My five goldfish,in my 55 gallon tank,for a quite a while,have been sitting at the bottom.They are always sitting under a plant unless I come over to feed them,where they start doing their little dances.I dont know what's wrong with them
My fantail,Uppercut,was the first one who started doing this.She started to lay slanted near the ground and just stayed in that position.In time,my other fish started to do that to.I salted the tank about 1% and now am out of salt.I'm not sure whats wrong with them.I bought a new filter because I always had high Nitrate problems and that helped the Nitrates but not the fish.What could be the problem?
Amonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-?(Last time I checked,it was around 40)
P.H-6.5

Thanks

Sorry to hear you are having problems.
I am concerned about your salt dosage, did you mean 1% or 0.1%? How much salt is in there?

Next I am concerned about the nitrates, 40 is high. YOu need to try and get them down to 20. This will help.

Now with that said, I am wondering about the current of the tank. Is it too fast for them?

Oh,sorry,I meant .1%
Sorry for any confusion.Actually,now it's about .2%.
I dont think the current is to fast or strong.I have two filters in there and one bubblewand.They still are sitting around and that gets me worried.Also,my common,Whirlwind,seems to have popeye.But I'm not to sure.His eyes have been like that for more than a month now and hasnt been wearing of.I change the water once a week.Also I'm using my 10 gallon quarintine right now so I havne no other place to keep them

Is there a "sweet spot" for them to rest from the current, just in case?

How are the nitrates going, have you been able to get them down yet?

My other thoughts are about your PH, is it always that low? What is the hardness of the water?
I am not a ph expert, but for those who will take a look at your thread they may be able to help if they feel that is a problem.

Have you fasted them recently? with the one fish "resting slanted" could mean a bout of SBD.

Hmmmm, I am going to have to think a bit on this.

There's plenty of spots for them to rest,Under the plants,behind an ornament.They also have been azcting very sluggish.Before they were very active fish.

I still dont have a test kit so I'm going to try to buy one.I'll try to go check my Nitrates over the weekend.

I have always had problems with P.H.I always use baking soda to raise it but after a while it goes back down.I dont have the test to test hardness.

I've started fasting my fish alot incase they had swimbladder.I do it atleast every week for about 1-3 days.

Thanks for the help Laurie.

Ok that might be your problem. PH that bounces around isn't good. The fish can adjust to a range of ph as long as it stays within 0.2

I am suspect that this is your issue along with maybe the nitrates being to high. Since you can't test for them I would do a 50% water change.

What is the Ph out of the tap?

You are going to have to really get the ph in one place. Have you researched into crushed coral? This will really help.

I try not to get it all bouncy.I usually put ebough baking soda to get it up by .2-4 until it's up to 7 or around there.

I have to go to school in a few min's so I cant really go test right away.But,I've checked it before and the P.H there is around 6.8.I'll try to do a 50% as soon as I get back.I usually do them once a week but I havnt done one in about a week now I've been pretty busy

I've heard it's good at keeping the P.H around but I dont know where I can get it.
Edit-
Oh,and Happy Anniversary!

Thank you for your words.

I would look into crushed coral to stablize the ph. YOu can add this to the filter basket if you have room or in a nylon stocking in the back of the tank.

Thanks and no problem
The fish are still sitting at the bottom and not moving.They only move if I open the drawer where their food is kept.I hope it isnt anything serious.I'll try to do a waterchange tommorow as soon as I get back from school and see if that helps some

I hope they are feeling better soon. I don't like it when the fish lay on the bottom.

Yeah,My black moor,who is my smallest and youngest,seems to sit at the bottom more.

IT'S GOTTN WORSE!My biggest fish Whirlwind's eye looks like it's about to pop! I passes by and started crying when I saw it!
Someone please help.There is a sort of bubble around one of his eye's and it looks like it's cracked or going to burst!PLEASE HELP.
I'm literally crying right now He was one of my first fish and I dont want to lose him
What could be the problem?!
It looks like a bubble and it's big and there is s sort of crack right on his pupil!

Is there anything sharp in your tank? Is there any way you can post a pic?

Also, have you noticed their poop lately? What colour is it?

It sounds like a bacterial infection - have you any medicated food on hand? If you can get some medigold, i'd start them on this right away. I'm with Laurie on this, bottom sitting usually indicates some kind of problem.

Also, have you added any new fish/plants in the last little while?

There isnt anything to sharp in the tank.Also I dont think it would look like a bubble over it's eye.It's also pretty cloudy

I havnt noticed any poop

I have no Medicated food,I'll try to order some online.How long would it take to reach here??

I havnt had any new fish or plants in a while now.

