Hi, I wonder If someone can point me in the right direction with a problem I have with my Black moor - Top hat... He has been very ill for around a week. I have placed him in Quarantine, his mood very low since I lost his sidekick. He seems to be showing stress, but out of ten fish only the Black moors have been having difficulty. He is lying at the bottom of his tank and is not eating well. Not moving that much and been like this for around three days. I've just noticed that his fin is split but has happened after we quarantined him. His water is cycled every day at around 10%. We have him in shallowish water, as we think he is having swimbladder problems, put a little salt and he seems to have a positive flash and then nothing. His wee friend "Tails" died with no signs of distress all of a sudden about four days ago amd we have tried to feed him peas to ease some of his discomfort but he is not a happy chappy.
I'm desperately trying to save him - any tips!??!?!?!

Hi rhodienat &

I'm not quite sure what u mean by "water is cycled everyday at around 10%". Do you mean you change the water 10% everyday?

Im order for us to help you, can you pls answer all the questions below as best as possible? It's essential for us to know all these

* Test Results for the Following:
Ammonia Level?
Nitrite Level?
Nitrate level?
Ph Level, (If possible,KH and GH and chloramines)?
Ph Level out of the Tap?
* Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running?
* What is the name and size of the filter/s?
* How often do you change the water and how much?

# How many fish in the tank and their size?
# What kind of water additives or conditioners?
# Any medications added to the tank?
# Add any new fish to the tank?
# What do you feed your fish?
# Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt",
bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?
# Any unusual behavior like staying
at the bottom, not eating, ect..?

Thx & reply soon

Apreciate the help - I've only been at this for about 2 months!

Ammonia Level? 0.25
Nitrite Level? 0
Nitrate level? 0
Ph Level? 7.6

1) Tank size?
120 Ltrs (2 months)

2) What is the name and size of the filter/s?
three stage filtration through filters and charcoal the full length of the tank. Cleaned and checked weekly.

3) How often do you change the water and how much?
Usually once weekly dependant on test results. I usually change 10% of the water at a time until results are perfect.

4) How many fish in the tank and their size?
Around 8 from small comets to medium sized canaries. My molly is probably in relation to 3/5 to my canary

5) What kind of water additives or conditioners?
Not really - the water out of the tap is usually okay. I have added a little salt

6) Any medications added to the tank? Swim bladder treatment (Interpet)

7) Add any new fish to the tank?
They were all entered in at the same time, although i did replace my Black moore which died recently

8) What do you feed your fish?
Flakes - usually soaked but I didn't do this to begin with. I have done for a bit though and have also feed them peas and broccoli

9) Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt"
Not sure - there was what looked like white bubbles but only lasted about a day

10) bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?
None except he has a split dorsel fin

11) Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, ect..?
Yes to all.

If you need any more info please let me know.....

I saw some fish I was unfamiliar with -- canaries? Also, goldies shouldn't be kept with tropical fish. I watched in horror as a lady bought both angelfish, bettas, and a bubble eyed goldfish to all go into a single 5 gallon tank. I wanted to say something, but I felt odd trying to convince the lady the person who sold her the fish was wrong.

Black Moors, in my experience, have been most susceptible to columnaris ["body fungus";treating my tank for that again] and ich. I'm not familiar with liters, but 120 doesn't sound like a whole lot. Fancy goldfish need 10 gallons each for optimum health.

I hope someone else can hop in here and help.

Hi,

Canaries and comets are goldfish. I dont have any tropicals in the tank. The comets are small and the canaries are medium sized and the Black moor is of semi medium size. The tank will probably give each fish an average of about 8-9 gallons. This is averaged out according to actual size and possible growth. The tank size should be sufficent for the time being.

Appreciate the help...

Hey - I just noticed I put molly in there! DOH! Moor! It was supossed to be a moor! Reading other things and somehow subconsiously put it there. Pls ignore that!

Ok, that was what was throwing me off. I was like, "mollies are tropicals..."!

Hi to a fellow scot

Youre tank isnt cycled yet and i'm not familiar with the filter, can you tell me who makes it?
8 goldfish is really overcrowded and the canaries *yellow goldfish* and other goldies need around 15 to 20 gallons each and your tank is roughly 26 gallons uk.
It sounds like the fish has a bacterial problem and you will need to do more water changes on the tank each week to keep the bad bacteria levels down.
Have you not seen any nitrites in the tank for 2 months? I find it strange that the tank hasnt cycled at all in that time.
Have you cleaned the sponge part of the filter out at all in those 8 weeks and if so how? Washing them out in tap water will kill your bacteria so you wont get a cycle.
You have to use a dechlorinator as well to remove chlorine levels or the fish will get sick.

I'd do that first if I were you

How are things going?