Sick Fish?? Need help...

[Thistle]

I have a 20 gal. freshwater tank...set it up 8 months ago. Got some "feeder
fish" to est. tank. These fish grew up and are actually quite nice, LOL. I
have five in the tank. They look like goldfish, but not sure, pet store
owner only called them feeder fish. Anyway, they have done very well until
two weeks ago. One fish is now laying on its side on the bottom of the tank.
Every now and then he will attempt to swim to the top but it takes a great
deal of effort for the little guy and sometimes he cant make it far. I have
done two 25% water changes since this began with no change. I'm at a loss.
Cant think of anything that could have happened to affect the fish like this.
Any advise anyone????

[carlrs]

Thistle wrote:
> I have a 20 gal. freshwater tank...set it up 8 months ago. Got some "feeder
> fish" to est. tank. These fish grew up and are actually quite nice, LOL. I
> have five in the tank. They look like goldfish, but not sure, pet store
> owner only called them feeder fish. Anyway, they have done very well until
> two weeks ago. One fish is now laying on its side on the bottom of the tank.
> Every now and then he will attempt to swim to the top but it takes a great
> deal of effort for the little guy and sometimes he cant make it far. I have
> done two 25% water changes since this began with no change. I'm at a loss.
> Cant think of anything that could have happened to affect the fish like this.
> Any advise anyone????

This can be a swim bladder problem or an intestinal infection, often
caused by aeromonas bacteria and brought by poor feeding.

I recommend soaking all dry foods for 5 minutes prior to feeding to
remove air from the food that can cause intestinal problems. Also make
sure to feed foods high in aquatic based ingredients such as Whole Fish
Meal (which is better than just Fish Meal as this is just the leftover
parts from human food processing). Spirulina Algae is also a highly
digestible ingredient. I would avoid foods such as TetraFin as my
experience with this product in my business is not good.

What are your filters? Goldfish are dirty and require good mechanical
and especially bio filtration. I recommend two filters if possible for
redundancy and improved efficiency.
Do not over clean your filters; make sure to leave some media behind
for the bio bacterial colonies.
What size is your aquarium? I recommend 8+ gallons (15+ liters) per
goldfish for long term health.

*Continue to make efficient water changes of 20%- 25%.
* Check water parameters;
Ammonia -0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates below 40 ppm, and kH above 80 ppm (160
ppm is better for healthy goldfish and this is an important parameter
for goldfish). I suggest using products high in Calcium to improve kH
such as Calcium Glucanate or Wonder Shells.

There often is not much you can effectively treat swim bladder
infections with, but for intestinal problems there a few, among them
Metronidazole is an excellent antibiotic, while Melafix or Usnic Acid
are good organic treatments.

For more information about proper fish feeding:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Quality_Fish_Food.html

For more information about medications:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Medication.html

Carl

[swarvegorilla]

"Thistle" <u30771@uwe> wrote in message news:6bf4fb39b4a8c@uwe...
>I have a 20 gal. freshwater tank...set it up 8 months ago. Got some
>"feeder
> fish" to est. tank. These fish grew up and are actually quite nice, LOL.
> I
> have five in the tank. They look like goldfish, but not sure, pet store
> owner only called them feeder fish. Anyway, they have done very well
> until
> two weeks ago. One fish is now laying on its side on the bottom of the
> tank.
> Every now and then he will attempt to swim to the top but it takes a great
> deal of effort for the little guy and sometimes he cant make it far. I
> have
> done two 25% water changes since this began with no change. I'm at a
> loss.
> Cant think of anything that could have happened to affect the fish like
> this.
> Any advise anyone????
>

SOunds like your little feeder fish have know grown up
as grown ups they are getting frisky and aggro
sometimes it sucks to be the little fish
watch the fish and see if you can see them picking on it
stress is a big part of most bloating

I would recommend only feeding shelled frozen green peas.
green peas are the best cure for constipation in goldfish, the extra
'weight' it's carrieing around is crushing it's swim bladder.
This makes it sink.
So get some frozen peas, partially thaw and squeeze out of skins into the
tank.

stress or constipation are the first things I address in floating goldfish.
As a preventative for this in future, setup a little duckweed pond.
duckweed is a complete goldfish food
and they are much much healthier if given a little bit every now and again

:)