OK so i have had my black moor a few weeks now and took all the proper precautions in helping him into a good home, cofident he'd be fine, i introduced a new fish, a pleco, in with him (yes quarintine insured). I do a 1/4 tank water change everyweek and had no real problems. I did however read an article about sufficiently feeding plecos and cucumber was listed as an option so about 4-5 days ago i put an inch long piece of cucumber in my tank for the pleco. About three days ago my apartment building had it's heat turned on unbeknownst to me who had been away for about 24 hours. The apt was roasted when i came home, hot enough to evaporate about an inch of water from my tank....I turned off the heat and opened windows until the temperature became acceptable and set out water enough for another small change and to get the water level back up near the top of the tank....next morning water change sucessful....fish is sluggish...ok sure i mean almost being boiled to death must have been stressfull. Later on THAT evening some serious slime generation especially around the top of his telescopic eyes and his belly. I also noticed some ick and some serious fin rot. No I don't examine my fish on a hourly basis but definitly on a daily basis and this happened fast! fin rot! fast! Slime fast....i ran to the pet store and got some "Quick Cure" administered it last night and then again this evening. The problem now is that he doesn't seem to be doing any better his slime on the belly is gone (his velvet 'skin' gone with it) he was just slowly swimming in a five inch radius today and last night but has now placed himself resting on the filter) I can't stand looking at him in this condition and have resigned myself to an emminent death, but this is a dying plea, a last resort, i fear he may be dead by morning...HELP!!!!!!! please!!!!!

Ammonia Level

Tank size(How many Gals) and How long has it been running?

Nitrite Level?

How often do you change the water and how much?

Nitrate Level?

Filtration?

Ph Level

Water additives/conditioners?

What do you feed your fish?

Medications add to the tank?

How many fish in the tank and there size?

Any new fish added to the tank?

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.

Hi JamesCoburn, and ! Too bad its because of a sick fish....

The stress of the hot water definetely has brought on some problems here, but there are things you can do for him. Just because he sits on the bottom a lot and has fin rot doesn't mean he is gonna die.
First of all, to get a virtual picture on how your fish is housed and everything, there is a big red box on top of this section. Try to fill out as many of the questions as you possibly can, that way we can help your fish better. Just copy and paste your answers.
The Quick cure is a good choice for Ich, its a bit harsh on the fish though, and since he is already stressed, it causes him to be so still right now. I would probably do a water change again to get the Quick cure somewhat out of the water, and add salt instead. Its less stressful on the fish, actually its more of a tonic for him at this stage. You can squirt a bit of hydrogen peroxide, or water conditioner works well too, to deactivate the quick cure.
As for salt, don't use the cooking salt, get rock salt, solar salt or aquarium salt instead. Add 1 tablespoon per 5 gl of tank water, wait 12 hours, add the same dosage again, 12 hours later the 3. and final dosage. That brings you up to 0.3% salt solution.
I also would turn off the tank light at this point, Ich loves light, and less of it keeps it from multiplying even more.

Edit: Just noticed the red box on top is not red anymore, its a white box now....
Post back with the tank conditions.....

Do you mean he is stuck to the filter? If so that is a bad sign, they don't usually recover from that (((((hugs)))))

As a last ditch effort, I would do a 25-30% water change immediately. Use temperature matched dechlorinated water.

You didn't say what your water parameters were, or how big the tank was.

Often enough, adding meds to an already weak stressed fish will be more than the fish can handle especially if the water conditions are a little bit off.

So I would do a water change immediately, and if he's still alive tomorrow, do another 25% change.

Ich is always in the water, but only rears it's ugly head to attack fish when they are weak or stressed. If the case of ich is not really bad, you should always try to treat it with salt first. It's less stressful to the fish, and very effective.

