Torbay

@Colu, My calico ranchu has been doing fine since his dropsy symptoms resolved. I have returned him to my main tank. I am cautiously optimistic that he will remain healthy. I have increased water changes from twice weekly to 3X, keeping nitrates between 5-10 vs 15-20. Hope this will give others hope that if you catch dropsy fast and treat it aggressively, it can have a positive outcome.

Thank you @Colu!!

1 week ago my Ranchu looked a little swollen and the next morning it was obviously dropsy: Very bloated, pineconing, etc. Moved him to a hospital tank and treated with: epsom salt, 84F temps, Metronidazole every other day, Melafix daily, and daily salt bath. 50% water change every other day. He remained active and able to swim. I fed him lightly starting day 3. On day 6 he looked 100% normal (correct size/shape and scales flat). I'm hoping he has recovered fully, but how long should I keep treating him? Another week...or longer? I stopped the salt baths as that is stressful and his shape is normal. Based on others' experiences, can I slowly lower the temp day-by-day to 78F (normal tank temp). Should I slowly reduce/dilute the salt content with water changes? Should I stop the Metro/Melafix dosing? I don't want to stop treating too soon if that's not the right approach. Not sure how to proceed so any advice is greatly appreciated.

Goldfish keepers intentionally grow green carpet algae. If you Google it or look it up on YouTube, it is absolutely gorgeous!

I used Krylon Fusion to paint my intake tubes and they're submerged. It would be the best choice as it bonds to plastic, which the rim is, and is water safe. Obviously you don't need to do the interior edges, just the outer rim that's visible. Good luck! I hate those wood grain finished rims, too.

@FLFishChik: Hey, I totally get it. Do what's best for you and it sounds like with your setup, I'd opt out of changing the substrate with all you've got going on in your tank! I had about 50 lbs of sand and not much else and it was still a 2 day job!

Just an FYI in case others are considering changing the color of substrate...I changed my few-months-old 40 gal from white pool filter sand to black blasting sand. It took about 3 hours each on 2 consecutive days. I also only had a few large river rocks, a couple Anubias and 3 fancy goldfish. Day 1 I siphoned out 80% of the sand with a 1/2" clear hose into a 5gal bucket. This made it easier to get out mostly sand and not too much water. Day 2 I removed remaining sand and started rinsing the Black Diamond med grain blasting sand. It's not very dusty, but wanted to play it safe. Scooped in the black sand with a plastic cup then spread it around with a spatula. The hardest part was all the trips up and down the stairs - tank is on 2nd floor. Fish didn't seem upset staying in the tank, didn't have any water parameter swings and tank has been fine since. I think it would have been a lot harder had it been a heavily planted tank with gravel since you can't siphon that out!

I think rimless tanks look cool and "almost" invisible, as in: you're not looking at a tank, but a snapshot in time, etc. The reason I don't have one after recently purchasing a new tank is I've seen my fish breach the surface to flip or attack a piece of food. I imagine waking up one morning with a prized specimen on the floor!

Mark303, It's really hard to tell you exactly how much to feed your 5 fancies. I have a 3" Ryukin, 4" Ranchu and 5" Yuanbao right now. I feed 3 small meals daily and you just have to see how it goes. For mine in one day, I'd do 1 thawed cube of bloodworms in the a.m. Then midday the same size cube (cut up) of Repashy gel, then 4 cut up peas in the evening. Don't follow the "give them all they can eat in 2-3 minutes" route. Based on your frequency of swim bladder issues, I'd start feeding HALF the amount of food you've been feeding. I know your fish will be pleading for more, but start with this approach for at least a week. If there's no buoyancy issues, this may be the amount to feed for a month. If your fish start to look underfed, then add a bit more, etc. I've never seen fancy goldfish that look UNDERfed...only OVERfed, which is the most common cause of swim bladder issues (although not the only one). They're such cuties and beg so earnestly, I know it's hard to walk away!!

I returned to fancy goldfish keeping last fall after a long break, so take what I recommend with a grain of salt. Also know there is a TON of online help, so feel free to double check my info. I've done tons of research and have also made mistakes in the past and learned from them. -Moist food is best: Rapashy gel, homemade gel, bloodworms, soft-cooked veggies (peas, broccoli, carrots, etc). I feed 3 meals per day and at least 1 meal is veggie. -Small pellets are best vs. a bigger size. Think of it as swallowing a large hunk of starchy food for a person. Small pellets won't swell as big as a large ones - we all know our goldies are piggies. -Last but not least, most high quality fancy goldfish are imported from Asian countries and are bred/raised in warmer conditions than most "how to" books recommend. IOW, 62F - 72F water temp is too cool and digestion and metabolism is slower at these temps. The food can sit in the digestive tract and become problematic for the fish. If you watch some of the YouTubers who have beautiful, large fancies, their tanks are at 78F - 80F! Good luck to you.

I was hoping to find the same Petco deal last fall when I got back into fishkeeping. I stumbled upon PetSuppliesPlus online, and they had a 25% off sale. If you joined their points plan (no cost) you'd get another 25% off, so it ended being a good deal. They also delivered it for free!

My fancies get a rotation of Rapashy, sinking pellets, bloodworms and Bug Bites. Also broccoli, peas, or green beans several times a week. They are fed 3-4 SMALL meals each day. To prevent swim bladder/constipation issues, keeping fancies at warmer temps 75-78F helps digestion motility. Of course top quality water conditions and plenty of aeration are a must. Best of luck!!

I have a Marineland HOB with a different design strainer (square) than yours. It was also larger than the intake tube, so I removed it and put my sponge over the bare tube. Frankly, I don't think it really matters which way you go...

I used the medium grit. It's in the white/black bag, 20/40 I think. My BDBS is NOT as fine as the pool filter sand was. But I think some people have used the fine grit ok...