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Hi guys we need help
we went to the fish store i have never had any fish before so they told me i could buy 8 little goldfish for a 10 gallon tank. i know now that this is too many. we bought the fish exactly one week ago. after the first two days we had two fish die. so now we have 5 fish left but 2 more fish look like there dying. one of the fish has red on the side of its body and has developed a large mouth that is bubbly and red he really looks like hes suffering but i dont know what to do. he looks lke he cant close his mouth it looks like some kind of disease. another all balck fish has developed little while bubbles or spots all over its body and the other 3 fish have those little white spots on their tails. the 2 sick fish stay on the bottom of the tank and occassionally they swim up. we changed 70 percent of the water 2 days ago and cleaned the gravel and added cycle nutrafin that we were given when we bought the fish which we were told was to add bacteria and aqua plus to remove chlorine. please if u may just tell me step by step what to do becuase i dont know i am very worried. we feed them once a day with goldfish flake food. i dont know any levels of water because we werent told to buy that but im sure its high since there are so many fish. thank u soo much any help will be good.
Full Version: 911
Whewwww-Sounds like your having a rough go right now.
But-Welcome to Koko's, Sorry it's under bad circumtances right now.
Ok-This is what I would start with to try and save what fish you have left at this point.
Option 1-Get a bigger tank asap.
Option 2-See if you can take some of the fish back to the store.
Option 3-Kick employee for telling you 8 GF would do fine in a 10gal tank! (Ok don't kick him/her but how dense on their part) Ermmmm.
Ok-As far as fish #1 I am not sure what the red on the body is? Hopefully someone else will get you up to speed on that soon.
As for fish #2 that is sick-Sounds like you have a moor with Ick. The same goes for the other's that your saying have the white on their tails. Sounds like Ick to me. There is treatment for it, Don't worry. If it is indeed Ick go out and get some Meds for treatment's. I have Ick Away, By Wardley.
Also if you can I would get the water tested as soon as you can, Or buy a Test Kit soon, It's going to be very important to know your levels right now. I know you are very worried but try and hang in there-I am postive that you will get the help you need on this site!!
If you don't have moola for a bigger tank at this point your best bet is going to be taking back all but ONE fish-Really only should have 1GF per 10gal. You could also use a big ol Rubbermaid tub for the time being as a tank. I am going to assume that someone will come along and also advise you to get the sick fish into a QT Tank right now so they can be treated.
Sorry if I confused you even more......
I am sure that someone else will be able to give you more direction on what to do next.
One more thing, How many fish are you dealing with right now that are sick? Is there any healthy fish in the tank at all?
But-Welcome to Koko's, Sorry it's under bad circumtances right now.
Ok-This is what I would start with to try and save what fish you have left at this point.
Option 1-Get a bigger tank asap.
Option 2-See if you can take some of the fish back to the store.
Option 3-Kick employee for telling you 8 GF would do fine in a 10gal tank! (Ok don't kick him/her but how dense on their part) Ermmmm.
Ok-As far as fish #1 I am not sure what the red on the body is? Hopefully someone else will get you up to speed on that soon.
As for fish #2 that is sick-Sounds like you have a moor with Ick. The same goes for the other's that your saying have the white on their tails. Sounds like Ick to me. There is treatment for it, Don't worry. If it is indeed Ick go out and get some Meds for treatment's. I have Ick Away, By Wardley.
Also if you can I would get the water tested as soon as you can, Or buy a Test Kit soon, It's going to be very important to know your levels right now. I know you are very worried but try and hang in there-I am postive that you will get the help you need on this site!!
If you don't have moola for a bigger tank at this point your best bet is going to be taking back all but ONE fish-Really only should have 1GF per 10gal. You could also use a big ol Rubbermaid tub for the time being as a tank. I am going to assume that someone will come along and also advise you to get the sick fish into a QT Tank right now so they can be treated.
Sorry if I confused you even more......
I am sure that someone else will be able to give you more direction on what to do next. One more thing, How many fish are you dealing with right now that are sick? Is there any healthy fish in the tank at all?
i think maybe one is okay even though he has very little white on the tail. one of the fish is very very sick his mouth is swollen and he cant even eat but hes living. it looks like his mouth has swollen red bubbles. the other fish have one spots out of the fish two are very sick the one with the mouth and the black one with all the white spots. can u recommend anything i can do right now becuase i cant go to the store its 2 late. do u recommend taking the 2 sick fish out and putting them in rubbermaid oh and those 2 fish are at the bottom and occassionally come up thanx so much for ur response i feel horrible
Don't feel bad this happens to a lot of people really. It's not your fault. Hopefully we can get this taken care of ASAP without furter problems.
