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?
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?
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