Lifeisgood Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 I set up a 40 breeder without a heater for fancy goldfish. I put Seachem cichlid substrate in and some driftwood Anubias, crypts and moss balls and a large sponge filter from an established tank. I also put some of the mulmy water from the same sponge when I cleaned it in aquarium water. And some ramshorn snails. The tank was set up for a couple of weeks before I put the fish in. The fish had been in a ten gallon quarantine tank for those two weeks and saw no signs of disease or stress. Parameters in the big tank seemed to be stable. They seemed to be doing fine for about four weeks before I noticed that the black moor seemed to have a cloudy film developing fairly evenly over his body but he still eats and is acting fine. About the same time a calico fantail started acting lethargic and was not eating. I checked water parameters: and nitrates 20ppm nitrites at 1.0 chlorine 0 gh 150 kh 120 ph 7.2 But because of the cold snap the temperature in the aquarium has lingered at 50 degrees because there is a draft from a door next to the tank. (Apparently we need to put a better seal around the door.) Because the little fantail was not eating I put her in the quarantine tank that they had been in. And added salt. Seeing no outward symptoms I wondered if the cold temps made her susceptible to a parasite or something. She died the next day. She had a lot of clear mucous especially on one side around the gill area. It was kind of thick and covered the area of about a dime. She was about two inches long. I did a 20 percent water change on the big tank and set the heater on low to try to bump the temperature up to 70. I kept an eye on the temperature for most of the day but over the supper hours I had to do other things and then when I looked at the tank the lid was all steamed up and the thermometer read that it was above eighty (!!!) This happened about a week ago. I did a partial water change to bring the temps down a bit. The fish seemed OK. I threw the heater away and bought a better one. This one is keeping the temperature in the low to mid 70s. The black moor looks blacker now. But now my biggest and favorite Oranda is acting just like the fantail did. No visible symptoms. Sits on the bottom or floats on the top and doesn’t eat. What should I do for her? Oh and I also added an Aquaclear filter with sponge and Purigen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) Have you tested your ammonia also goldfish can be sluggish at to higher temperatures at to colder can be lethargic and stop eating Edited February 28, 2021 by Colu Miss spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted February 26, 2021 Author Share Posted February 26, 2021 Yes. I for got to mention that. Ammonia is 0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Do you treat your water when doing a water change if not that can damage the slim coat of your fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted February 26, 2021 Author Share Posted February 26, 2021 Yup. I use Fritz water treatment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) What are you feeding your fish and how often Edited February 26, 2021 by Colu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted February 26, 2021 Author Share Posted February 26, 2021 I feed them twice a day and rotate frozen brine shrimp, Imagitarium Goldfish pellets, Extreme Krill flakes, Repashy Soilent Green and sometimes frozen spinach. They eat everything I put in there—so there are no leftovers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 It could be the heater malfunction that has stress them out and stop them eating I would add an extra air stone as well I would not feed for a day or two and then offer them some frozen food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted February 28, 2021 Author Share Posted February 28, 2021 Thank you Colu. She is doing better now. Here is a picture of her eating spinach!😊 After she has some time to regain strength I am thinking of treating the tank for parasites. I keep thinking about the fantail that died with the thick clear mucus by her gills before the heater malfunction. It is possible that they have some level of gill flukes and that the cold temps compromised their resistance to them. I have not treated them for these yet. Thank you for your advice. It helped! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted February 28, 2021 Author Share Posted February 28, 2021 On 2/26/2021 at 1:59 PM, Colu said: It could be the heater malfunction that has stress them out and stop them eating I would add an extra air stone as well I would not feed for a day or two and then offer them some frozen food Colu, see the above post. I didn’t realize how the quote function worked! 🥴 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 On 2/26/2021 at 1:59 PM, Colu said: It could be the heater malfunction that has stress them out and stop them eating I would add an extra air stone as well I would not feed for a day or two and then offer them some frozen food After Prazipro treatment update: The Oranda has been eating and has been as active as ever. I noticed that there were some scales either missing or just not shiny. And the places where I saw this started turning dark in color. I treated with Prazipro as planned to make sure there wasn’t an issue with Gill flukes because of what the fantail looked like when it died. Now the dark spots have darkened more. Occasionally she seems to touch her side (where the dark spots are) on the substrate when she turns around near the bottom. Perhaps she is healing up an abrasion of some kind and it is itchy? Has anyone seen what that looks like on a fish? Do they get scabs like a person does and could this be what what I am seeing? They don’t appear to be raised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 (edited) Black marks are usely a sign that it starting to heal it like bruising Edited March 4, 2021 by Colu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeisgood Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 Yup!! You are right! The black marks are fading and her side is looking more normal. I wonder what she did? Maybe she touched the overheating heater? I wish they could talk—it would make diagnosing things so much easier!😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 It's good to hear he's getting better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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