Sick sad goldfish

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goldfishowner

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Sep 10, 2015
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I'm currently having a problem with my black moor. He's been very lethargic for the past day but I thought it would just pass and then today I see that he's really bad. Struggling to get up and breathe. He keeps getting worse. I did a full tank clean and put him back and it looked like he was doing better for about a minute and now he's struggling to breathe again. I have a ten gallon tank and I've never had any problems with him before. Please help, I don't know what to do, I'm so afraid that he will die.
 

goldfishowner

Registered Member
Sep 10, 2015
10
0
1
32
I'm currently having a problem with my black moor. He's been very lethargic for the past day but I thought it would just pass and then today I see that he's really bad. Struggling to get up and breathe. He keeps getting worse. I did a full tank clean and put him back and it looked like he was doing better for about a minute and now he's struggling to breathe again. I have a ten gallon tank and I've never had any problems with him before. Please help, I don't know what to do, I'm so afraid that he will die.
Also I've only had him for about a year and I got him from Walmart, maybe that was a mistake
 

Tifftastic

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Sep 9, 2008
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Lots of things here could be the issue. . . Doing a full tank drain when a fish is in duress as moving them causes more stress.
Questions:
What is your normal tank maintenance routine?
What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature)?
Any changes to the tank recently?
 

goldfishowner

Registered Member
Sep 10, 2015
10
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1
32
Lots of things here could be the issue. . . Doing a full tank drain when a fish is in duress as moving them causes more stress.
Questions:
What is your normal tank maintenance routine?
What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature)?
Any changes to the tank recently?
I usually replace about 25% of the water every week. The water stays around 67-68. I don't usually test for ammonia and nitrates, which obviously I should, but for the most part the water always looks pretty clean. Nothing's changed in the tank
 

goldfishowner

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Sep 10, 2015
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I usually replace about 25% of the water every week. The water stays around 67-68. I don't usually test for ammonia and nitrates, which obviously I should, but for the most part the water always looks pretty clean. Nothing's changed in the tank
Actually the only thing I can of is that I went away for three weeks last month and had someone else take care of them, so possibly they did something wrong.
 

Tifftastic

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Sep 9, 2008
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Having the tank look clean means nothing. Especially with a dirty fish like goldfish. I would recommend getting a kit and testing the water. But also doing a couple of 25-50% changes until the fish is acting normal again. My guess is ammonia poisoning. But hard to say for sure without knowing the parameters.
 

goldfishowner

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Sep 10, 2015
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Having the tank look clean means nothing. Especially with a dirty fish like goldfish. I would recommend getting a kit and testing the water. But also doing a couple of 25-50% changes until the fish is acting normal again. My guess is ammonia poisoning. But hard to say for sure without knowing the parameters.
Do you think it's too late to check since I did a full clean now?
 

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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I'd actually do a liquid test kit test BEFORE doing anything else.

And, please define full clean.

What kind of filtration are you running?
 

goldfishowner

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Sep 10, 2015
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I'd actually do a liquid test kit test BEFORE doing anything else.

And, please define full clean.

What kind of filtration are you running?
I have an undergravel filter. I put him in a smaller tank with some of his tank water and I took the tank outside and sprayed it down with the hose, shaking up all the rocks and scrubbing the insides and then dumping that out. When I filled it back up I use aquasafe for goldfish and I made sure the water was the same temperature before I put him in.
 

Rbishop

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With doing that to the UGF filter media, you may have lost a lot of the BB. Same for scrubbing the surfaces inside. You need that liquid test kit to monitor ammonia and nitrite levels as the BB re-establishes. What is the driving force for the UGF...air stones? I wouldn't personally keep one fancy in a 10 gal tank...20 long minimum. And I would have a secondary HOB on it along with the UGF and preferably drive the UGF as a RUGF with a small powerhead for such a messy fish.
 
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