Ammonia Level 0

Tank size(How many Gals) and How long has it been running? 40 gal 2 yrs

Nitrite Level? 30

How often do you change the water and how much? 3rd every 3 wks

Nitrate Level?

Filtration? Bio filter

Ph Level 7.5

Water additives/conditioners? none

What do you feed your fish? flakes

Medications add to the tank? Melafix (today only)

How many fish in the tank and there size? 4 x 3"

Any new fish added to the tank? no

Any unusual findings on the fish? Such as "grains of salt", bloody streaks, frayed fins, fungus Any unusual behavior? Like staying at the bottom, not eating, ect..

The problem is one of my goldfish who is 7 years old is just drifting around the tank, there does not seem to be anything obvious, I have checked all the diseases and signs etc but she looks fine. She stays in the middle of the tank o.k and every now and then swims fine then lapses back to drifing. This is the first day she has demonstrated this behaviour. Please help.

Marj

Hi Marj and welcome to Koko's.

The first thing that gets my attention is the NitrIte level. 30 is too high. Are you able to check for nitrAtes? This would be helpful. Having nitrites that high indicates a tank that hasn't cycled. So getting the nitrate levels would tell us if that is right or not.

The drifting behavior you talk about, is it like she is "floaty"? If so this could be swim bladder disease. If you want to look that up you can read how to prevent it and also treat it.
If you don't have to $ to buy the nitrate test then take a sample to the lfs and they can do it for you, just have them write down the results so you can post them.

When you change your water do you set it out over night? Also you should use a water conditioner, like prime or Amequel, stress coat, something, because there are nasty chemicals in water that will hurt the fish.
Post back soon.

Sorry, I was wrong. The nitrites is 0 the nitrates is 30 ppm.

Marj

your water needs to be changed more. it needs to be done at least once a week. what is your ammonia reading? my guess is water quality, do water changes every day for the next 5 days at 20 to 30 each time, and after that once a week or more.

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

Amonia is 0. I have put henrietta (my fish) into an incubation tank and put some shelled peas in too but she looks like she is dying.

Marj

That is sad to hear that she is not well. From my experience, when goldfish drift with the current, it is near the end.

It sounds like your water quality is fine. It could be that she has just reached the end of her lifespan which for fancy goldfish is about 8 years or less in aquariums.

i agree with wynkin. a goldfishs lifespan in an aquarium is somewhere close to a decade. however, there is a chance that your goldie might be experiencing a curable bacterial infection.

since youve already got her in an isolation tank (is it cycled?), you might try treating her in their. can you get some medi-gold (medicated goldfish food) from goldfish connection.com? its less than 20 bucks for a nice big container of it (8 oz). feeding it to your sick goldie and raising the temp a bit (78-80) might help bring her around.

7 years is quite a long time to have a goldfish but not anywhere close to being unheard of. i would think that she would be worth the effort, right?

post back and let us kow if you can get the medi-gold. if you cant, there are other alternatives that might help/work.

paul

is that the only fish in the tank??
if so, you may use some salt on the fish.. salt treatment plus fasting the fish.. light feeding is allowed if the fish is still interested to eat..

otherwise, apply 0.1% salt (1 teaspoon for every gallon) every 12 hours till u have 0.3%..

see how it helps...
replace and lost salt if you do change any water...
keep us posted...

I would like to thank everybody for their help but Henrietta died during the night.

Thanks again.

Marj

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your fish. It is hard to lose a pet that you have had for so long. I found this site when my 8 year old goldfish was dying.

aww, marj!

im so sorry you lost her its never easy to lose a beloved pet.

i hope youll stick around here. theres quite a lot of very useful information to be found. anytime you ever have a question, dont hesitate to post it!

again, im very sorry

paul