I think my Oranda is very sick

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TEnderle

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Aug 1, 2010
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Hi. Any help here is greatly appreciated! I purchased an Oranda (about 3" long) from a pet store this past Tuesday. My tank has been set up for about 6 weeks and is fully cycled. Water Parameters as follows: Ammonia-0 / Nitrites-0 / Nitrates 10 / PH- 7.5 / Water Temp-77 degrees. She is in a 20 gal tank w/ one other 1" long goldfish. At the petstore she was floating at the top. when I brought her home, she immed went to the bottom of the tank where she has remained since Tuesday (it's now Friday). She is breathing very heavily, not eating anything, and has pooped several long white/clear stringy poops. I visited a LFS and they told me it was probably an internal parasite and to use Jungle's Parasite Clear tabs. I put 2 of these in yesterday at 1:00 and she is unchanged as of today at 12:00pm. Does anyone have any other suggestions? She is the whole reason I bought my tank and I would be absolutely devastated if she died. I don't know what else to do!
 

Jennie Beth

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Feb 20, 2009
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Try posting this over in the freshwater illness and disease forum. Lotta goldie people over there with great info...Good disease and diagnosis stickies there, too....wish I could help more :(
Jen
 

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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I moved it to the Coldwater illness Forum. Regardless of your readings, water changes daily can not hurt.
 

Inka4040

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Mar 31, 2008
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If she's not eating, that's usually a pretty bad sign. Jungle parasite cure is ok, but doesn't really do much for internal parasites ime. Judging from your saying that you bought the tank specifically for the goldfish, I am assuming that it's not properly cycled, which is another reason to keep doing daily water changes. Bish is right. Clean water never hurts, and seeing as how your fish appears to be dealing with multiple issues right now, it'll definitely improve its chances of survival. The heavy breathing and lethargy could be due to gill flukes, which infect an inordinate amount of goldfish that are raised outdoors or in ponds. The parasite clear should deal with those, but like I said, if your fish isn't eating, the prognosis is not good. In the future, wait till the tank is up, stable, and cycled before adding fish. Also, try to pick fish that are acting active and healthy in the tank. If a fish is swimming or acting abnormally, then pass it over, lest you bring all those problems home with you. In that situation, the fish ends up costing you all the medicine you'd need to treat it, and beyond that, rather than saving a fish from the store, you've only created more incentive for them to keep bringing fish in and mistreating them. IMO, rescue missions are good for making you feel warm and fuzzy, but not much else in the grand scheme of things. Also, it would definitely be good to invest in a quarantine tank so that you can look over your fish carefully for a few weeks and avoid introducing any nasties into the main aquarium.
 

mel_20_20

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Sep 1, 2008
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I agree with all the advise given. Your new baby probably does have internal parasites, and the Jungle Parasite clear tabs will have helped with external parasites, most likely, but I would get some Jungle Anti-Parasite medicated food. It's easy to find at fish stores or WalMart, and it's cheap.

It must take like crap, though, so you need to make it more tasty. I would grind up the pellets and mix it in something tasty. You could get fresh garlic, crush it/chop it fine, put some of the crushed pellets in with it and mush it around and let it sit for about 20 minutes. You could drop a small quantity of this in the water to see if your Oranda goes for it.

If not I would use one of the "Snell-O/Snail-O recipes, here on AC, which calls for unflavored gelatin and various other ingredients, but in this case adapt it to the crushed medicated pellets, some crushed garlic, a little bit of frozen blood worms. This might make it more appetizing for your fish.

I am rushing out of the house right now or I would find the Snell-O/Sail-O link for you, but you should be able to find it by entering that in the search window here on AC. If not, pm Msjinkzd for the recipe or go on the freshwater invertebrates forum here on AC and look there. It may be in one of the "sticky" articles at the top of the invertebrate forum.

Putting it in a SnellO recipe will help it sink to the bottom where your Oranda might go for it. I know from what I've read from the Goldie Gurus here that you really don't want Goldies/Orandas/etc. to eat floating food because it can cause swim bladder problems.

I hope this helps. Jungle Anti Parisite food is quick and easily found, but if you find straight Metronidazole it would work very well for internal parasites, too. You just just mix it up as I mentioned above. Best wishes for your sick fishie.
 

TEnderle

Registered Member
Aug 1, 2010
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HI. Thank you so much for the advice, but unfortunately "Chubbers" died. I honestly feel like I did everything right in getting things ready to bring this fish home. I originally purchased this fish 6 weeks ago and when I paid for her, she seemed very healthy. The pet store agreed to hold her for me until my tank was cycled, which took about 6 weeks. I cycled with 3 zebra danios, 3 red eye tetras and 1 little goldfish - all of which I brought back to the pet store (except the little goldie) before bringing Chubbers home. I tested the water every other day.. saw the ammonia spike and go to zero, then the nitrites spike and go to zero and finally the development of nitrates, which were at 10 when I put Chubbers into the tank. Is that not a cycled tank?? Maybe I did it incorrectly.. I am new at this but I did a lot of research and like I said, I really thought I did it right. I guess maybe my biggest mistake was taking the word of the assoc. at the pet store when they told me she was ok (as I did question why she was at the top of the tank.). I will be much more careful when selecting a fish go forward.

So, I guess my concern now is this: I went out of town for a day and when I came back, she had passed. So, she had been in there (dead) for about 24 hrs and I think my other goldfish had maybe been biting at her as there were little pcs of her floating throughout the tank (sad). I removed the dead fish and did a 30% water change but since I'm not exactly sure what Chubbers died of, do I need to totally clean out the tank and start fresh?? Is there a possibility my tank "infected" w/ something? My other little goldie seems ok (fingers crossed!). My kids and I are so disappointed and we would love to have another oranda, but I don't want this to happen again. Where should I go from here to in order to give a new oranda the best shot at surviving a long, healthy life? Thank you so much for your help.
 

Inka4040

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Mar 31, 2008
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At the risk of sounding like a dead horse beater, I don't personally think an oranda or any goldfish can ever be happy or healthy long term in a tank that small. I would take the remaining goldfish back to the store, disinfect the tank with bleach, potassium permanganate, or pure ammonia, and start the cycle over. Fishless cycle will reduce the possibility of reintroducing pathogens and diseases into the tank for your next attempt. Goldfish like inhabitants that would work in your tank without outgrowing it include cherry barbs, odessa barbs, ticto barbs, and most of the small schooling cyprinids. Overall, switching to smaller and more easily cared for fish will lead to a more active, colorful, and more manageable tank long term. Sorry if this isn't what you were expecting, but I really believe you'll be much happier in the end if you go with fish more suited to the setup you already have.
 

Reframer

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Feb 22, 2009
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I think the part about the fish being in the shop for 6 weeks is what did her in. Also, I agree that the tank is too small, a 40 gallon breeder would be much better if you really want a pair of goldies.
Goldies need lower temps too, so try to keep around 72 for fancies. They also need the right mix of protein and veggies. If they don't get their veggies they can get badly constipated.
Hope your next fish is a better experience for you.
 
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