Goldfish Dying?

JanTheFish · Feb 20, 2014

Hello-
Our local fish store referred me to your site as I'm at a loss for what to do and they weren't able to help. We have a 19 year old goldfish that appears to be dying. He has been hovering around the top of the tank for the last 2 days. He is in a quasi U shaped position and has moments of barely breathing and other moments where he is breathing normally. At times he will get almost bursts of "energy" and almost leap out of the tank and then kind of wiggle around the tank but always kind of in this U shape- as if he can not straighten himself out- and then return to just floating at the top. I've attached a photo of how he looks. We have tried refreshing some of his water, adding good bacteria and aquarium salt to his tank but nothing seems to be helping. I feel as though he has to be starving as he hasn't been able to get to the bottom of the tank where the food has fallen nor eat any from when we add it. Obviously he is old and so if it is his time to go then we would rather that then have him suffer but just at a loss for what to do if there is a way to help him. Any advice is more then appreciated.
Thank you so much

Fractalis · Feb 20, 2014

19 years is a good run for a goldfish. As for what to do? Well it's not really our place to ask the Grim Reaper for favors

Jemi39 · Feb 20, 2014

That little dude is older than I am! Honestly, it's probably just old age. If so, then all you can do is let him pass peacefully.

viboy · Feb 21, 2014

Just keep watching and waiting. When he starts to grow fur like a troll take him out and bury him.

ktrom13 · Feb 21, 2014

To help you find out whats causing this we will need to know the tank size and water parameters ( PH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate). 19 years is a good run for a fish but goldfish are known to live for decades so no surprise there when it comes to age. Until we get the things i asked for im going to assume its due to old age.

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JanTheFish · Feb 21, 2014

Thank you so much for your assistance.
The tank is 40 gallons
The pH is right around 7.2
Ammonia is 0
Nitrate is around 40
I don't have a nitrite tester and the 2 fish stores I went to were out of them but said if the Nitrate is high the Nitrite is probably high as well.
I know the Nitrate is high and I will go and buy whatever is needed to reduce this level.
Last night we tried to give him some shelled green peas and managed to have him eat 2 since then-as the one aquarium store had suggested he may have swimming bladder disease- we also added some Melafix to try and treat any bacterial infection that he may have.
He seems to be the same from yesterday just kind of hanging out occasionally trying to swim around but not having much success as he can't seem to get himself straightened out.
Thank you again for taking the time to help!!!!!

ktrom13 said:
To help you find out whats causing this we will need to know the tank size and water parameters ( PH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate). 19 years is a good run for a fish but goldfish are known to live for decades so no surprise there when it comes to age. Until we get the things i asked for im going to assume its due to old age.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

Wren · Feb 21, 2014

High nitrate does NOT mean that you have high nitrite. The best way to reduce nitrates is to do water changes. Goldfish are big bodied fish that produce a lot of wastes, so high nitrates isn't really surprising. Test the water you are using for water changes. It could be that your water source starts out with some nitrates.

I suspect people are going to have a hard time telling you that you are doing anything wrong. You have a *19* year old goldfish. He has certainly beat the odds and overall you must be doing a whole lot right. Hope he's doing better.

wren

ktrom13 · Feb 21, 2014

Id increase the amount of water you take out during water changes and a deep gravel vac as well each water change. As stated by wren, goldfish create alot of waste so im not surprised by the nitrates. But i also disagree with what the store employee told you. Having high nitrates does not mean you have high nitrites.

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JanTheFish · Feb 23, 2014

Thank you so much!!!
We installed a heater for his tank (now at 80 degrees) and added Epson salt (1 tsp per gallon) and have continued with the shelled pea feedings. He is swimming a bit better and breathing more deeply but still stuck in that "U" shape. Have also continued the Milofix and have changed 30% of water and did another through rock cleaning.
Not sure how much longer to wait and hope for an improvement. Did purchase clove oil in case it's necessary as we certainly do not want him to suffer.
So greatly appreciate all of your advice and assistance. If you can think of anything else to try I'm all ears

Wren said:
High nitrate does NOT mean that you have high nitrite. The best way to reduce nitrates is to do water changes. Goldfish are big bodied fish that produce a lot of wastes, so high nitrates isn't really surprising. Test the water you are using for water changes. It could be that your water source starts out with some nitrates.

I suspect people are going to have a hard time telling you that you are doing anything wrong. You have a *19* year old goldfish. He has certainly beat the odds and overall you must be doing a whole lot right. Hope he's doing better.

wren

JanTheFish · Mar 27, 2014

UPDATE TO GOLDFISH DYING?

Just wanted to give an update to this story as I did appreciate the advice given. Jan has made a recovery. After about 2 weeks of feeding him green peas, changing his water often, epson salt being added, and "burping" him (for lack of a better way to describe kind of holding him and making him dive down to the bottom and then doing a uturn and bringing his mouth back up to near the surface to try and force air bubbles out) per the recommendation of a local fish store that believed the fish was suffering from "Swim Bladder" he is back to as normal as I believe he can be. He still has moments where he may over eat and then we find him floating back at the top or bottom of the tank but I think we have now figured out exactly how much food to give him to avoid that from happening. As I type he is swimming around all over the tank and is no longer in a "U" shape at all. So a happy update from this end. Again, thanks so much to those who offered help and advise.

JanTheFish said:
Hello-
Our local fish store referred me to your site as I'm at a loss for what to do and they weren't able to help. We have a 19 year old goldfish that appears to be dying. He has been hovering around the top of the tank for the last 2 days. He is in a quasi U shaped position and has moments of barely breathing and other moments where he is breathing normally. At times he will get almost bursts of "energy" and almost leap out of the tank and then kind of wiggle around the tank but always kind of in this U shape- as if he can not straighten himself out- and then return to just floating at the top. I've attached a photo of how he looks. We have tried refreshing some of his water, adding good bacteria and aquarium salt to his tank but nothing seems to be helping. I feel as though he has to be starving as he hasn't been able to get to the bottom of the tank where the food has fallen nor eat any from when we add it. Obviously he is old and so if it is his time to go then we would rather that then have him suffer but just at a loss for what to do if there is a way to help him. Any advice is more then appreciated.
Thank you so much


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Goldfish Dying?

JanTheFish

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Fractalis

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JanTheFish

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