Ok-Being as in it's late there for right now I would really keep a close eye on the sick fish, And IF you have the Equiptment I would pull the sick one's out and put them in QT (Rubbermaid) for the night until you can get out to the store in the AM.
The one that you are describing with the mouth problems and is not eating sounds very familar to me, I will go dig around here and see if I find any more info on that until someone else can help with with that fish.
Do you have any meds in the house at all right now? If there is one "Healthy" one I would probably leave him in the 10gal and pull the others out to QT for the time being.
I know it's frustrating but hang in there! I PROMISE You get your fish through this.
EDIT- Thread on Ick.
http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=42894
Ok-Being as in it's late there for right now I would really keep a close eye on the sick fish, And IF you have the Equiptment I would pull the sick one's out and put them in QT (Rubbermaid) for the night until you can get out to the store in the AM.
The one that you are describing with the mouth problems and is not eating sounds very familar to me, I will go dig around here and see if I find any more info on that until someone else can help with with that fish.
Do you have any meds in the house at all right now? If there is one "Healthy" one I would probably leave him in the 10gal and pull the others out to QT for the time being.
I know it's frustrating but hang in there! I PROMISE You get your fish through this.
EDIT- Thread on Ick.
http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=42894
I am no expert, but I can suggest a few more things.
First, it is vital that you get test kits so you can check your water, especially while your tank is cycling. If you abslutely cannot afford them. at least take some tank water into a pet store and ask them to test it for you and write down the exact readings, not just if it is "ok" or not, and post them here. You will want test kits for ammonia, nitrItes and nitrAtes at least, and having a ph test kit is good too. The drop tests are much more accurate than the strip kind, and will save you money in the long run. Testing your water while cycling is very important so you can see how much water needs to be changed to keep the fish healthy, and having perfect water when your fish are sick is one of the only things that can save them.
Is there any way you can take pictures of the sick fish and post them? If you have a digital camera or cell phone camera, you can upload the pictures to www.photobucket.com for free, then link them in a post. That will help the experts diagnose your fish, although it sounds like the white spots are indeed ick.
Ick can be treated with salt (not table salt though), gravel vacuums and perfect water very effectively. Raising the temp of the water a bit can help the ich cycle speed up as well, plus boosts your fish's immune systems. I am not sure what the recommnded temp is though, someone should be along soon to tell you. For the salt though, if you have some on hand, you could start that right away, although if the water quality is poor, which it probably is with so many fish, it won't do much.
You can use sea salt, rock salt, ice cream salt, solar salt, pickling salt or aquarium salt, any salt that has nothing added to it, and the only ingredient is SALT-table salt usually has anti-caking agents added to it, which can kill your fish. As a note, buying aquarium salt will cost more than what you can get at the grocery store, and it is the same stuff, but pet stores sell small containers of aquarium salt pretty cheap too. If you do have some appropriate salt available, you want to add 1 teaspoon per gallon (so 10 teaspoons for your tank, or 9 if you have lots of gravel), then add another 10 12 hours later, then a final 10 12 hours later, so you have 30 teaspoons in there total. But you have to add it slowly so the fish get used to it-once it is all added the level will be .03%.. You want to dissolve the salt in tank water or clean, dechlorinated water. first, then add it to the tank. Every timew you do a water change you will need to add back the salt to the water you took out, so if you remove 5 gallons, you;d need to put 15 teaspoons back in to keep the level at .03%. It's a good idea to write it down so you don;t forget, since too much salt can be harmful and too little will not help. Salt does not evaporate and can only be removed by water changes. There are commercial meds out there too, as mentioned above, but salt is cheap and effective and does not require special condiions like having the lights out, as some ick meds do.
Besides getting the water perfect, which you will need test kits for, you will want to vacuum the gravel in your tank often to get the ich cysts out. But again, adding meds or salt won't do anything if the water is toxic, so do whatever you can to get some test kits and a larger tank! Rubbermaid containers are good temporary tanks that don't cost too much.
Good luck, most of us found this site after having fish get sick or die, and then realized we didn't know how to care for goldfish. And you certainly aren't the first person (nor the last) to get bad advice from a pet store. The important thing is that you are here now and trying to help your fish! Keep up the great work!
First, it is vital that you get test kits so you can check your water, especially while your tank is cycling. If you abslutely cannot afford them. at least take some tank water into a pet store and ask them to test it for you and write down the exact readings, not just if it is "ok" or not, and post them here. You will want test kits for ammonia, nitrItes and nitrAtes at least, and having a ph test kit is good too. The drop tests are much more accurate than the strip kind, and will save you money in the long run. Testing your water while cycling is very important so you can see how much water needs to be changed to keep the fish healthy, and having perfect water when your fish are sick is one of the only things that can save them.
