911! Black Moor w/many issues (mostly tank related, some physical)

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

tarryete

AC Members
Oct 9, 2011
14
0
0
South Carolina
Real Name
Christine
PLEASE help me. I really don't want this fish to die. I have no idea what I am doing or what I am supposed to do. I am posting what I posted (and the replies, because otherwise this post won't make sense) on another forum, to see if I can get more/faster answers. Here goes!!

I have a black moor (about 1" long, not including fins)and it seems to always be in the process of pooping. It only poops long (4-5") strings of poop. Sometimes they are sort of melon colored, sometimes white and sometimes white with dark green or black spots in it.

Can anyone help enlighten me here?

It is in a 10 gal freshwater tank (for now) with a power filter running.
There are no plants in it yet. The fish was pretty much sprung on me. I am using all of the items that were given to me with the fish.

One more edit: Sometimes the poop is green instead of white. Green as in 669966 green on this chart: http://www.pagetutor.com/common/bgcolors216.html
Also, the water is super green. I can hardly see through it past a few inches. I do regular water changes of 25% and I don't overfeed.

I am lost here.

We put the fish in the tank a few days after the tank was fully cycled. (At least the previous fish-abandoner said it was fully cycled. I have no idea.)
Ever since then it has been downhill.

And today, I did a strip (Sentry AQ Mardel 5in1 Test Strip Strips) test and got:

Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Total Hardness: 25
Total Alkalinity: 300
pH: 8.5

Please help me figure out what I am obviously doing wrong!

ETA: The tank had been set up and cycled (again, from what I am told) for about 3 weeks prior to adding the fish to it. There is only the one fish in the tank. It has been in there for about a week. The water is 77 degrees. It has a tetra whisper power filter in it.. (http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=_9-RTsygJ9Gctweol-yUDA&ved=0CF4Q8gIwAg)
Last water change was yesterday, 25%. It gets fed TetraColor Tropical Flakes twice a day, morning and night. I don't know what "unusual signs" would be in a black moor goldfish. I think that answers all the "fish health diagnostics" questions.
_____________REPLY_________________
You are getting too much light in the tank which is the main cause of green water (algae bloom)......Since you do not have live plants you only need the light on when you are viewing the fish......If you get natural light from a window you will need to block the sun light with a shade.........

The paper test strips are very inaccurate as to be useless........Make sure you don't have any seashells, coral, or limestone rocks that have calcium in their make up.......This causes high pH and hardness in the water.

Improve the water quality by continuing the 10 to 15% weekly water changes.......Stop feeding for a few days then feed your fish green peas that have been placed in a microwave for a few seconds.....Break the pea open and feed your Gold Fish twice a day ( two peas).....Go back to a good brand of fish flakes and feed a modest amount once a day............Get back to us in a few days....Good luck....
_____________ME_________________
Thank you very much. I am going to follow that regimen. I will be back in a couple days to update!!

Wait, one more question. Do you mean 100% of the light? Because I always have the blinds closed. It gets a tiny bit of residual light from the side of the blinds where there is about an inch of indirect light that comes in.
_____________REPLY_________________

Algae requires light and nutrients to grow......The fish waste and uneaten food supplies the nutrients....Cut back on either and the algae dies off........If you don't run the tank lights for long periods of time and have minimal light from a window the algae should die back.......Do you get algae on the glass and on tank ornaments?........If that" one inch of light" from the window hits directly on the tank it may be enough to cause the algae bloom....................................You might check to see if there is some object in the tank that has green paint that might be leaching into the water.....If you cut back on the light and the green persists, you might have something else coloring the water.
_____________ME_________________
There is one ornament in the tank, but no green paint.
I don't even know if the ornament is needed. I put it in there so the fish would have something to hide behind, but it seems to have a very people-friendly personality (if that is even possible.)
I don't -see- any green buildup at all, but when I put my finger to the inside of the glass it felt sort of slimy. Better to say a little slippery than slimy. Slimy implies that I felt a slimy substance. I felt nothing but slip. I have covered the tank on all sides so that no light will get in.

Also I had some aponogeton bulbs in there in an attempt to grow them. I took the sprouted bulbs out and put them in a jar of aquarium water and gravel... And stuck that outside so that it will get sunlight. Maybe if I get them to a decent size they would help regulate the system?
_____________ME_________________
I did as you said and cut back on the light. I blocked all light (both natural and artificial) from reaching the tank. The only difference I can see is that the water is greener and it stinks to high hell.
It smells like a gross stagnant pond.

There is a 6" air wand in there constantly pumping bubbles and the filter is running just fine.

Also I fed the fish some peas as you suggested, and the fish went to town on those. I have been doing water changes and I used a gravel siphon to clean the gravel.. And it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I do see a slight difference in the fish, though. His poop strings are bulkier and about 10-15" long.