So quick run down, change 25% now, and 25% again tomorrow. Find out your ammonia, your nitrite, your nitrate and your pH if you can. If you don't have those tests, take a water sample to the pet store where you bought the fish and have them test it. They will most likely do that for free. Also ask the pet store what their pH is in their tanks that you got the fish from. Come back here and let us know, and we can help you more.

Good luck


Jessica

Well, I think 3 of us just posted at the same time.....=o)


Jessica

Ammonia Level?: No Clue..sorry

Nitrite Level?: No clue...sorry.

Ph Level? between 6 and 7

Ph Level out of the Tap? umm don't know

Tank size(How many Gals)...5.5 gallons

How long has it been running? about 1 month

What kind of Filtration? "Aquaclear 200"

How often do you change the water and how much? Once a Week, 1/4 of the tank

What kind of Water additives or conditioners? "Stress Coat"

Any Medications add to the tank? Yes, Quick Cure.

How many fish in the tank and there size? Used to be 2 until the pleco died shortly after administering the quick cure.

Add any new fish to the tank? Yes , a pleco, 2 weeks ago

What do you feed your fish? "Aquarian" goldfish flakes and sometimes pre-soaked "Wardley" floating pellets

Any unusual findings on the fish? Resting against the filter facing down towards gravel, excessive fin rot, one back fin almost withered to nothingness and a dorsal that's seriously frayed, some ich on both body sides...excessive slime around (mainly the top of) the eyes...slime on the underbelly, rapid gill movements but NOT gasping for air at the suface.

hopefully this is a bit more informative

Ok hun, I am willing to be a lot of money that water quality is your main problem.

In a way, that is good, because you can fix that right away. Starting with the water changes.

Can you get to a pet store tomorrow and either buy the tests (which is best because you will need to know your water parameters until your tank cycles) or have the pet store test your water.

Don't take the pet stores word for it that your water is ok. write down the numbers that they give you.

(((((Hugs)))))


Jessica

Ok so i just decided that he was stuck to the water filter...so i unpluged it and sure enough it seems he was....but this opened a whole new can of worms...he was swimming weakly but normally until early this evening then he was attached to the filter...now he can't swim...he does barrell rolls and swims sideways....swimbladder!......i guess...the problem now is that it seems to be one thing after another and in rapid succession...i admit i'm an amateur but i think i have a keen sense of logic and i can't get a firm grip on a diagnosis...i've read things and read things but i guess it's just a matter of seeing them first hand...he can't swim properly and i have unplugged the filter since it's only a 5.5 gallon tank it creates quite a bit of water current!!!....i'm stuck here!...waiting for death

JamesCoburn, I am sorry to hear that. It might not be swim bladder problems thats causing the latest problem, my thought is more towards the water he is in.
Goldfish are enormously messy fish, and a 5.5 gl tank is not really the best home for him. A 10 gl tank at least per goldfish should be the way to go. And with another fish in it, the pleco, that tank was way overcrowded, I am sorry to say.
I bet when you either buy those test kits or have the water tested at the fish store, you will have a reading of ammonia and nitrites in there for sure. And those two things are killers for fish! Ammonia and/or nitrites in the tank, especially in high dosage over a longer period of time without relief by a bigger water change, will weaken a fish to the point that he will drift helplessy through the tank, and yes, gets stuck to the filter intake without enough energy on the fish's part to free himself from the suction.
I would try to safe the little guy by doing a big water change right way, at around 50%. I am sure you know, but just to be safe, the added water should have the same temperature than the tank water, as well as being treated with the dechlorinator you are having....
I hope he makes it!

Do the white spots look like sprinkings of 'white' salt or are they smaller creamy/yellowish spots to numerous to count?

My little Spotty Jnr has these and the same symptoms as your fish. Two things happened to stress him;

1. I took him out of his little plastic tank and put him in my new 40g uncycled tank with some newish fish.

2. Last week we had two heatwave days 37-38C/100F (they were the hottest October days in 40yrs), the temperature of the tanks rose from 20C/68F to 28C/80F overnight and stayed that way for 2 days before dropping suddenly back down to around 22C.

