Goldfish help?

Crystaliss

Crystaliss

Registered Member
Oct 31, 2007
2
0
0
San Jose, CA
Hello everyone!

I'm pretty new here, glad to meet you all!

I'm not new to the aquarium world, but I am new to goldfish. About a week ago I got a pair of healthy 1-1.5 inch baby goldfish (Bomberman and Ping)... they both are bright and clear and hold their fins high when they swim. They seem healthy... but Bomberman has taken to laying on the bottom of the tank, often in one spot in particular. He's very active when scouring for food, and swims like a healthy happy fish. Another behavior I find odd, is he goes to the top of the tank to gulp air, often, several times in a minute. Ping goes to the top only on rare occasion.

They are currently in a 10 gallon tank (which will be upgraded soon to a larger space for them as they grow), and it is well filtered. There is a decent jetstream from the filter. I only feed them fresh and frozen foods, and nothing that could give them swim bladder disease, or expand in their little tummies.

I guess I'm just wondering if he's sick, unhappy, or if its just plain personality. I haven't had goldfish since I was a kid. I can't really tell if his breathing is strange, cause goldfish always look funny to me. ;) Such characters.

Temp is cool, so could it be not enough aeration (even with my filter)? Water imbalance? Some sort of sickness? Or just plain old character?

Thanks so much! (I know that was a long post)

~Crystaliss

PS: I know I'm a dork, but here's a picture of Ping (left) and Bomberman (right). What can I say, I'm a visual person. :)

pingbomber.jpg
 
Keep an eye on him, but it could just be personality. I have a goldie that bottom sits most of the time and another who spends her entire time at the surface blowing bubbles, both are healthy, it's just a personality quirk.

General signs something wrong are physical abnormalities, not eating/not eating enough/excessive bottom sitting and all the other general signs of problems.

If he's swimming around fine I wouldn't worry, you might want to add some java moss, my guys love to rest in that as compared to the bottom of the tank, and it's one of the few plants goldies don't eat,

This is my tank, it's a tad overstocked with 3 baby goldies, a guppy and two white mountain clouds, but as soon as the pond warms up enough the small black moore will move out there and the large black moores already moved
hermitsgoldfishtankredone036resize.jpg
 
Sounds like the same type of behavior as mine and he is perfectly fine....until the pleco wants to play. ;o)
 
First of all, welcome to AC! :)

How long has the tank been setup?
what are your water params?
and when do you do your water changes?

To me, it sounds like the tank isn't cycled.

Btw, Ping and Bomberman are adorable :p:
 
welcome to the AC! i was going to ask what bettagurl did.... the only thing i'd add is that goldfish like a stable cool temperature. Something below 74 degrees would be ideal, they need more aeration when temperatures get higher than that. Another common rule among goldfish is that you should have double the filtration of your tank size, meaning that for a ten gallon tank, you should have a filter that can handle up to a 20 gallon tank.
 
Thanks so much for the feedback guys!

The tank was up and running for about a week before I got the fishies, and I've only had them for roughly a week now. I can't find my water test kit anywhere and won't be able to get a new one until this weekend, so I worried that the water was bad, or not cultured enough. So I did a 50% water change yesterday. Half of the water I added was good, clean mountain spring water, and the other half was cultured water from my 55 gallon.

Bomberman's activities haven't changed at all. He still sits in his favorite spot and goes up for air occasionally (though not quite as frequently as before, I think). He eats well, and swims like a healthy fish. Just, when he's not scrounging for food, hes chilling in that one spot.

My water temp is about 74 exactly. Should I put a bubbler in?

I do only have a 10 gallon filter, but I'll work on getting a 20 gallon one. Everything is really clean right now though.

Maybe I'm over thinking. He may just be a quirky guy, like some other goldies people have here. :) I just wanted to be sure.

Thanks again so much!

~Crystaliss
 
My replies in red.

Crystaliss said:
Thanks so much for the feedback guys!

The tank was up and running for about a week before I got the fishies, and I've only had them for roughly a week now. I can't find my water test kit anywhere and won't be able to get a new one until this weekend, so I worried that the water was bad, or not cultured enough. So I did a 50% water change yesterday. Half of the water I added was good, clean mountain spring water, and the other half was cultured water from my 55 gallon.
Ah, it's not cycled then.. cycling takes at LEAST 3 weeks if you're lucky ;)
If you can, do 50% WCs every day, or your goldies will get sick from ammonia and nitrites.
Bomberman's activities haven't changed at all. He still sits in his favorite spot and goes up for air occasionally (though not quite as frequently as before, I think). He eats well, and swims like a healthy fish. Just, when he's not scrounging for food, hes chilling in that one spot.
He is probably already suffering from ammonia, as long as you keep up with the WCs you should be ok for a while.
My water temp is about 74 exactly. Should I put a bubbler in?
If you want to, my goldfish love playing in the bubbles, and it couldn't hurt.
I do only have a 10 gallon filter, but I'll work on getting a 20 gallon one. Everything is really clean right now though.

Maybe I'm over thinking. He may just be a quirky guy, like some other goldies people have here. :) I just wanted to be sure.

Thanks again so much!

~Crystaliss
Click to expand...
 
:iagree: i would do some water changes every day to keep ammonia levels down.... goldfish are so messy that you'll keep them healthier this way. For a filter, if you have one for a 10gallon, if you have room on the top of your tank, it will be cheaper if you get another 10 gallon filter and run both of those instead of getting a 20 gallon filter, but either is a good option. For now, get a test kit that includes an ammonia test and keep up with your water changes. Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom