Goldfish with black lips

[andy]

Hi everyone,

I got 3 baby orandas from the LFS about 2 weeks ago. They are about
5cm long. About a week ago, I noticed that one of them has a black
lining around it's lips. Almost as if he has put on some black
lipstick. I thought this might have just been colouration. However a
few days later I also noticed he started showing a black outline on
the bottom edge of his tail fin about 1-2cm long. Also some tiny
black outline starting to show on the bottom edge of his pelvic and
pectoral fins in the last few days.

I posted a few photos up to show the black lipstick he has
http://andybear.com/goldfish/ Just click on the filenames to see the
photos.

Now I have also noticed that the other 2 orandas are starting to have
a black lining on their upper lips as well.

All 3 of them act pretty normal. No behavioural changes that I could
notice to indicate any problems.

I have tried looking around on the web for info, however cant come up
with anything definitive. Hope you guys can help me out to try to
diagnoise what this might be.

My tanks is about 120L and lightly planted and has already been
running fine for almost 2months now, water parameters are:
pH 7.6
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: Dont have test kit for nitrate, i do about a 10-15% water
change every two weeks.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks :)
andy

[Geezer From The Freezer]

andy wrote:
> nitrate: Dont have test kit for nitrate, i do about a 10-15% water
> change every two weeks.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks :)
> andy

Andy,

How big is the tank?
I'd be doing 25% water changes EVERY week. 10-15% every two weeks is not enough
to remove the nitrates.

[andy]

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 09:32:19 +0100, Geezer From The Freezer
> wrote:

>
>
>andy wrote:
>> nitrate: Dont have test kit for nitrate, i do about a 10-15% water
>> change every two weeks.
>>
>> Any help would be appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks :)
>> andy
>
>Andy,
>
>How big is the tank?
>I'd be doing 25% water changes EVERY week. 10-15% every two weeks is not enough
>to remove the nitrates.

Tank is about 120 litres. Roughly converts to 30gallons.

[sophie]

In message >, Geezer From The Freezer
> writes
>
>
>andy wrote:
>> nitrate: Dont have test kit for nitrate, i do about a 10-15% water
>> change every two weeks.
>>
>> Any help would be appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks :)
>> andy
>
>Andy,
>
>How big is the tank?
>I'd be doing 25% water changes EVERY week. 10-15% every two weeks is not enough
>to remove the nitrates.

isn't black edging to fins sometimes a sign of ammonia burn? (and
doesn't it often show up once the ammonia has gone?)

--
sophie

[Geezer From The Freezer]

sophie wrote:
>
> isn't black edging to fins sometimes a sign of ammonia burn? (and
> doesn't it often show up once the ammonia has gone?)
>
> --
> sophie

Yes it is normally, although blackness can be natural colour change too.

[Geezer From The Freezer]

andy wrote:
> Tank is about 120 litres. Roughly converts to 30gallons.

How many fish do you have? Is it just the 3 orandas?
If so - water changes may help - definitely increase the frequency and amount
changed.
If that doesn't make much of a change, you could try treating with salt
1 tablespoon per gallon (add in 3 split measures - i.e. 1 tablespoon for every 3
gallons
3 times over 12 hours) - dissolve first.

[andy]

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 11:00:24 +0100, Geezer From The Freezer
> wrote:

>
>
>andy wrote:
>> Tank is about 120 litres. Roughly converts to 30gallons.
>
>How many fish do you have? Is it just the 3 orandas?
>If so - water changes may help - definitely increase the frequency and amount
>changed.
>If that doesn't make much of a change, you could try treating with salt
>1 tablespoon per gallon (add in 3 split measures - i.e. 1 tablespoon for every 3
>gallons
>3 times over 12 hours) - dissolve first.


Yep just the 3 baby orandas in there.

I though it might have been ammonia burns as Sophie mentioned, but
the thing is since the day I got them, I have tested the water pretty
much everyday, and ammonia and nitrite readings has always been 0.

I will do some water changes. Dont really want to start adding salt
into tank just yet.

[Bill Stock]

"andy" <somebody@doot> wrote in message
...
> Hi everyone,
>
> I got 3 baby orandas from the LFS about 2 weeks ago. They are about
> 5cm long. About a week ago, I noticed that one of them has a black
> lining around it's lips. Almost as if he has put on some black
> lipstick. I thought this might have just been colouration. However a
> few days later I also noticed he started showing a black outline on
> the bottom edge of his tail fin about 1-2cm long. Also some tiny
> black outline starting to show on the bottom edge of his pelvic and
> pectoral fins in the last few days.
>
> I posted a few photos up to show the black lipstick he has
> http://andybear.com/goldfish/ Just click on the filenames to see the
> photos.
>
> Now I have also noticed that the other 2 orandas are starting to have
> a black lining on their upper lips as well.
>
> All 3 of them act pretty normal. No behavioural changes that I could
> notice to indicate any problems.
>
> I have tried looking around on the web for info, however cant come up
> with anything definitive. Hope you guys can help me out to try to
> diagnoise what this might be.
>
> My tanks is about 120L and lightly planted and has already been
> running fine for almost 2months now, water parameters are:
> pH 7.6
> ammonia: 0
> nitrite: 0
> nitrate: Dont have test kit for nitrate, i do about a 10-15% water
> change every two weeks.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks :)
> andy
>

I've got two young GF (1 year) who never developed any colour, except they
have orange lips!

Some of my Pond GF have black fins, but I don't think it's a water quality
issue.

[andy]

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 13:29:07 -0400, "Bill Stock" >
wrote:

>
>I've got two young GF (1 year) who never developed any colour, except they
>have orange lips!
>
>Some of my Pond GF have black fins, but I don't think it's a water quality
>issue.
>
>

I just though it was odd to see a colour change over a few days? I
would have though it would be more subtle. And the fact that now the
other two orandas seem to be getting the same black lips.

Just wanted to make sure if anybody could recognise the black lips as
symptoms to any problems that may occur.

Thanks guys for your replies and help. :)

andy

[Geezer From The Freezer]

try doing 25% water changes every 2 days for 2 weeks to see if it
goes away, if it doesn't it ain't water issues.

[andy]

On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 09:35:57 +0100, Geezer From The Freezer
> wrote:

>try doing 25% water changes every 2 days for 2 weeks to see if it
>goes away, if it doesn't it ain't water issues.


Ok, I'll try that. let you know how it goes.