I have this gold fish I bought 3 years ago and I call him Michael Jackson...he was black and turned orange 2 years ago..I really love him..and he has been sick for 3 weeks now ..I've tried 2 medice and nothing. I took him out of my 80 gallons tank 2 weeks ago to treat him separatly ( 10 gallons tank with a pump - no filter)because the other goldfishs were picking him. He is laying down on the bottom..can not swimm and stay straight...is not eating...neither pupping....I gave him on the 1 week Maracyn -two from Mardel...nothing happen...then for the last 2 weeks the guuy from the fish store told me to use Paragon II - blended Biotic powder....he thought my fish has swimmbladder disease....nothing happen....he is still laying down...and now I'nm getting desperate..because he is losing color and getting white on his tails...face...
Im feeding him with Tetrafit goldfish crisps but he is not so good to eat...I'm very concern because I'm feeeling that he is going to dye after this 3 weeks being very bad. Can you please give a call.......or provide a phone..I can call you. I have pictures of him....I could send you by email...please provide an address...
Please answer me ...I really do not want to lose Michael jackson..he is a big and sweet fish!!!
Eliza Nascimento

please edit your post to take out your phone number. its not a good idea to give this out on a public forum.
we will try to help you with your fish, but in the meantime could you fill in as much as you can from the white box at the top. numbers for tests are vital so if you dont have test kits then your lfs can test the water for you. please post soon.

if all you are feeding him are flakes then yes he could have swim bladder problems. also if you have not fed anything other than what you have listed then the pale colour could be due to dietary defficiences. goldfish need a varied diet and benefit from other foods being fed.
for now try feeding him a boiled shelled squashed pea and if he doesnt want to eat it try placing it in front of his mouth and see if he will eat it.
but we really need the numbers from test kits to help further.

How can I edit my original message

press the edit button at the bottom of the first post and then when you are in your post highlight your phone number and use your backspace tab to clear it then at the bottom press the amended post button. hope that works its difficult trying to get others to do something you do all the time

it doesn't have a edit bottom on my first message.....sucks

I've just measure the pH of the big tank and it is slightly acidic (~ 6.0). may be this was the reason he got sick. His tank (the small - hospital) is 7.5 or higher. Since I don't have yet the food you recommended, I've tried to feed him with the Treta food and he rejected. Still in the big tank, anmonia and nitrate levels are nominal (below .25 ppm).
Should I try any other medice?

That pH is very, very low. It is possible that he is experiencing shock going from a higher pH. You dont want to shock him going back the other way, but start doing small water changes to try to raise the pH very very slowly. The low pH is basically burning him.

What is the pH out of your tapwater? If its higher than 6 I would start replacing a small amount of the water with it. Do about 10% once an hour for about 2-3 hours and that will raise it slightly. Hopefully he is not too far gone to respond to it.

Also he may be experiencing ammonia burns and in that case the water changes should help too. Good luck!

I'm changing now the water of the big tank, but the sick fish has been in the small tank for 3 weeks..where the pH is good and also anonia/nitrate are good....I'm planning to move him to the big tank until he gets better....because I've tried already 2 medices and neither of them ghad any effect on the fish...I was wondering if there is any other medice who may help him...i'm sure he is suffering...i feel bad....

when you say he is getting white around his face can you describe it a bit more? does he have any white spots on him that look like he has had salt dropped on him. maybe he looks like he has a milky sheen to his body or do you think he just looks pale?
apart from the crisp that you feed him is there anything else that you have given him in the last 6 months to eat?
does he look thinner now, and how long has he not eaten?
does he try to swim off the gravel but kind of waddles along the bottom?

Just a thought, when a fish looses colour drastically it could be anemia due to internal haemorrgahing. This happened to a friends fish. Also my dear departed dog was reading anemic on his blood tests, only to discover later he was haemorrgahing in his lungs.

he looks like he has a milk sheen on him...there is no specific white spot...his tail and are losing the orange...becoming more pale ..white. I've just find out he is a orange Moor ...suppose to be black but he lost of his black scales.I've went to the fish store to find ut what else I could do. They told me to add a little bit of salt in the water, so I clean again the water of the hospital tank yesterday and added the salt...nothing else -no other medicine. Now and waiting to see what happen. I always just gave my fishes the Treta Crisps or flakes....nothing different than that. He doesn't look like thinner...as their shape is already fat..big baly...but he definitively looks weak...fragil....very sick...he doesn't breath as before...very paused...like in 3-4 sec open mounth to get air...he tries to swim off the gravel but goes back to the bottom...very quickly...he doesn't swimm so much...he is getting very tired....pretty much stay in the bottom all the time...just when we come in the bathroom..where the hospital tank is...he becomes more agitated.
Oh..God...what should you I do...should I try to find a vet for fishes...

It sounds like something in the water isnt right and he is reacting to it. can you get the water tested at your pet store? in the meantime do regular water changes using dechlorinated water and add salt to 1 level teaspoon per gallon, making sure you use aquarium salts and then again 12 hours from that add another teaspoon per gallon to bring it up to .2%. with every water change you must remember to add the salt that was taken out. so for example you take out 1 gallon of water, replace with 1 gallon of water and add 2 level teaspoons of dissolved salt.
I would also suggest varying the diet of your fish as eating the same food can cause defficiences in minerals and vitamins. Try getting some freeze dried bloodworm and putting it to his mouth and see if he will take it. if he does then try some squashed boiled pea and place this too at his mouth.

But its important that you try to find out the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph of both the tap and tank water.

I just want to thank the people who tried to help me ....unfortunately Michael Jackson died over this night.....is very said....although I did try everything people recommended, still he was not getting better. So at leasr he is not suffering anymore. Again thanks
Eliza

I'm really sorry he didnt make it Eliza

Sorry to read about your troubles with Michael Jackson. RIP little fishy.
It sounds really like you have tried your best to save him and make him well. Sadly sometimes one can try everything, and still cant save the fish. They seem to suffer for weeks too. So prolonged and distressing for both fish and owner,
I hope you will feel better soon. Remember the happy times eh, and the pleasure he has given you.
Once again, I am sorry to read this Eliza. I couldnt have offered any better advice.
Goodluck with the others.

Hi Eliza, I'm so sorry to read about your losing Michael.

Michael's symptoms exactly match pH shock from the pH drop. You can read a little about it here.

Unfortunately there was nothing you could do for him except exactly what you did, which was to move him out of the low pH and to a normal pH water and just hope for the best. The medications and everything else would have had no effect, so you really did all you could have done to save him just by moving him. After that, only time would tell if he would recover or not, which he unfortunately didn't.

You should really check to see why your water's pH dropped so far down to 6 or less (it could be rotting plant or organic matter etc), as you need to be careful for the future with your other fish. Some fish are simply hardier than others and can tolerate extreme pH levels, but fancies like Moors don't seem to be one of them.


PS. I recall reading once that pH is like the earthquake richter scale where each number is twice the size of the previous number, so pH 5 is actually double the acidity of pH 6 for instance. So even a pH movement of 1 in either direction, which may appear to be only a slight move, is really quite a large move of 200%.