I have two goldfish, about 1 1/2 inches long each, in a 12-gallon tank, which has been running for several years. Eclipse carbon-pad and bio-filter. I change the water about once a week, 2 1/2 gallons at a time, and use a gravel vacuum and scrub the sides, take apart the suction tube, etc.

They have seemed to have fin-rot for about two months now, and the fins have been slowly deteriorating. I have treated with Maracyn-2 twice and with Maracyn. Have done an extra-thorough cleaning and 30% water change more than once. I use Aqua-plus conditioner when I change the water. In the last couple of changes, I put in some Stress Coat.

They are very, very active, and seem to feel fine, but the front bottom fins are little nubs now, and the dorsal is getting way too close to the body for comfort. No fin clamping. No fungus. No ich. No clamped fins or bloody streaks. Some parts of the frayed dorsal have black edges, which I read may be like a scab - but they had that a couple of weeks ago also, and the fins have still gotten worse.

Test strips show:
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20 ppm
PH - around 7.0 - 7.2
Ammonia - 0

I feed them Tetra fin 2x per day, and only maybe 4 flakes each time, total.

I am at wits end - and really don't want this to get any worse. Any suggestions would be welcome -

Have you thought about taking fish to the vets.As on some occaisions pet store stuff isn't strong enough.

Hi,

I have a similar set up as yours - eclipse 12 with 2 small fantails running for 2+ years. I have been cautioned here that this is overstocked and that fancy goldfish like mine really do best with 10 gal each. So, like you, I routinely do water changes (25%, 2x/week) and monitor params carefully.

Sorry to hear about your problem. I am not an expert but have you tried medicated food? Often times meds in the water do not work as well since they do not get to where they are needed as well as those taken internally. I have used Metromed and Medigold both from Goldfish Connection. Medigold is for bacterial infections so perhaps it is worth a try? You would need to give it for at least 2 weeks as the only food your fish receive.

Hope your fish get better - keep us posted.

--sea

Mine are actually not fancy goldfish, but just your basic comets (I think), although I have read the same thing about tank capacity. I will look for some medicated food.

I believe the # quoted for comets is 20 gal per fish, for fancies 10 gal per fish. The other thing that was recommended to me is to switch from test strips to drop tests (I use API) to test your water params. I did this and was amazed to see how different the readings were (the test strip readings were much lower than the actual readings with drop tests).

The medicated food I use came from http://www.goldfishconnection.com/.

I am sure that someone with more experience may have other suggestions for you soon.

Good luck!

--sea