Is any of this info pointing to something I can't figure out?
 
Last edited:

Fozzybear

wocka wocka wocka!
Mar 16, 2011
818
0
16
36
Alaska
Real Name
Ellis
that kind of totally green light ime comes from having the wrong spectrum bulbs. do you have incandescents on the tank by any chance? this is what happened to me when i was a nub and had them on my tank


Also, gold fish need 20-30 gallons a piece, I'd either re-home the fish and look into some better 10g species. Or pick up a 30gal and switch all of your equipment into the tank. Without filters, heaters, substrate, lights etc. an actual glass box is relatively cheap. Although your gear will be underrated for the tank size, it would be better to have underrated gear with high water volume than underrated gear with small water volume. Then slowly upgrade as more money/experience becomes available.


EDIT: Re-reading things i thought of a couple tips. The best way to stop algae is to out compete, live plants do tons of good for a tank. So I would try to get the tank out of direct sunlight, and go get yourself an appropriate light, you can use a CFL from a grocery store as long as it is 6,700k (daylight spectrum NOT SOFT WHITE) and a desk lamp to keep things cheep. And then get yourself some fast growing plants to out compete the algae, basically, if you're not growing plants you'll be growing algae.

Crank up your waterchanges to about 15% daily until the stink and algae and pooping problems go away, once those issues have stabilized I do 25-30% WCs weekly, but those are for appropriately stocked tanks, i'd probably do 30% bi-weekly if you were to keep him in the 10gal (which i strongly discourage.)

Feed once a day of high quality food, spirulina and New Life Spectrum would be a good place to start, better food produces less waste. and continue feeding ONE pea daily in place of normal feedings until the pooping has straightened out.

I'm sure i left a few out...fill in for me gang :D


EDIT 2: forgot one...make sure you have a good dechlorinator, Prime is the forum favorite as it binds ammonia with a double dose.
 
Last edited:

tarryete

AC Members
Oct 9, 2011
14
0
0
South Carolina
Real Name
Christine
Thank you for that phenomenal reply.
Yes the lighting is incandescent. When the goldfish was given to me, this equipment is what came with it. But we are in the process of buying a 55 gallon tank and all of the supplies. I was beginning to feel like I was just going to kill anything I touched. The plant bulbs I mentioned now have 8" stalks, but only one bulb sprouted.. So there are only 2 blades of grass. Probably not going to cut it. I have read a couple fishy books, but I am still a newb.. Hopefully this fish won't die and I can get it into a bigger better tank relatively quickly.

Thank you very much for all of that advice.
 

Somervell

AC Members
Feb 8, 2009
1,099
0
36
PA
Real Name
Anne
Is it possible that you are overfeeding the little guy? That tends to be a big problem with new goldfish owners. I feed mine once per day on high quality goldfish food and supplement it with greens. I have had very good luck with that plan, but goldfish really don't need as much food as people think, and they constantly appear hungry. 15" of poop is a lot for a single goldfish. They do poop a lot, but long hanging strands may be indicative of overfeeding. Cutting back on food may also help with the green water problem.

Otherwise, I'm going +1 on everything that Fozzy has said, especially the part about slow water changes going up to larger ones. Good luck with the little guy. As you can tell from my avatar, Moors are my favorites!
 

tarryete

AC Members
Oct 9, 2011
14
0
0
South Carolina
Real Name
Christine
Somervell: I cut down from three feedings a day to two, so it is certainly possible. And when people say "a pinch of food" I feel like the pinch is in the eye of the beholder. I wish it was more specific lol
 

jpappy789

Plants need meat too
Feb 18, 2007
26,364
5
89
33
Gainesville, FL
Real Name
Josh
0 ppm nitrate leads me to believe your tank was NOT cycled, or at least it isn't currently. I would strongly suggest getting a liquid test kit (like THIS one) and testing specifically for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Otherwise definitely follow the previous advice posted.
 

Fozzybear

wocka wocka wocka!
Mar 16, 2011
818
0
16
36
Alaska
Real Name
Ellis
tarr, don't take off your old filter, add the new one in addition to it. The more filtration the merrier. I try to run as many different filters on a tank as possible, it gives you choices in the likely case of a failure. totally go with pellets, they also help you not overfeed. Furthermore, a "pinch" is normally enough food to fill up the eyeball of the fish you're feeding, with a moor...well...lol. Rather I try and feed as much as my fish can eat in a minute without any waste. With my lightly stocked tanks (such as my gourami tank and at the time being my multi tank) i actually try to take the time to "get to know" my fish. Feeding it one or two pellets at a time, letting them finish them and re-approach the glass before feeding more. This normally gets all of my fish very very eager to come to the glass when they see me...makes viewing them a tad nicer :D
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store