Ryukin problems after a bad tank episode?

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Leighlou

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Aug 13, 2009
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I'm new to this forum so if I have the wrong area, feel free to tell me. I'm also a beginner when it comes to Ryukins. I left my 55 gal. octagon tall tank (which my aunt is letting me use till I get enough money to buy my own), in the care of my mother as I was away for a month, I came back to brown/red algae nearly filling the glass sides and my Ryukin swimming around upside down.

I did the only think I could think of and took him out of the tank and into a isolated tank as I cleaned off the algae and changed out 3/4 of the water, the tank has cleared up and he is floating right side up now but before his gills were brownish (which have cleared up now), but he stays at the top of the tank and I'm scared that the trauma has caused some serious damage. I have a Comet in with him and he seems fine by my poor Ryu is still at the top of the tank.

Because the tank isn't mine, I don't really know what kind of filter it is, but it is a hang on one and cleaned up the tank nicely when I kept up with it, I have a heater on the tank because my mom keeps it really cold in the house and it usually steady at 75-78 F.

My main question though is if my Ryu will be okay? I don't really know how old he is but I had if for about three months now and he is about four inches long from the mouth to the end of his flowing tails.
 

Lupin

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:welcome: to AC, Leigh!

Your thread will be moved shortly to Coldwater Diseases and Illnesses forum where you will get more responses from coldwater enthusiasts than in this section.

First of all, I would like to ask what the water parameters were if you've actually tested it before you did a water change on it. How often was the goldfish fed? What food was used to feed him?

This case is swim bladder disorder or buoyancy issue. Buoyancy issues often stem from improper diet. The use of floating foods is one of the top culprits. Considering ryukins have a rather tall shape for goldfish, their internal organs also get compressed greatly due to their body shape. This scenario increases the chances of buoyancy issues among round bodied variants. The air ingested upon consuming the floating food often becomes trapped inside the GI tract of the fish thus the fish becomes unable to control its swimming balance.

Aside from that, most fish foods contain too much starch that when the bacteria lining the digestive system begin to digest the starch, they also produce gas as a result which also stays trapped in the GI tract. If foods are the likely causes, the only way to correct this problem is by avoiding starch-based foods completely and stick to gel foods, high fiber diet and pellets that do not contain too much starch. I would recommend you make your own homemade gel foods mostly with vegetable matter in it and acidophilus added to help cope with the possible starch residues in most foods. If you do not have the time, buy the Mazuri 5M70 gel food. Simply mix the powder with hot water at 50:50 ratio and it can be refrigerated afterwards to become gel food. I recommend Hikari Lionhead as well since it is sinking pellet and does not contain too much starch at all. I also use Hikari Lionhead with my own goldfish.

Hope this helps!

Lupes
 

Leighlou

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Thank you for the welcome ^-^

I didn't get a chance to test it before I started cleaning it.

I think the food is the problem, I checked out my food container and its almost empty and it was full before I left. From I told my mom to feed them every other day, but it seems she was over feeding them every day. The food I use is TetraMin, I ran out before I left so I told my mom the brand but now looking at the bottle it is a .49 oz (14g) bottle of Tropical blend.
 

Lupin

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Could you please post the ingredients and guaranteed analysis? I could have sworn I've done Tetramin before and it was mostly starch like most other Tetra products that they make the wrong choice for food to fancy goldfish. I'd switch to Hikari Lionhead and Mazuri if I were you.
 
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1oooop

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some over-feeder... thats alotta food
 

Leighlou

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Ingredient
Fish meal, dried yeast, corn starch, shrimp meal, wheat gluten, ground brown rice, potato protein, soybean oil, dehulled soybean meal, fish oil, guar gum, dried skimmed milk, sorbitol, algae meal, lecithin, krill, l-carnitine, ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C), inositol, niacin, l-ascorbyl-2-polphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), a-tocopherol-acetate (source of vitamin E), riboflavin-5-phosphate, d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, biotin, cyanocobalamin (source of vitamin B12), cholecalciferol (source of vitamin D3), manganese sulfate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, cobalt nitrate. Color includes: canthaxanthin, blue 2 lake, red 3 dye, yellow 5 lake, yellow 6 lake. Ethoxyquin and citric acid both as preservatives

Guaranteed analysis
Crude protein (min.) 45%, crude fat (min.) 12%, crude fiber (max.) 3%, moisture (max.) 9%, phosphorus (min.) 1.2%, niacin (min.) 550 mg/kg, choline (min.) 2000 mg/kg, inositol (min.) 1000 mg/kg, l-carnitine (min.) 123 mg/kg, vitamin C (min.) 425 mg/kg.


And the thing is that I should have probably checked in more with her because every time they saw him floating (upside down of all things) they would feed him again thinking they had forgot to feed him.
 

Lupin

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Ugh! That food contains a lot of starch-based ingredients. This is the culprit if the poor ryukin has been floaty for some time now. I'd suggest disposing that food and switch to what I suggested. There is no telling if the ryukin can ever recover but as long as you start avoiding products that contain too much starch, the problems can be minimized in the long run.

I forgot to add you can try frozen bloodworms, mosquito larva, chopped earthworms and aquarium plant cuttings as its food too. My goldies love to eat almost any plants I keep except the crypts, vals, anubias, hornworts and Java ferns.
 

Leighlou

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It was going in the trash anyway, they used the entire thing in a month (just shows how much they were feeding him). I'm going to try and find the brand you suggested, my local stores aren't really well stocked.
 

Lupin

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The floaty issue is not really life threatening and the goldfish can have it for as long as the cause of the problem is not avoided. Just stick to high fiber diet and avoid products with too much starch so you can avoid the floaty issues.
 
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