Sorry to hear things are getting worse.

A couple questions.

Is the eye ball itself swollen or the tissue around it.....like a donut?
Do you have a hospital tank?

You can start raising the temp to 80 degrees, do this slowly only 2 degrees an hour. This helps with the immune system.

Maracyn 2 is good for popeye, which this could be or a bacterial infection.
You'll want Maracyn1 too to have on hand.
Epsom salts work well. 1/8 tsp per 5 gals. Make sure to not use the epsom with other salts.

Once you post back with the answers we can go from there. But I thought you would want something to get started on.

The medicated food is going to be very very important.

It was swollen before and it looked like popeye but now it it's eye isnt protruding but it's like a bubble over his eye.And the bubble is all cloudy and all my other fish are sitting at the bottom

I am currently using my 10 gallon for my Ryukin so no

I have Epsom salt,I have some but theres some other salt in the water so I'll try to get it out tommorow.

I'll order the food now

Ok, I would start raising the temp then. It isn't going to hurt the others in the tank.........they'll just be along for the ride.

Do enough water changes to get all the salt out as quickly as possible, but don't crash the cycle.
Next I would get the Maracyn's asap and start with M2.

Ok,I'll try to get it all out.I cant get Macyran until tommorow since Petco will close in 5 min's.Also Macyran is really expensieve and to treat a whole 55 gallon tank will be alo.Though,I'll try my best to get it.

Alright,I ordered the Medi-Gold.I wont be able to get the Macyran and clean the tank till tommorow morning
It's to late and my grandparents dont like me cleaning it in the night.

They're doing no better and are all sitting at the bottom.
What do you think it's eye problem might be?

The eye problem may be popeye or the first signs of dropsy. Usually if it is the "donut" around the eye is the presymptoms to possible dropsy. But the fish usually starts showing signs within a day.

Both dropsy and popeye can be treated the same way, so that is good.

Yes.I've done a 50% waterchange and put in the epsom salt.I've also highered the tempreture.I'm going to go buy the Macyran now and hopefully I get the Medi-Gold soon.
How long does it usually take to arrive?

Did you order it from Goldfish connection? If so just a few days. If you told Rick he can "urgent" ship it. Don't know how much extra that is, but it is an option.

Yes.I didnt see an option for it so I didnt do that :-/
Maybe I should have put it in the comments

I've bought the Macyran1 and 2.Which one should I put first?
Each has 8 tablets in it so it's about enough for 2 treatments each

You can use MI & II together - they each treat different kinds of bacteria so work well together

Oh,ok
I'll see how that works.
Hopefully,they'll be ok.

As Jen says they do work well together, however I have always used M2 for a full treatment and then a 24 hour break and then run M1 the full treatment.

Either way.

lol,thanks.They seemed a bit better when I put the Macyran in.They were a LITTLE more active
I forgot to take out the carbon when I put the Macyran in and luckly remembered so I turned of the filter and emptied the cartridge
Hopefully the Medi-Gold comes soon enough.I'd like to get them started on it as soon as possible.I think I'll also feed some to my Ryukin just in case.

Since I put the Macyran,my amonia is now at .5 X_X
I was walking past and noticed a little smudge of amonia burn on my comet.
I think the Medi-Gold is coming tommorow.I'm not to sure

Yeah, Maracyn can mess with the cycle, so you will have to check it often and do water changes accordingly.
Remember to put back the med you take out before adding the next days dose.

Yeah,I know I dont have much Macyran so I dont think I'll be able to replace it if I do a waterchange X_X

Uh oh, you may have to get more for it to work then. Because you definitely need to do the water changes. Keep us posted.

Yeah,I'm out of Macyran 1 & 2 -_-
I dont know when I'll be able to go to Petco again.
The fish are doing alot better.The bubble around Whirlwind's eye has greaty reduced And they all aren;t always sitting at the bottom

Ok,a quick update.I still havnt gotten the Medi-Gold yet but the fish are looking much better.The amonia is still at .5 so I think I'm going to do a good 50% waterchange.I now have a bacteria bloom as well

Sounds good, I am glad to hear he is doing better. When you get the med food, I would still do a round of them. 10-14 days.

Ok,I got the Medi-Gold! I put some in and they attacked it 0_o
They like it ALOT
They seem to be doing well-

That is good. My guys like it to. They think it is a treat.

Ok,I hust noticed some fin-rot on my fish.It looks like they got it as a secondary infection.And the amonia has gotten to high so I'm going to do a good 50%/gravel vac and try to lower.
Will the Medi-Gold cure fin-rot too?

Perfect water will help the fins. How are the levels now?