StanF

I would not worry about the dorsal fin being bent over a little. It may have been injured at some point, or it just grew that way naturally. One of my orandas has a similar bent dorsal fin but it doesn't affect him at all. He behaves and eats normally. StanF

I have used the Saki-Hikari fancy goldfish pellets. It is a high quality food that can be fed to both common and fancy goldfish. My goldfish loved it. StanF

You can certainly keep one fantail goldfish in a twenty gallon tank for years. I've had these two guys in this 20 gallon tank for over two and a half years. The key is to monitor the water quality and change water often when needed. I like to do smaller water changes, so I generally do three or four 25% water changes a week. I run the aquarium Co-op medium size Sponge Filter and intake filter. I use these two filters for my biological filtration . My HOB is filled with Pinky floss to catch the fine particles and polish the water. Ammonia and nitrites are 0ppm, my nitrates run between 25 and 50 ppm (I have a well and my water is about 15 or 20 ppm right from the tap so I keep it as low as I reasonably can). I feed them Repashy Super Gold gel food and frozen brine shrimp. StanF

Late response here, but it seems like the fish just needed some time to adjust to the new tank / water. I know some people started recommending meds right away, but sometimes it pays to have patience. I consider meds to be a last resort and will try water changes and salt first. StanF

I agree with @ange to monitor the poor guy for a while and give him a chance to heal. Keep an eye out for any signs of infection - salt can help, but not with snails in the tank. You should consider a hospital tank to keep him seperated. Otherwise, just be patient and keep a close eye out for any issues. Stan

It looks like an oranda for sure. The wen is pretty thin, but that may just be because the fish is young. Feed them plenty of good food and lots of clean water and the wen will grow out in no time! I"m not sure about it being a redcapped oranda, though. Aren't those all white bodies with just the red wen? Stan

Getting back on topic... I have a medium coop sponge filter and an intake prefilter on my HOB. I clean them maybe every couple of months. They don't seem to clog at all for me. My goldfish do a great job of cleaning the outside of the filters, so I'm sure that helps. I also have my HOB filled with pinky floss which catches the small stuff and "polishes" the water. The pinky filters get replaced every few weeks because they eventually get clogged with waste and mulm. StanF

I make my Repashy in a small canning jar (i.e. mason jar). It's a 4 ounce jelly jar. I make a small amount - 2 rounded tsp of Repashy mix and then I add hot water from an electric kettle. I don't measure the water, I just mix in enough water to get it to dissolve the Repashy and "liquify". This amount lasts me for 6 days. I just use a small knife and slice it up into even slices like a pie. I take out one piece at feeding time and leave the rest covered in the fridge. To the OP @Uttjrt3, You should be fine to leave it in there for 24 hrs. I would keep an eye on it to see if it is "dissolving" in the water and take it out sooner if needed. Keep experimenting with the feeding size so that the fish eat all of it before you have to take any out. I really like the Repashy. It is my main feed these days. StanF

@the other Irene It looks like a bacterial infection. Sometimes it is hard to tell by a picture, but if it looks "fuzzy" that could mean it is a fungus / fungal infection. You have snails and loaches, so you have to be careful with salt and medicines and find something that is compatible with all your tankmates. StanF

You should be fine with one fancy goldfish in a 29 gallon. I have two in a 20 gallon, but it takes a lot of water changes to maintain. StanF

Hi @alix. Welcome to the wonderful world of fancy goldfish! Your tank looks really nice. I looked at the picture of the fish and I didn't see any signs of fin rot. It may be just starting and hard to see in the pic. Personally, I treat fin rot, ich, fungal, etc. (pretty much anything "external") with cheap, simple, effective aquarium salt. I would raise the salt level to 1/2 tablespoon per gallon and maintain it there for a week or two to see if it resolves the fit rot. I've gone as high as 3/4 - 1 tablespoon per gallon to resolve ich and a white fungus on my gancy goldfish. Aquarium Coop has a great video on how to safely use salt. I highly recommend watching it and understanding the proper way to adjust the salt levels. It is quite possible that one of the fish is "nipping" on the fins of the other. You mention a missing piece from Poke's tail. Salt would help heal this also and helps their slime coat fend off diseases. I would not recommend adding more fish to your tank. Technically, some people might consider your tank already overstocked with 2 fancy goldfish in a 20 gal tank. It can be done with a good water change schedule. I have two fancies in a 20 gal tall bare bottom tank. I do three or four 25% water changes a week to keep my nitrates below 50ppm. Once you move to a 75 gallon tank, you would be able to add a third fish. The larger size tanks are easier to maintain the water quality and stability. StanF

Is that an albino goldfish? Really cool looking!

I also use the aquarium coop test strips. The instructions say to swirl the strip in the tank water for 3 seconds and to compare the results 60 sec after taking it out of the water. You have to wait the full 60 secs for the color to develop. If you wait too long, the color continues to darken and will give a false reading. I set a one minute timer on my phone so I don't forget. StanF

Goldfish like to cause trouble and can be destuctive. They will try to eat everything including plants, snails, shrimp. If you want to keep them, you should consider getting a dedicated goldfish tank. I only have two goldfish, so I can't speak to other fish as tankmates. Regarding the temperature, I keep my goldfish at room temp, but I've seen videos where people keep them as high as 74 or 75 degF. It does speed up their matabolism and they would probably grow faster at higher temps. StanF

Congrats!