle. After 2 week of isolation all your remaining fish can be moved back into your cycled main tank without the fear of ich. Good Luck.

Answer 5

It could be the temperature of your tank. Goldfish are coldwater fish, and do best in water temperatures from 64-74 degrees farenheit. If your water is any warmer than that, they may become lethargic or "over heated"
When this happens to my tank, I throw a few ice cubes in (along with water treatment) and they'll usually perk right up.