lots of problems in my tank =\

B

bubblegum58

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Dec 8, 2007
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It's a 30 gallon, with 9 2-inch goldies. The fishes have been in there for 2 months. It is cycled, and I conduct weekly 30% water changes. There is triple filtration to make up for the overcrowding (>_>) and lots of aeration. I change the sponges in the filters cause they get dirty, is that causing a mini cycle? Salinity is around 0.3 now I think (I'm unable to accurately measure it). Currently there is carbon in my filters to remove the medication methylene blue.

The thing is, my goldfishes keep becoming sick and I can't figure out why! My tank has a continuous ich problem which results in my fish either becoming "immune" or dying even after treatment. (I had a thread on this.) Just when ALL my fish appeared healthy, I found out something new today.

My red-cap appeared to have grown a "beard", which I eventually figured out was due to excess slimecoat production. The same red-cap has had a wound at the side which has refused to heal for months. One ranchu has developed white patches on its body, and is very lethargic, either sitting or floating at the top. I don't know what's wrong with it (costia??) and I'm afraid it's going to die soon. 2 of them also have blue colouring on small sections of their wen, and I have no idea what that is. And also most of the others have flickering fins, so it's not always clamped but I think it's a cause for worry.

How should I treat them now?
 
First off, you're never going to get over long-term crowding issues in that tank. Its way too small for that many fish. Most people recommend 20-30gal PER FISH when dealing with fancy goldfish.

While putting a larger filter on will help to some degree, you're still going to be dealing with sky-high nitrate levels (the end product of the nitrogen cycle in a fishtank) which will cause weakened immune systems. I'd be leaning toward 30-50% changes 2 or 3x weekly.

I know some medications will wreck the biofilter in a tank, I'm not sure if methylene blue is one of them. But, if you're changing all the biomedia (sponges) at once without giving the bacteria anything else to colonize, then there's a good chance you're going through a mini cycle every time you change the filters.

Goldfish, particularly fancies, are messy fish, and the bottom line is you're going to need to either thin out your stock substantially, or get a much larger tank. For the immediate issues though, can you psot your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels? I would stop adding meds to the tank for now and focus on getting clean water into the tank.
 
:iagree: That's exactly what I would have said.

Though you didn't mention what kind of filter you have on it. With "triple" filtration in a canister filter, you're in a much better situation as far as bacteria colony and chemical waste removal than with a HOB filter. Also, if you're changing sponges in a canister filter, that won't cause a cycle. In an HOB, it will. So that's something we need to know - what type of filter, brand is also helpful, and what GPH it's rated at.

Definitely focus on clean water. There is no medication that will overcome ammonia and nitrates in the water.
 
get rid of the salt with water changes. too much can be causing skin/wound irritation and that excess slime coat production.
 
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