Hi I am a new fish owner. I bought 2 fish for my children. One is a goldfish the other I don't know the name of it but it's a black fish with the big buldgy eyes. For the past week the goldfish has been at the bottom of the tank and I have asked a few people at work what could be the problem and one lady told me that it could be in labor. Can fish go into labor? I have no clue. It doesn't have any spots on it. I read on here about the disease ick but then I looked at the goldfish and there aren't any spots on it. Any idea on what the problem is? I've had both fish for about 2 1/2 months and they have been happy and swimming around alot. We feed them every morning. The goldfish will come up for food and if I go to the tank it will swim around but then go right back to the bottom if no one is over there. The other fish just swims around. It's a small tank that we clean once a week. Please help if you can. Thanks

Hi there

The cause might be bad water quality. Can u answer the questions below pls:

How big is the tank (volume)?
Have u got any filtration in the tank and what kind?
Do u use any water conditioners when changing water?
How do you clean the tank?

Btw your other fish sounds like a black moor, which is also a type of goldfish

The tank looks like it 5 gallons. We have filteration but I don't know what's brand. We use "Start Right" conditioner after we clean the tank. my husband is the one who cleans it and he uses soap and water. He takes the 2 fish out and puts them in a temporary fish bowl and dumps all the water out then he rinses all the gravel off. We have a brush to clean all the algae off the walls.

If it were a water quality issue wouldn't the black moor have the same reaction?

Maybe and maybe not. Some fish have stronger immune systems than others. However, it's only a matter of time b/4 the moor has issues as well.


Unfortunately, you guys are overstocked. Fancy goldfish require 10 gallons of water each. Therefore, you are short at least 15 gallons of water. Is it possible for you to upgrade to a 20g with an adequate filter to handle the load? That would greatly help your fish.

When a tank is set up, it should go through a "cycle". Here is an excellent link for your review.

http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/cycle.html

How often does your husband "clean-out" your tank?

We need to know what your water parameters are:
ammonia
nitrIte
nitrAte
pH

If you don't have any test kits, you can take a sample of your water to the fish store and they can test it for you.

You want your ammonia to be 0; your nitrItes to be 0; and your nitrAtes to be less than 20.

And in order to achieve these #s, your tank needs to be cycled.

Your other alternative is to perform 100% water changes on a daily basis to keep your ammo and nitrItes to 0.

In addition to Laura, I just want to add, please don't ever use soap when cleaning a tank. Soap residue can remain in a tank and will kill a fish in no time at all. There is absolutely no reason to use soap and it has no place in a tank environment. Cleaning all filters, ornaments, gravel etc can be done in old tank water and it's often good to just vacuum the gravel to remove any remaining waste. The gravel is a good place to house good bacteria also