Goldfish is sick..please help!!?

Hi,

Probable causes Change in water temperature, diet, any new tank mates added in recently, or some infection caused when it bumped onto some hardy surface. If all the above reasons are not right then the fish should survive once the disease gets cured on its own or sometimes a little bit of salt bath may help it fight any infection. Hard to tell what caused this unrest in your fish.

Could I get some information on the setup for your goldfish? Would you mind answering the following?

- How many gallons is your aquarium?

- Is the aquarium filtered?

- What kind of goldfish do you have (fancy (oranda, ryukin, moor, celestial, ect), common, comet, shubunkin?

- How long has the aquarium been running?

- Have you introduced any new fish or decor in the aquarium within the past month or so?

- What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?

- What is the current diet you're feeding your goldfish?

- Are there any other fish in the aquarium, if so what kind?

- You said your goldfish is 6 years old, has it been in the same aquarium for all that time, or has in been moved into a new aquarium recently?

- If it has recently been moved into a new aquarium, was it cycled prior to adding in fish?

- Is the aquarium in question a bowl?

It is difficult to tell you exactly what is wrong with your goldfish without this essential information.

Reasons fish often fall ill (#1 being the most common, and less common going down the list):

1) Poor upkeep in the aquarium:

There are many different types of goldfish, they range from sizes of 5" all the way up to 16" (not including koi), because their sizes range greatly, I cannot tell you what size aquarium is required, however, for goldfish of 6" or less, an aquarium of at least 20 gallons is needed, for the larger varieties (12-16) such as commons, comets, shubunkin and orandas aquariums between 40-55 gallons is required. Because goldfish produce high bio loads, the larger the aquarium, the better. If a goldfish is kept in too small of an aquarium, ammonia will build up too fast for the beneficial bacteria to convert it into nitrites. Which can lead to an ammonia spike. If there is an established colony of bacteria able to convert ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate, but not enough water changes are being done, the fish can fall ill do to high nitrate content. If your goldfish is kept in a proper sized aquarium, but you're not keeping up with water changes the fish will become stressed and the poor water quality is a breeding ground for parasites, diseases and bacterial infections. Weekly 25% water changes are essential to keeping your aquarium clean.

2) Introducing unhealthy fish or foreign objects into the aquarium:

Some times when we buy a new fish and bring it home from the store they aren't very healthy. Some pet and aquarium stores overstock their aquariums to the max and make little effort to keep their water healthy. If you bought a new fish and dropped it into the aquarium it could have transferred a disease to your goldfish. Another thing some people do is find a cool rock and plop it into the aquarium without checking to see if it's both safe and clean. This could not only hurt your fish but potentially kill it. When buying a new fish it is important to ensure that it is healthy and there are no dead fish in the tanks. I quarantine my fish for 2-6 weeks prior to adding it into my main aquariums to avoid this problem. However, at aquarium stores I trust I do not quarantine, I will often just drip acclimate the fish instead.

3) Poor Choice of tank mates:

A common problem with people in the aquarium hobby, especially the ones just starting out is that they do not do the proper research before purchasing a new fish and adding it into the aquarium. Problems can range from getting an aggressive predator and putting it with your peaceful fish all the way to buying a brackish water fish without knowing it. -Perhaps you have another fish in the aquarium that is bullying your goldfish and not allowing it to eat?

4) Diet:

Goldfish are an omnivorous fish, meaning they eat both vegetation and animal matter. However, a plant based diet is recommended, only giving small amounts of meat. What type of food are you feeding your fish? Perhaps the food you're feeding it is no longer good. Maybe expired? Perhaps you're feeding your goldfish a meat based diet. A meat based diet would contain far too much protein than your goldfish requires. 6 years of a meat based diet for a omnivorous fish could cause constipation, bloating and extreme discomfort. I feed my goldfish a diet of vegetarian based flakes, twice daily, a small portion of mixed meat (mosquito larvae (glass worms), bloodworms, brine shrimp and mysis shrimp once daily, and I feed them chopped veggies (carrots, peas, zucchini and/or blanched spinach (I usually pick one vegetable and give that for the next couple weeks)) once daily. In total I feed them small amounts of food 4 times daily, some times 5 times when I throw in an algae pellet. The reason Ido this is because goldfish do not have stomachs, instead they have several sections of their intestines must do the job a stomach would including break down and absorb the nutrients in the food. Because they have no stomach to hold all their food, they cannot eat that much at a time, that's why the fish must be fed small amounts several times a day. Feeding one of two large amounts is not only a waste, but it will spoil the water causing an ammonia build up, potentially killing the fish.

5) Temperature:

There are many different types of goldfish, the variety known as "fancy goldfish" are very deformed in order to obtain the looks they have, because of this, they are not the hardiest of fish, in fact, some can be very sensitive. Unlike commons, comets and shubunkin goldfish, they are not cold water, but subtropical, so they do require a heater with a temperature between 66-76F. If the goldfish in question is of the fancy variety and you do not have a heater the fish can become lethargic. Some fish can survive quite a while in cold water, however the longer they are kept in it, the more likely problems will worsen. Symptoms of a lethargic fish include inactivity, decreased appetite, pale in color, and they will be very stressed. Stress weakens the immune system leaving the fish susceptible to parasites, diseases and bacterial infections. -Have you ever been so upset or stressed that you actually made yourself sick? Same thing can happen with fish.

I am not going to keep going because I've already spent quite a lot of time writing this, and it's just a guessing game since you gave me no information on the things I need.

In summation:

- Please answer the questions I wrote out.

- Do not treat the aquarium with anything, medication can do far more harm than good if you don't know what you're treating.

- Test your water and tell me the parameters.

- Since poor water quality is the most common reason for fish falling ill, carry out a daily 50% water change until your levels read the following: Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrite: 0ppm, Nitrate: Under 10ppm (ideally under 5ppm).

Once you answer the questions I could most likely help you pinpoint the problem, until then I'm flying blind. If I had to take a guess, I would maybe say a bacterial infection is the problem. Bacterial infections are due to poor water quality. A picture would also be quite helpful.