Im a RA at my college. During closing we discovered two suites that had neglected to take thier goldfish home for the month long break. It is doubtful these fish would have made it since they were both in dirty small bowls. I altready had a betta but agreed to take them home where i have a empty 29 gal tank. I know its bad, but i filled up the tank put in amquel and novaqua, and put all three fish in the tank. I knew i would have to get a seperate tank for the betta so i did, and he is now in a 6gal by himself. Anyhoo, I did have all three in the tank together for about two days and the betta did show much agression flaring and flashing at the goldfish. One goldfish (hes a black moore from what i believe) has what looks like white coating spots on his head along actually its not very thick and actually appears greyish, with a white ring half way around the bottom of his eye. The orange one, fancy, shows one white spot on its side, almost looks like a displaced scale. The white ring around the black moore's eye seem also like it could be missing skin but also possibly an infection.

Could these syptoms be brought on by the stress of a move and living with an agressive betta? Will they go away given time? I have melafix and aquarium salt that says it is for tropical and goldfish. I just dont want to keep dumping in chemicals when im not sure these things are stress related and will go away by themselves. Should i put either of these things in the amquel and novaqua already in there? Or should i give them a few more days to adjust as they have only been in the tank since yesterday?

Sorry just a newbie with two suprise goldfish

P.S. thier names are Spazz and Fazz, just thought id throw that in there!

There is a whisper filter ( the one that came with the tank),
I used a test strip and this is what i got

Nitrate: 20-40 ppm
Nitrite: 0-0.5ppm
Hardness: 120ppm
PH: 6.8-7.2

Two 2-3in goldfish in 29gal

Im not sure if the tank will be cycled with just a betta in it but keep an eye out for any ammonia and nitrite spikes. Check these daily to make sure they dont get too high. Blackmoors often show the white of the slimecoat more than other fish and it could be he is just thickening up in that area.
If the nitrites get any more then use salt to .2% to help them, which is a level teaspoon per gallon and again 12 hours later. You dont need the melafix i wouldnt have thought.
Any change then get back to us

I doubt my tank is cycled since i just filled it up two days ago, my betta was in a 2 gal at school with me. Should i add salt as a precautionary? Im thinking of upgrading my regular filter that came with the tank from walmart to a penguin biowheel since what i read from here that the orignal filter probably wont keep the water clean enough for a goldfish. They are still quite tiny and i must say i cant wait for them to grow!

.... trick is getting them to live that far

They still seem a little sedentary, and ive given them a worm cube that you stick on the side of the tank since ive read that you shouldnt give them floating food, ive seen the moor nibble at it, but not much so i guess ill soak some flakes today.

wish me spazz and fazz luck!

Uhoh i think theblack moor is starting to clamp his fins

salt?

melafix?

wait it out?

Do you have a test kit for the ammonia hun, Im worried since they are in a non cycled tank.....

Did you get the betta out of there hun?

You could add Melafix to help with the fins and such this wont hurt them at all.

Also what is your nitrites right now too?

Are the goldfish eating okay and are they swimming around the tank or sitting there?

Ammonia im not sure of

Nirate: 20ppm

nitrite .05ppm

Hes swiming around a bit, but not all over the tank, mostly just in one corner and along the bottom. The betta is now in his own tank. Its wierd he'll spread his fins for a while, but if i watch him long enough and he stops moving they go back towards his body. The temp is 68F, and i just added the melafix. Should i do a partial water change?


Ive tried getting them to eat by putting a few flakes in, but i dont want to just keep putting in food. Im not sure if they just dont want to eat or they just dont see the food.

I do..... oooo he just ate a bite, but then he went back down. he is being relatively active though, oo hes gone back up andis eating, but the other one, i dont know if he realizes theres food up there, he is justwaiting for them to drift down then dashing after them.

I just dont know what is normal goldfish behavior. now the orange one is scavageing the bottom,.

I must say im feeling a bit encouraged abou how they are acting now. cross your fingers for us


P.s. do youthink that penguin 350 will be good enough for a 29 gal with two goldfish?

What I think will impact their behavior the next few days is, not to forget where they came from. A tiny dirty bowl, probably loaded with ammonia and the other nasty stuff, not to mention that they weren't able to see anything in that dirty water.
Now they are in a much bigger home, yet all of a sudden they can see everything, including new surroundings, and movement outside their tank. That alone scares them pretty much. I know my koi get that way when my husband does a too big of a waterchange in their pond, and their usually green water turns clearer. They are shocked by what they suddenly can see, and it takes them a couple of days until they are okay with it.
That will attribute to your goldie's behavior as well, and they might need a few days to get used to all the new stuff. Some fish are faster in that than others.
I am not familiar with the Pinguin, but if the 350 is an indication of how many gallon it pumps in an hour, it is great for a 29 gl tank. We generally aim for 10 times the tank volume being processed in an hour, so with a 29 gl tank you need at least a filter that handles 290 gl of water an hour.

The black moor is looking much better, they are both swimming around quite enthusiatically. I did a 50% water change yesterday. Got them a anubris plant which they are munching on every now and then. Also a penguin bio-wheel 350 which is pumping mucho water I also got this nifty little thing that sits in thewater and it showsyou the level of ammonia, safe, alert, alarm, toxic. Dont worry i still test once a day but its a nice back up. One problem though. I woke up today and the orange fantail has a black streak right down his side fin, right on the edge and follows it down. The ammonia was 0-.25 when i tested it, and he just had the 50%water change yesterday, I know that ammonia burns are black, but ive tried to be so careful about that, and the ammonia has never gone above.50. What could this be? He is still acting healthy and eating hehe figures as soon as one starts to look better the other one gets something

If anyone can help me figure out what this is i would be very grateful.... til then back online to do some more research

Hey, just wanted to give everyone a quick update! I went to college for three weeks and just got back yesterday. Even though i had about an inch of evaporated water and my huge tub of gf food was almost empty (looks like my dad has been overfeeding and not doing water changes, but in his defense he is a workaholic!) The fish are doing wonderful. They look a little bigger to me but that might be wishful thinking hehe
I should really measure them now and then again at spring break to see. Anyhoo, i just wanted to thank everyone cause i asked alot of questions. And im so happy they've made it!