most of the time my oranda holds its fins close to the body. he's eating well though. mostly at night he sits in the corner of the tank. in the morning he swims for a little then sits for a little and do that for the rest of the day. is he sick? or just lazy or if goldfish sleep, sleeping? unfortunately, i don't have test kits.

i have a black moor that does exactly the same thing!!!

does your oranda have a dusty look on hus body?

Hi gollie - is there any way you can take a sample of your tank water to your lfs? Ask if they can write down your parameters and then you can post them here.

He doesn't sound well - especially if his fins are clamped.

Then if you can, please answer as many of the questions in the white box as possible - it'll help narrow down the possible causes

Lizzie - it sounds as though your fish has velvet disease. If this is so, as a suggestion, please start a link so we can bamboozle you with ways in which to cure your little moor If you can, please give as much info on your tank, water params etc as possible and we can take it from there

sorry i know it's hard determining a disease without knowing water parameters.but im only thirteen what can i do. my parents are busy working and dont have interest in fish like i do. this is how i test my water.. http://aquariumfish.net/information/test_w...r_eyes.htm#top2 my water is foamy, thats about it.

nope my oranda doesnt have dust on his body.

hi gollie, im only 15 and i dont know mch but i do know that foamy water isnt right.... do you have a filter?

i hope your fish recover and i also hope that someone can help you

Goldfish do sleep. When mine are sleeping they just kinda sit in one place and use their front fins occasionally to keep themselves floating in place.

How often do you change his water and how much do you usually change?

How big is your tank?

Is he your only fish?

How long have you had the tank running?

Do you have any kind of filter on the tank?

If you are not changing about 20% (2 gallons out of a 10 gallon tank) weekly that might cause bad water for the fish.

Also don't forget to add a drop of dechlorinator to the tap water before adding it to his tank and try to match the water temperature as closely as you can.

I change the water everyday since i just started the tank last week and just added the fish last sunday. a 10-gallon tank with two fishies ryukin and oranda which is the one sitting around mostly at night. i have a top fin 10 filter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are not changing about 20% (2 gallons out of a 10 gallon tank) weekly that might cause bad water for the fish.

Also don't forget to add a drop of dechlorinator to the tap water before adding it to his tank and try to match the water temperature as closely as you can.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i do all these. when i add new dechlorinated water it doesnt change the 'before' temperature. he is eating well.. someone said he was just a lazy fish or he might be sleeping.

Well gollie - as it's a new tank - my suggestion would be to continue changing the water (about 30% each day) for the next 6 weeks. This is to ensure your tank cycles without the toxicity of ammonia and nitrites killing your fish.

If you can, it'd be a great idea to add salt each time you do waterchanges - ie. 1 teaspoon per gallon (so 10 teaspoons) and if you change 3 gallons daily - just add 3 teaspoons back each time. It'll help your fish get through the cycling phase.

Then if you can, and at the earliest opportunity, perhaps you can save a few dollars to get some test kits - they'll be invaluable as you continue to raise happy and healthy fish.

I hope your fish gets better - and keeping his water as perfect as you can will be a major step to success

Oh,and not table salt

thanks every1 for the tips. jenw your tip helped me alot. my fishies are fine now. thanks guys. but i mostly see them gasping for air. i have read that extremely high Ph makes them do this. I think its my tap water that's high in ph.