Hi,

I have a 10G tank, running for 21/2 yrs
Whisper filter and an underground tank filter
water changes 50% once in 2 weeks
3 goldfish - 1 oranda and 2 ryukins + 1 pleco (very friendly w/ my goldfish)
No meds added to the tank just some salt
No new fish added to the tank (excpet for the pleco added 5months ago)
Tetra goldfish flakes (soaked in the tank water first), peas, occasionally leafy veg
No unusual behavior EXCEPT....

1. one of the ryukins shows signs of swim bladder disease. He is ok until feeding. After feeding he gets SBD. Fed him some peas, again he is ok after that...but gets SBD the following day.
Also one part of his tail appears to have disintegrated. No white stuff around his tail nor any distinct fraying visible. Could this be Finrot? Happy fish except for the SBD. Eats well.

2. the oranda's tail has something on it....looks like a tiny scratch, appears red. When I tried to take a closer look, it feels like a small bump.
Could you tell me what it could be? No unusual behavior. Is happy and eats well.

Is it okay to add salt to the tank even with plecos around?

I am totally confused and I don’t know what to do as diagnosis is difficult.
Kindly advise.

Thanks
Richa

Richa I hate to tell you but you are terribly overstocked and this is causing the majority of the problems.
We need for you to answer all the water questions, for I imagine that the water is horrible. Even though you have 2 filters running, being that overstocked.........not good.

Once you get the levels posted we can try and sort out things. Are you able to upgrade to a bigger tank? Or get another?

And salt will kill the pleco, they can't handle it. So you are going to need to figure out something with him.

oh honey
the only advice i have is that my black moor started to tilt a little after he ate. So i started to feed him sinking pellets and used a turkey baster to put the food in one spot each time, on the feeding dish on the gravel. (instructions on the tip of the month page) This way the food was at the bottom so he did not suck up air and tilt. As for the other things i am not too sure i am still new as well. i am sure someone will be by to help.

Until you get a chance to get your water tested at one of the larger pet stores (they will do this for free), I would suggest several large water changes.

I would do a large water change of around 50% today. If you have gravel, I would do a gravel vac at the same time. Rinse out your filter media in tank water (use a bucket of cleanish water, though, not one with all of the gunk from the bottom of the tank). Then I would wait a day, and do another big water change, again around 50%. This should help improve your water quality.

Then, until you can upgrade to a bigger tank, I would increase water changes to once every 4-5 days or so, and remove about 50% of the water every time. This will help. Goldfish do well with lots of water changes, and I change 50% of the water every week on my 10 gallon tanks with only one goldfish in them.

If you want to add salt to the tank, I would remove the pleco to a big Rubbermaid tub. These can be purchased very cheaply. I would get one around 10 gallons or so. The pleco can live comfortable in that for a few weeks while you treat the tank with salt. You will have to do water changes for him as well, and add a few ornaments and plastic plants to make him feel more comfortable. As long as your house is kept reasonably warm, 70 f. or so, he will do OK without a heater.

Unfortunately, plecos are very messy fish, too, so you may have pushed your little tank over the edge by adding the pleco. They grow very quickly and get very large.

I hope this helps a bit, and please feel free to ask questions.

Hi, thank you for the wonderful advice. So far these are the parameters of my tank (I have changed 50% of the water on Feb 19th):
Nitrate - 60ppm
Nitrite - 0
Hardiness - 300
Alkalinity - 100
pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.25
Got it tested at the petstore, they said that the parameters look good.

I took 'Nova'(fish problem 1-SBD, tail) and 'Comet'(fish problem 2-scratch on tailfin) to the Petstore yesterday and they diagnosed & recommended the following,
* Nova
Diagnosis- SBD possibly caused the tail to get that way...maybe because of the fish picking on him or just stress.
Treatment- transfer him to a tank or a bowl and feed him fresh veg and treat the tail with Melafix and salt.

*Comet
Diagnosis- the scratch is a lesion caused due to an accident in the tank.
Treatment- treat the wound with Melafix and salt.

CAN KEEP ALL THE FISH IN THE SAME TANK AND TREAT THE ENTIRE TANK. NO NEED TO TRANSFER THE PLECO AS IT IS SAFE FOR HIM WHILE TREATING THE TANK. OR JUST TAKE THE TWO FISH OUT IN A SEPERATE TANK AND TREAT THEM.

This is what I have done this morning,
I have transferred 'Coco'(pleco) to another fish bowl. Did not want to take any chances I think the trasfer was too much for him...he is not moving much breathing but not moving.

Added salt and Melafix to the tank - Day 1 today. Will treat it for 7 days and see if the condition improves.
I hope it is safe for 'Sparky'(ryukin) who has no problems so far. I thought it will help him too as he has been in that tank and that way the tank will get treated if any bugs are in there. Anything more I should do?

So far so good Will keep you posted.

It is not good that you are seeing ammonia in a cycled tank. It could be a sign (& in this case prob is) that you are overstocked & the bacteria can't deal with the bio load. (In a fully cycled tank ammonia levels are zero - after that length of time - I would think that your tank should be fully cycled).

I'll bet if you tested the water before a water change - it would be worse.


High nitrates can cause SBD & I have seen posters on the board with problems at 60. I haven't heard of SBD causing rot - unless the cause of the sbd is water quality. In that case its the water quality causing the rot & the 2 conditions are happening simultaneously. I would try to keep your nitrate levels as close to 20 as you can get.

I would be very cautious of the pleco & the salt. I have heard they do not do well with salt. (I haven't had plecos myself though) Does this bowl have a filter?? Is it cycled??

Melafix will not really kill off bacteria. It is not an antibiotic; however some believe it does have some anti bacterial effect. (It is most helpful as a natural healing remedy after the base cause of the problem has been fixed).

I agree with touchofsky & would step up the water changes until you can get a bigger tank. I would also invest in at least ammonia, nitrite & nitrate test kits & keep a close eye on your water params.

Good Luck!!! Hope this helps!! Jenn

I would think that if we could test for bacteria your tank would have a high load of harmful bacteria. Unfortunately, we can't test for bacteria and I think that we often get mislead when water readings look OK. The only way to keep goldfish healthy in my opinion is water changes and lots of them. This is more important than ever when they are in a small tank.

I would do water changes every couple of days, adding the salt and the melafix. You will see an improvement in your fish if you keep the water clean.

I would remove the pleco just to be on the safe side. I wouldn't keep a pleco in a 10 gallon tank at the best of times, especially when it is overstocked with 3 goldfish, just because the pleco is adding considerably to the bioload.

I hope this helps and please feel free to ask questions.

Thank you.....

I am shopping for a bigger tank now
Was wondering if I have to set up a tropical fish aquarium, could you suggest the tank size and fish?

For the tropical tank - I would start a thread in the tropical section. You should get plenty of great advice. There are many many tropicals to choose from!

Good luck!! Jenn