Help .. I'm not sure what is wrong with my goldfish. I inherit the whole tank with 3 fish in it from a friend and i add another 1. And it was in terrible condition before.
And I think the fish hasnt recovered completely from bad water etc.
My goldfish are 2 small fan tail, 1 small comet and a lion head.
My Lion head Boncel, the cheek underneath his eyes, looks splitting. I didnt really notice that until couple days ago.
I'm not sure what happen with him.. He's been standing on his head since i got them 2 mths ago. and i think he's been doing it for a while..
HELP!! is my Boncel dying of some disease ???????

Hi,Sorry to hear of your probs.In order for us to help you,we need you to answer the questions up above in red ,as much as you can,so we have all the facts.Standing on his head could be bacterial/Parasites,but we really do need to know more.Post soon!

Ow sorry, i'm new to this forum.
Here are the info:
> Test result Amonia 0, ph 7-7.2. and 6.8 from the tap
I'm don't have the kit to measure nitrate & nitrite level sorry is this crucial ??
> my tank is 60 L and I've been running it for 2 mths. previously my friend was running it and it was terrible. algae everywhere and i'm sure water quality was poor.
> i dont know the brand of the filter, Qmax 550L/h, 220-240v/50hz, 7.6 w
> i did 30% water change once a week.
> there are 4 fish in the tank. Comet (8cm), Fantail (6 & 10 cm), Lion Head (12cm)
> during water change i mix the new tap water with aquaplus and stress coat and accu clear.. does it need that much ??? hmm ?
> When i realise the split underneath the eye area, i start giving melafix and pimafix to the main tank. and epsom salt.
>no new fish in the tank for a while. however 1 smaller lion head (9cm) just died because of dropsy. I'm not sure why it got dropsy though so sad
> i feed my fish friskies, granulated sprinkle goldfish food and cooked mash peas and lettuce sometime
> Boncel the lion head which has the problem, always stand on his head.
split in the cheek area below the eyes on both sides.
sometime swimming eratically. but he eats well and poop well, small solid and same colour of the food.
he always try to eat the gravel but spit it again. is this normal ????
PLEASE HELPPPPP !!!!!!

Hi k4thz,

Welcome to koko's!

Are you in Australia?

I think you are still have water problems and nitrIte testing is a must.

40L is also too small for 4 goldies average 10cm each. You need 40L for 1 goldie if you follow the general rule of thumb.

I think you need to test your nitrIte and do more water changes for the time being. The epsom salt is not going to do much for you. The mela/pimfix combo is a stab in the dark. Just watch out for any negative reactions from the fish to pimafix.

Salt to 0.1% might be more appropriate for now. That is 1 gram of salt per litre. Aquarium salt, rock, sea salt will do too.

OBTW, a lot of goldies will try to eat the gravel and then spit them out. As long as the gravel is not the right size to get stuck in their throat then it is fine.

You may definately have to perform more frequent water changes.Do you perform any kind of gravel vacs when you change out the water? I'm not sure whats going on with the split cheek-is it possible to show us a pic? I'm not sure off-hand what Accu clear is,either ,but I do know that you don't need to be using all three. You only need one that takes out the chlorine/metals,chloramines,etc. Just out of curiosity,what are Friskies? Over here in the States,that's a Brand of dry cat food. Are you able to take a sample of your water to your local fish store to be tested until you get the kits you need?

I did perform water change quite frequent and add the conditioner.
I've posted the photo in member's gallery, caption: bocel with splitting cheek.
Please do take a look at it and u'll know what i'm talking about.
I can't find anything on the internet about this.
so if you or anyone else can help me with this disease or something, that will be much appriciated.
and also Boncel is often eating bubbles on the water surface, why is that ??
Friskies is a brand of granulated gold fish food. I ran out of food one day and just found that in supermarket shelf. well, i think it still do the job ...
So is the kit is nitrate and nitrite level test ? i already have a ph and amonia test kit. Let see after i've done the test, i will post progress again.

I did perform water change quite frequent and add the conditioner.
I've posted the photo in member's gallery, caption: bocel with splitting cheek.
Please do take a look at it and u'll know what i'm talking about.
I can't find anything on the internet about this.
so if you or anyone else can help me with this disease or something, that will be much appriciated.
and also Boncel is often eating bubbles on the water surface, why is that ??
Friskies is a brand of granulated gold fish food. I ran out of food one day and just found that in supermarket shelf. well, i think it still do the job ...
So is the kit is nitrate and nitrite level test ? i already have a ph and amonia test kit. Let see after i've done the test, i will post progress again.

Hi k4thz,

I can't find the pic? Can you paste a link to it?

NitrIte and nitrAte are usually sold as seperate kits.

I looked at the pics and though it's not clearly seen, it looks like only the wen that splits and exposing the gill plate.

Is that a disease though ?
whats a wen ????
so do you know how to cure this?

I've attached the link to your album if you don't mind.

k4thz's fish

Good luck with your fish...

Hi k4thz,

Thanks Cathy for the link. I was looking all over the place for it.

Yes, it looks like a tear in the wen. The wen is a collection of fatty tissue that grows/collects over the head of some goldfish. Where it is comparatively thin, it can seperate and form a tear. I don't think it is a real health problem. It can become a problem if bacteria gets underneath the edges and create troubles. That is unlikely to happen if the fish is healthy and the water is good. The wen should grow back together in time.

You're welcome Captk

Ow...
u can actually paste links here Thanks...
I'm not familer with this forum yet ... well getting there
Ummm.... so do you think by improving the water quality, the wen will grow back ? ... well i really should workin on the water then ...
THANKS GUYS ... much appriciated !

For most goldies, the wen continues to grow as long as they live. Some grows a little bit, others put on huge wens that covers their eyes. With a good diet, the wen should grow back. Keep the water pristine, the fish is not stressed, the bacteria count in the water is lower, there is less chance of getting sick.