Is there any way you can take pictures of the sick fish and post them? If you have a digital camera or cell phone camera, you can upload the pictures to www.photobucket.com for free, then link them in a post. That will help the experts diagnose your fish, although it sounds like the white spots are indeed ick.
Ick can be treated with salt (not table salt though), gravel vacuums and perfect water very effectively. Raising the temp of the water a bit can help the ich cycle speed up as well, plus boosts your fish's immune systems. I am not sure what the recommnded temp is though, someone should be along soon to tell you. For the salt though, if you have some on hand, you could start that right away, although if the water quality is poor, which it probably is with so many fish, it won't do much.
You can use sea salt, rock salt, ice cream salt, solar salt, pickling salt or aquarium salt, any salt that has nothing added to it, and the only ingredient is SALT-table salt usually has anti-caking agents added to it, which can kill your fish. As a note, buying aquarium salt will cost more than what you can get at the grocery store, and it is the same stuff, but pet stores sell small containers of aquarium salt pretty cheap too. If you do have some appropriate salt available, you want to add 1 teaspoon per gallon (so 10 teaspoons for your tank, or 9 if you have lots of gravel), then add another 10 12 hours later, then a final 10 12 hours later, so you have 30 teaspoons in there total. But you have to add it slowly so the fish get used to it-once it is all added the level will be .03%.. You want to dissolve the salt in tank water or clean, dechlorinated water. first, then add it to the tank. Every timew you do a water change you will need to add back the salt to the water you took out, so if you remove 5 gallons, you;d need to put 15 teaspoons back in to keep the level at .03%. It's a good idea to write it down so you don;t forget, since too much salt can be harmful and too little will not help. Salt does not evaporate and can only be removed by water changes. There are commercial meds out there too, as mentioned above, but salt is cheap and effective and does not require special condiions like having the lights out, as some ick meds do.
Besides getting the water perfect, which you will need test kits for, you will want to vacuum the gravel in your tank often to get the ich cysts out. But again, adding meds or salt won't do anything if the water is toxic, so do whatever you can to get some test kits and a larger tank! Rubbermaid containers are good temporary tanks that don't cost too much.
Good luck, most of us found this site after having fish get sick or die, and then realized we didn't know how to care for goldfish. And you certainly aren't the first person (nor the last) to get bad advice from a pet store. The important thing is that you are here now and trying to help your fish! Keep up the great work!
Great Info Jen!! 
I am still trying to figure out what the one fish with the mouth and feeding issues is? It's stumping me right now.
Yeah, I have no idea either..unless it was some sort of genetic defect that is getting worse somehow? I am totally not good with diseases though, I just know the ich schpiel from reading it so many times!
Now I am not totally sure if this is what your fish may be dealing with here but I found a thread that sounds familar to what he may have.
The other thing that is coming to mind is a tumor perhaps? I am not terribly good at diagnosing things either-Just digging up threads that might be helpful to you.
I agree Jen-The white spots really do sound like Ich to me also, No doubt about that one.
As Jen mentioned before Pic's would be extremely helpful to help determine what your exactly dealing with.
EDIT-Brain Fart, Forgot to post thread. Sorry about that.
http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=43738
The other thing that is coming to mind is a tumor perhaps? I am not terribly good at diagnosing things either-Just digging up threads that might be helpful to you.
I agree Jen-The white spots really do sound like Ich to me also, No doubt about that one.
As Jen mentioned before Pic's would be extremely helpful to help determine what your exactly dealing with.
EDIT-Brain Fart, Forgot to post thread. Sorry about that.
http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=43738
I've spent a half hour here typing,only for my internet to go out and then lose everything that I just typed. 
Thanks to Jen though,I don't have to type it all over again.
As for the red side of the fish,and the swelled mouth,that could also have stemmed from the poor water.Can you look into the fish's mouth? Are there any lumps inside? Do you have any ornaments,etc. that he could have scratched himself on? Sometimes pristene water will clear it up along with dosing with salt.Work on those Params for now,and start salt treatment as soon as you can. If there are no changes in him,it may have gone bacterial which will then need a med treatment.
thank u guys for all of your responses the fish with the mouth it does look like he has lumps inside it doesnt look like a tumor becuase initially i saw red on his mouth and now its looks like a fungus. i took him out while i went to work now and put him in a rubbermaid i hope he will be ok. i could only start all the salt and othe treatments when i get home tongiht from work i hope they will be okay i feel so guilty thaks again guys for ur responses i will try to do everythiing tonight and let u guys know how things went.
Hey Ginger,how are things going today?
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