Help Sick Goldfish

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ReefRaft

Respect My AUTHORITY!
Apr 18, 2006
95
0
0
For like two weeks now my gold fish has been very lethargic and not moving at all (except for breathing and ocasionally some food). there are no visible illness' and her tank paremeters are as follows
Am-barely restering
Nitrates-10ppm

replaced the filter about 3 weeks ago but scraped off as much bacteria as i could onto the new filter cartrige....but since the nitrates are showing up i dont think thats it.

any suggestions are highly appreciated because i love this goldfish and have had her for five years
 

silentskream

AC Members
May 16, 2004
1,860
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36
Florida
for one, you need a larger tank.
and ammonia should not be registering at all. what are you using to test?

what's the temp. in the tank? how often do you do water changes?
 

fishcatch22

The Picotoper
Jun 13, 2006
4,214
2
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33
Morris, Illinois
it may be stunting finally catching up with her. 5 years is the average lifespan a stunted goldfish will live, which is about 1/2-1/4 the normal lifespan of a goldfish.
 

silentskream

AC Members
May 16, 2004
1,860
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36
Florida
that's a good point as well. i wasn't sure of the stunted expected live span
 

fishcatch22

The Picotoper
Jun 13, 2006
4,214
2
0
33
Morris, Illinois
what does stunted mean???
it means that by being kept in a tank too small for it as an adult (which would be about 7-8", and require a tank of at least 25 gallons) its lifespan, as well as its body has been shorted. stunted fish can live for years, but they eventually perish from organ faliure because their organs keep growing, even thought they dont, and eventually the pressure becomes too much and causes them to fail. it is a slow, steady, and painful death, that is only diagnosable once its too late. this is probably what is happening to your goldfish.
 

Malefic23

AC Members
Nov 7, 2006
661
1
0
51
Charlotte NC
What's the tank temp? Before you give up and bury your goldfish, remember they don't do well in warm waters. 80's causes listless behavour and illness. Low seventies are ideal. But yeah, your tank is about 1/3 the size your gold needs.
 

fishcatch22

The Picotoper
Jun 13, 2006
4,214
2
0
33
Morris, Illinois
What's the tank temp? Before you give up and bury your goldfish, remember they don't do well in warm waters. 80's causes listless behavour and illness. Low seventies are ideal. But yeah, your tank is about 1/3 the size your gold needs.
true, true..... thats a possibility, I guess I just automatically assumend stunting because where a live you dont have much of that problem.
 

ReefRaft

Respect My AUTHORITY!
Apr 18, 2006
95
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0
My fish has like never grown...when i got her from...well i can't believe it but wal-mart she was about 3 inches....now she is still three inches...with a slightly longer tail....do u think adding salt and bringing the temp down would help...or anything else...the temp is pretty high but it wont go down....i have a fan on it and i put ice in their....it is also next to my AC vent but is still at 78 sometimes if i really stay at it it drops to like 75
 

riddle4sphinx

AC Members
Jul 19, 2006
268
0
16
Illinois
I don't know what kind of living arangement you have, but is there a shot of maybe moving the tank down to like a basement where it is always cooler? That will help. My goldfish stay down there because its about 70 degrees down there and their heater keeps it right at that. I wouldnt try salt since your fish is probably not sick, it could just not be getting enough oxygen with the higher temperatures. Goldfish should really have a max temperature of 74, so i'd start with that. Keep a fan on the top of the tank and a good filter to aerate the water. (A goldfish tank should have a filter of twice its tank size, so if you've got a filter for a 20g tank, that will be good) One thing I was kind of confused on.... what kind of filter do you have? When I first read it it sounded like you were scraping the fish poop off the filter and putting it on the new clean one.
 
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