I bought a new addition to my goldfish family 2 weeks ago. Another calico fantail, a surprise for my husband since he had been wanting to get one for himself. Now it is at the bottom of the tank, lethargic, not moving much, won't eat. Ammonia 0 Nitrites 0 Not sure of nitrates, no test for that, ph 7.8, top fin 30 filter, air stone, added salt since i haven't added any for awhile, 30% water change weekly
The fish are in a 30 gallon right now, the sizes of the fish vary from 3 inches to 4 1/2 inches. I age my water and add water conditioner. Changed 40%of water when I noticed Undertaker was not doing well, the tank has been set up for a year, but longer than that since I had my other 3 goldfish in a 20 gallon for 6 months before getting bigger tank. I clean the gravel when I change the water.
Not sure what else to do for Undertaker, don't want to lose him. I have an empty 5 gallon but no air pump for it so can't take him out and quarantine him. Tomorrow I will be able to buy a new air pump so if it is the right thing to do I will take him out and put him by himself and see what happens, unless that is a bad idea. All the other fish are doing excellent and no symptoms what so ever. Now what

HELP PLEASE.

hi
do you think you could do a physical on the fish? heres what to do and what you are looking for

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disease/tec...s_Fish_Physical

try this then write down anything that could be wrong and post back. good luck

Hi,sorry to hear that Undertaker is having problems. Well,your nitrites & ammonia are point on. I am wondering about those NitrAtes though....That is really important especially on an established tank because NitrAtes can creep up rather easily. Sometimes you think that you are doing a big enough water change & the NitrAtes are still high. Those sound like pretty decent sized fish in there,how many fish do you actually have in that tank? How long has he gone without food? Have you noticed him pooing at all? Any other signs of illness-red streaks,frayed fins etc?

Did the physical and the gills are dard red, the mouth opened fine when taken out of water, belly feels a harder than it should and there is a slime coat but should be more that what it is now. So now what, and what meds should i buy tomorrow, soonest i can buy them. And nothing wrong with anal port, everything seems fine. just haven't seen him poo yesterday, since he hasn't eaten anything. Forgot nothing red or white around mouth.
Thank you never knew there was a way to give a fish a physical, I saved the page so I have it next time I need it.
I have 4 fish in there, but still lots of room for them since my black moore and Underaker are smaller fish, my black moore being the smallest of them all.

Tried yesterday to feed him peas, incase it was swim bladder or constipation but he did not eat any of it. Is there someway that i can take him out of water and force feed him one pea to see if that helps, he was swimming around for a few min after the physical and yesterday he swam around for about 5 min when i was observing him.

to start off with i would do a 50% water change for a couple of days and see if this helps. some fish are more sensitive to others when it comes to water quality, so testing the nitrate level as suggested by devs would be the course to take just now . are you doing the salt to .1% ? if it is a parasite then maybe doing a salt dip for that fish may help. im hoping toothless will come along and help you with a salt dip as im not that sure what the correct dosage would be.

the gill colour could be the water quality or a parasite but the harder than normal belly and not pooing could be a sign of constipation. as you havent seen him eat then maybe try giving a boiled squashed pea, and trying to get him to eat may help, so you could try putting it in front of his mouth and seeing if he will take it..

i think you should hold off from getting any meds until someone else with more knowledge can come and help you. good luck

ok right now I will do a 50% water change and a salt dip and see if that helps. I will try to feed him peas but i don't know if he will take it from me. My other fish feed from my hand but since i haven't had Undertaker for long i don't know if he will. But i will try. I will let you know of any changes if i see any as soon as i see them. thank you.

Just finished the 50% water change and salt dip, will let him settle down for awhile before i try to feed him peas. I was just doing research on the web and found something about using epsom salt to help with constipation, has anyone tried this, they say 4 tbsp for gallon of water for about 10-15 min. Any opinions on this.

I would have suggested the salt dip as a first thing to do. Since you have already done that, my bet is that he is feeling a bit better today. A salt dip will purge a fish nicely in about 24 hours - and they will perk up substantially if you are dealing with parasites that can be affected by salt (nearly all).

If you wish to feed peas to a fish that will not eat them on their own, a good method that I have discovered is to cook the peas in a tiny bit of water that has about 1/4 tsp epsom salts added. (peas, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 tsp salt). The salt will dissolve nicely into tthe water when heated. Then skin the peas and smash them through a screened sieve. I then take the smash-ate and suck it up with a syringe, adding in a tiny bit of the epsom salt water to make it into a thick slurry.

This pea/salt/water slurry can be squirted down the fish's throat - aim it to go in the back of the mouth. A little at a time, and the fish should eat well. I always make up twice as much as I need because the fish may spit and you may spill.

This is an alternative to an epsom salt dip. The dip purges well, also.

I hope your fish is feeling better today.....