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New to Goldfish - Three new additions - Ich

1K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  iamntbatman 
#1 ·
Today my mum bought me three Goldfish to go in my 33 gallon flatback hexagon fish tank. They were a replacement for the Oscar she killed (on accident) last night. The following fish are now in the tank:

1 8" Common Plecostomus ("Henry")
1 2" White and Orange Ryukin ("Chester")
1 2 1/2" Orange/White and Black Oranda ("Norman")
1 3" Orange/Black and White Oranda ("Gene")

I know how much you all love photos, so I'll post some tomorrow.

Now, I know quite a bit more about fish than the average 15-year-old girl, and am currently successfully keeping over 113 different species of fish and breeding everything from Bettas to Oscars to Guppies.

I am, though, new to Goldfish. I'm hoping Lupin pops in on this thread. I know the basics of Goldfish, such as their ammonia production due to lack of a stomach, the mis-care they are given due to their hardy-ness, and that you should sink their food because air injestion can cause problems, especially in fancy strains of the species. I'm keeping a close eye on them for ich - for my petsmart just had a HUGE outbreak (Like, a week ago). These fish seem fairly healthy, though they have some torn fins and a couple missing scales (The masses in these ten gallon tanks were ATROCIOUS.)

The Ryukin seems very angsty. He doesnt venture out on his own much, he's always following one of the Orandas, specifically the larger one. He swims much more quickly than the both of them, but I'm sure that's due to his strain of the species and not having a cute mass on his noggin. He was named before we got home, but his name now seems fitting because he acts like the nervous nerd with no friends so he follows others around.

The larger Oranda seems very, very healthy and almost appears to enjoy the Ryukin's company (and the camera, I might add). He was named Gene because of his resemblance to Gene Simmons.

Now, the other Oranda seems to be a loner. He also has some dark patches near the bum end of his underside that are greenish-black? He does have a small bit of black in him, so I may just be overly-concerned as usual. He also isn't as active as active as the others. He'll be swimming then just stop and drift along. Is this just laziness? In his tail, there are orance "veins". Are these parts of his color, or is this a sign of stress or health issues? He also darts to the top frequently as if he's run out of air.

Now, I understand the Plecostomus is going to grow too large for this tank, but my mum won't let me re-home him. (It's bloody rediculous, I know. It's driving me bonkers.) He attacked a few of my other fish (killing some) so I'm hoping to re-home him anyways.

As Im typing this post, Im watching my newly aquired fish. The smaller Oranda, when he makes his darts to the top, isn't gulping air. He's more staring at the bubbles produced by my underground filter.

I'm very excited to have these new additions to my fishy family and hope you all can help.

Fun facts about the trio:

• Norman allows for physical contact! Just a few strokes of his head, never enough to disrupt his slime coat.
• Norman thinks he's a Betta and gulps air, then spits out bubbles into a structure like a bubble-nest!
• Gene likes to waddle in place and open and close his mouth very slightly and quickly then twitch and return to being a Goldfish.
• Chester may be a Pearlscale!
• Gene has "black lipstick"!

My cancer has recently returned and with my father getting all his child support back due to the re-finance and six people to feed, money is tight.

I cannot afford a larger tank, though when mum goes off to work one day, I may just re-home him myself. I keep the temperature at 70° farenheit. I'm going to keep a close eye on the Oranda with the veining. As I said, they WERE cramped up in a ten gallon aquarium at a Petsmart that had an ich outbreak a week ago.

Okay, so I just tested the water with my API Freshwater Master Test Kit. The results are as follows:

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5.0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

I noticed a small white growth-looking thing on the smaller Oranda's head. He is sitting near the bottom a lot today but actively came out when I put food in for them. The others seem to be doing well.

Okay, so, upon closer inspection, the smaller Oranda has ich. Before I buy medication with the money we don't have, what brands do you reccomend and should I treat the whole tank?

I don't like the risk of the other two getting it and that it's so likely they will. I'm guessing this is the cause of the viening in his fins. I can only do one water change a week, and I was planning on around 50%?

The Ryukin is all white, so spotting ich will be nearly impossible and I can't set my ten gallon back up as an isolation. (Mum is very difficult.) Should I turn the heater up to aide with the ich or should I leave it as is?

I was reading about ich on the GAB forum, and they said that a salt treatment is good for getting rid of ich in Goldfish. 3 teaspoons per gallon so that would be 99 teaspons of salt to keep it at a .03 salt content. I may just try to invest in the ich medication.

These Goldfish aren't a simple task.
I'm stressing here, please help.

Much love,
Charlie
 
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#2 ·
OK first of all WATCH OUT how much salt you put in the tank at one time... Goldfish need a good deal of salt to treat ich (up to 3 TBSP per GALLON) but if you add it too fast you will really shock your fish (did it just a few weeks ago, thats why I'm warning you!). Personally I recommend coppersafe for ich, it is mild enough that you can actually use it for the whole month unlike a heavy duty treatment of salt.

I would put your foot down with your mom about the pleco, because

a) They are notorious for latching onto goldies as they sleep and sucking their slime coat off, leaving huge welts behind and increasing the likelihood of infection. Also they have been rumored to suck goldies' eyeballs out.
b)Its not fair to force you to have to clean the tank so often which is what will inevitably happen when the goldies grow.

I'm sure there will be a few people on this forum as well as any aquarium forums specific to your area who would have the room to rehome him.

The smaller oranda does not sound 'right', maybe ich has just got him down.

What kind of filtration are you running in this tank? Just the Undergravel filters? How powerful is the pump?


You will definitely want to treat the whole tank as the ich parasite spends part of its life cycle hiding out and reproducing in the gravel. For this reason the pleco may also become problematic a I have no idea how tolerant they are of salt or coppersafe.

Turning the temp up will also help, 74 should suffice as you don't want to crank the heat past the point where the water can't hold as much oxygen. If you have a spare air pump lying around now would be the time to plop it in the tank to help replace the oxygen the medication sucks out of the water.
 
#3 ·
Im going to try to get my extra airstone in the tank. im running an underground filter on it. i DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY FOR ANOTHER FILTER and returning the fish is not an option. I'm going to rehome the pleco tonight. The smaller Oranda is a lot more active today but is still spending time on the bottom and the white growth is still on its 'cap'. I took an old betta cup, put conditioner in it, then boiling water and defrosted a frozen brime shrimp cube and a veggie cube. (lunchbox variety pack)
the pleco HAS to go tonight. im going to do a 50% change before medicating.
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#4 ·
I just got some Jungle Ich Clear disolving tabs. I'm scared they'll munch on them, so Im going to pre-disolve them in tank water. I'll do a 50% vac before treating, then 25% vacs starting two days after medicating. A week after the 25% vacs have begun, I'll do a 25% then treat once more to make sure. I'll do a 50% vac three days after the second dose then return to my weekly 50% vaccums. Does this sound good?

Also, on the medications box, it says it prevents secondary infections, but on the back it advertises Jungle Fungus Clear to do that. I can't afford any more medications.
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