Sluggish Comets

WaterBaby · Sep 5, 2008

I have a 90g with 4 comets. They are about 3 or 4 inches each. I noticed that they are acting kinda sluggish. One hides in back of the filter intake. The others are just "hanging in the same place". Their fins are not down, they are showing no sign of illness outside of this inactivity (they have been very active since I got them 6 months ago). I have not added any new fish to the tank.

The only thing that seems a little off is the pH of the tank. Nitrites are 0, Ammonia is 0 and Nitrates are 5ppm. The pH is 6. I was suprised, since my other tanks are at 7 or above. I must admit, that I don't check the pH regularly, so it may be that this is the norm for the tank. The substrate is pea gravel, and a single layer at that. The temp these days are 78 degrees.

I do regular water changes every 2 weeks (25 percent). I feed them Omega One goldfish flakes once a day. I just fed them, and not one of them ate.

Do they get like this, or do you think there's something wrong.

Mr. U · Sep 5, 2008

Hiya Waterbaby,
It's been my experience when a fish, that is normally out and about, is found hiding, it's usually something wrong - especially with goldfish. Are there other fish in the tank? Do you vary the diet for your comets? Do you know if your tank can get above 78F? Hopefully things return to normal by the time you read this. Cheers! U.

jpappy789 · Sep 5, 2008

Seeing as it is the end of summer I would assume that the tank temp has been in the upper 70's for a while now. Cooler water should make them more active again.

THE V · Sep 5, 2008

My first guess would be they are too hot. Do you have an aerator in the tank? Goldfish get really like high oxygen levels and the percent of dissolved O2 decreases as the temp increases.

Have you added anything new recently to the tank? (fish, Decoration, new gravel, plant). Or have you changed anything in the room where the tank is? (new couch, curtains, bookcase, etc). When something changes in their environment goldfish's instinct is to hide first and ask questions later.

wataugachicken · Sep 5, 2008

i wonder if it is possible for you to get a second opinion on your water tests? maybe you can take a sample in to a local shop and have them test it and give you the exact numbers. 5 ppm of nitrate does not sound right at all with the size and frequency of the water changes. even if you just did a 25% water change before testing, that would mean the nitrates were under 10ppm to start with. that doesn't make sense. if the tests are wrong for the others, it may be that high levels of nitrates are causing the water to become more acidic (that's if the pH is correct).

WaterBaby · Sep 6, 2008

THE V said:
My first guess would be they are too hot. Do you have an aerator in the tank? Goldfish get really like high oxygen levels and the percent of dissolved O2 decreases as the temp increases.

Amazingly enough, I added 2 airstones, and after a couple of hours they came out of hiding. However, one still doesn't look so well. Hope there's no permanent damage. Time will tell. Did not feed them again. I'll wait until tomorrow. We'll see! The temp has been about 80 degrees in the tank for about a week.

I do have a spraybar in the tank, but last week when I did a water change, I may have added too much water, and let the water level get too close to the bar. Maybe there was not enough surface agitation for them.

As far as the nitrates go, maybe 5ppm was a bit low. They were between 5 and 10ppm. I did another, and it came out the same as before. Maybe my test kit is a bit old. I am going to get another one next time I go to the store.

I try to vary their diet, occasionally throwing some veges or an orange slice into the tank (they love oranges), but not lately.

Thank you for all your advice, and I'll keep you posted on their progress. I love these guys, and don't want anything bad to happen to them.

Flaringshutter · Sep 6, 2008

Keep us updated on them. With the higher temps, they should be more active, and more interested in food, not less. So I would think it is either that they are not getting enough oxygen, your parameters are off, or they are sick. The airstones should help with the oxygen, and getting a new test kit will give you a better idea of your true parameters. You may want to try feeding them something live - try adult brine shrimp. If they still aren't interested, then it's more likely that there's something internally wrong.
You should probably try feeding them more than once a day - I feed small meals in the morning and evening. Since goldfish have such a crude digestive system, small, frequent meals ensure they get enough nutrition and also reduce the amount of waste.

WaterBaby · Sep 7, 2008

darn it!!! lost one last night, and another's not doing well now. one is swimming kinda sideways and is gasping at the surface of the water.

Must be something bacterial. What I did is add Maracyn plus to the water (it's the only thing I have on hand).

Any other suggestions? Medications?

I'm not happy......and very confused as to what is going on....

WaterBaby · Sep 7, 2008

I think I know what happened!!!

A couple of weeks ago, I put a water hyacinth plant into the tank. It started to die and I removed it. There may have been some "baddies" hiding out in the plant, and are now causing illness in my fish. That's the only thing I can think of.

I should have known better :wall: :wall:

WaterBaby · Sep 7, 2008

just lost #2 :tombstone:


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Sluggish Comets

WaterBaby

Senior Member with Senior Moments

Mr. U

Can I have a cookie...pweeeze?

jpappy789

Plants need meat too

THE V

Hiding from my children

wataugachicken

The Dancing Banana

WaterBaby

Senior Member with Senior Moments

Flaringshutter

Befriend a feeder!

WaterBaby

Senior Member with Senior Moments

WaterBaby

Senior Member with Senior Moments

WaterBaby

Senior Member with Senior Moments