I've been trying to cure my goldfish for over a year! Any ideas on what to do now?

The best advice I can give as far as Stress Coat, meds and any other additives is to take all of the money you were going to spend and instead spend it on a simple chlorine remover, or something that handles chloramines like Prime if your water supply contains chloramines instead of plain chlorine, and do more and/ or bigger changes. Btw for Goldfish I would put some crushed coral back in the system, even a bag in the filter could help keep the KH and pH a bit higher which wouldn't be bad.
 
platytudes said:
I don't know what kind of climate you live in, but if it's warm enough, you may consider setting up a temporary pond for your goldfish. They're really too big to be in a 55 gallon tank (as you probably know, but can't upgrade...I have considered a 75 and 90 numerous times, but a 55 is my largest tank too right now) and 50% water changes weekly, as you should be doing, are tough to do without a Python or other similar tool.

I had a stubborn cause of fungus on my black moor. I set up a little outdoor pond for him from a child's 5 foot wading pool. I planted it with floating hornwort, and floating Salvinia (I also added some houseplants that I knew could take wet feet). It's taken off with very little help from me. He looks fantastic now. Fresh air, sunshine and loads more water than he had in his 30 gallon tank was all it took to cure him :) The water stays very clean (undetectable nitrates) from all of the plants.

Here's a picture:
View attachment 199346

I'll eventually have to bring him in for the winter, but I know he's loving his summer outside!
Click to expand...
How cold does it get in central FL? I would think that you could easily keep it outside year round even above ground. Even if it ices over the fish would be fine, and I can't imagine it could be cold enough long enough to freeze a significant % of the water there. An airstone would most likely keep an ice free hole. Unless I'm seriously off in my assumptions about your climate! A winter cool down is a generally beneficial thing to fish from temperate zones.
 
Well, the water stays pretty consistently in the 50s during the winter, and when we have our hard freezes the ambient temperatures get into the high teens or low 20s. The birdbath will freeze into a solid block of ice. Since this is a fancy goldfish, I wouldn't really trust to leave him outside, the way I would a common goldfish or koi. I might leave the ponds going and just leave shrimp to populate them :) I have some least killifish in there too that snuck in with the plants, and I bet they will be fine.

If I had thought this out better, I would have buried the wading pools. I might do that next year. I have two going right now, I'm hoping to have 5 or 6 next year!
 
I like the idea, but where I live now, it's impossible. I wouldn't have any fish left due to cats and birds in the area. Also, financially I'm in a bind right now, so it's tough. I do have a siphon with a long tube so it goes directly to the tub. This makes it a lot easier, all I have to do is start it going and it's good. I will try to keep up with the 50% water changes every week.

Any ideas on how to ensure Penny won't get any worse while I'm away for the weekend?
 
Do as big a water change as you can before you leave, and don't leave any food (like vacation feeders, etc.)

You can leave some cucumber or zucchini, though. Do you feed your goldfish veggies?
 
I already have plenty of prime and use it with every water change. I have a few bottles under my cabinet. I just want to make sure she'll be ok for the weekend and then I can keep a better eye on her and make sure everything's ok.
 
I feed them peas once in a while. This week they've had peas at least 2 or 3 times. How would I prepare a cucumber or zucchini for them? Should I soften it or just put it in the tank? Do I take the skin off? Should I only put half of it in? I can't see them eating a whole cucumber/zucchini in 3 days.
 
You don't put the whole thing in, just a big slice longways...at least that's how I do it. It softens itself by being in the water. Some people do "blanch" it by putting it in the microwave for like 10-15 seconds. I don't see a need to do that.

A popular way to feed it to them is to take a rubber band and attach the slice to a rock. I clip it with a plastic clamp like this:
stock-photo-black-plastic-clamp-on-white-background-23609599.jpg

It just stands up straight in the water and they nibble on it at their leisure. I leave the skin on, it helps to keep it together.
 
I do have a clip that could hold a long slice. I'll try that while I'm away! :) Does that also help with bloating like the peas do?
 
It helps to give them roughage and fiber, so yes :) Brine shrimp also helps, their shells provide a lot of roughage.

The worst things for bloat are the cheap flake and pellet food with fillers like oats, rice, wheat, barley, etc. Even though those things do have fiber, they are not the vegetable fiber that is useful to fish. Fish shouldn't eat grains, the way people do, and they're usually just cheap filler.

Wardley is the worst as far as that goes, but even Tetra is bad about it.

By the way, the clip needs to be kind of heavy in order to weigh down the slice...you could always put a rock on top of the clip to keep it down!
 
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