All the fish in the new tank developed ich and/or these other spots. I heated the tank to a steady 26C/78F and treated the tank with Protozin (Waterlife). I moved Spotty Jnr back to his little tank to treat him because I've tried him in big tanks before and he stresses out. I guess he's just gonna spend the rest of his life in his little tank.

Unfortunately, he didn't respond well to the treatment. I checked out the diagnosis on fishfarmacy.com and his symptons match an infection of oodinium together with a heavy infestation of columnaris.

I am now treating him with a formalin-malachite medication plus Primafix and Melafix, and heating his small tank by placing it on an electric pet mat.

He is not doing well, he looks aweful I think the infections may be too advanced but I won't give up on him - all I can do is keep his water pristine and keep medicating.

Even though it's not good news I hope this information helps. I don't know how to post links but you could do a search for fishfarmacy.com and look under skin disorders.

Sorry to advise that Spotty Jnr just passed away.

so sorry about spotty jr. i completely empathize. i'd also just like to say thank you for everyone's post...it actually quite compelling to have such a response. i have never posted anything on the internet let alone on this site and am completely surprised at the response...thanks again...i'll be back.

Hi,is it just me,or does it sound like an Aquaclear 200 is a heck of a lot of filtration on a 5.5 gal.tank--especially when housing a Black Moor? That has nothing to do with poor water quality,I know...I'm just wondering how the moor handles it?~ Just a thought ~

That would be 200ltrs which is roughly 50g/hr. So it's x 10 filtration of the tank.

Like I said,that's alot of filtration on a 5 1/2 gal. tank. A 5gal. tank x10 times filtration=50gph...........They're using 200 gph.

Isn't it 200 litres per hour = 50 gallons per hour?

Filters approximately 200 U.S. gallons per hour

http://www.petdiscounters.com/aquarium/fil.../ha_ac_200.html

Woe! It must be a super clean tank!

ok...so i have a 200 aqua...umm.200 in a 5.5 gallon tank....it says that it cleans tanks both biologically and mechanically...so it's in a 5.5 gallon and it's "cleaning" the tank...so A) it should be a clean tank...right? B) is this healthy and C) why is my fish so sick if he's in a "clean tank".... i'm a little confused.

I think that your main problem is your water.Yes you have a powerful filter on that tank,but it can only do so much.The one thing it can't do is take ammonia/nitrites etc. out of your water-the only thing you can do for that is frequent water changes.A 25%water change with two fish and the amount of food fed,apparently wasn't enough>I'm also sure that fighting that powerful filter also had a role in weakening his condition and even making him more prone to illness. How is he doing now,and what have you done for him? Did you manage to get a water test kit?

I did a 50% water change as suggested earlier...using "stress coat" to de-chorinate the water. I didn't have the resources or window of opportunity to test the water. I think that the 'disease' was in it's final stages. Unfortunately "Foog" short for Fugazi died this afternoon. I did notice a few things post mortem that maybe somebody can me help with..his fins deteriorated lightning fast, it started with one fan fin and by the time i'd come home after working for about 6 hours they were pretty much all withered. he also had, it appears blood clotting in the head....around the eyes and above, in the head region, it was quite red...blood, i assume? His black coat was pretty much nil as well...It was my first fish and certainly a traumatic experience but not my last and be sure i'll be testing water and the next fish will definitely have a more 'educated' tank...thanks again.

shane

Very sorry to hear about Foog. Spotty Jnr's fins went really fast too but he didn't have any blood. Perhaps Foog haemorraged.

It's very frustrating trying to find answers, sometimes we never know exactly what happened. I know how you feel today, take it easy.

So sorry to hear that!!! I think the final stages that you saw the poor little guy in may have been the final results of being stuck to the intake tube...Poor little guy..... :crp That could have certainly shredded his fins alot worse than what you first saw,and probably even the reason for the blood on his head.