23 litre tank, change water 50% weekly, have a under gravel filter and carbon and zeolite filter to help, water quality not known, no new fish, tank has been running for a year, fish have had on going problems but sharky been really ill for 5 weeks,has been treated with salt dosing, protzin, myxazin,
well poor sharky is still hanging in there, i'm really looking for any further advice so please help, sharky the goldfish still has black on his scales and tail has shortened and has white spots on his tail, swims very slowly and either sits on the bottom of the tank of hides in the corner at the top, he comes out looking for food at feeding time but the others have usually eat most of it as he's so slow, some times clamps up other days fins all perked up, anyway thanks for everyones advice as you have helped me get him through a long 5 weeks, i have purchased a second hand tank, it is a 180 liters with a juwel filter system, i have cleaned the tank with warm water, and replaced all the filter sponges it is now up and running but i need some help. i put the water in last nite with water safe of course and the filter is running. when do i put the fish in there? do i put all the fish in or leave poorly fish in old tank untill he is fighting fit? how often should i change the water and how much? sharky has been treated with protizin and myzaxin and i have saled the tank shall i stop using the meds now as i hate using them ?

Can you tell us the order in which you used the meds and for how long each time? Did you wait 48 hours between meds and do large water changes.
I think you should move the healthy fish over to the new tank and keep an eye on ammonia and nitrites until the tank cycles.
As for sharkey, keep him in the old tank and make sure the water is really clean.
When you were dosing with the meds did you remove the carbon/zeolite from the filter?
I personally think you should just keep away from the salt and meds for at least a week and see if really good clean water helps.

hi thanks for your response. i used myxazin first and changed all the water daily as he had no filter treated him for six days as he had 2 ulsers which then went away. replaced him back into tank and within 2 days another ulcer appeared, back in the bucket as he was lifless and being bullied treated for another six days and ulcer reduced this took alot out of him and he was pretty much on the bottom of the bucket 24 hours a day. then the black appeared all over body and out lining his mouth and fins, stayed in bucet for another four days and then joined the tank that had aalso been treated incase it was holding bacteria, two days in tank and sharky had white spot all over his tail and fins, other fish just had one spot each treated with protozin for days 1,2,3 + 6 with carbon filter out, salt all the way through, water in tank i have been changing every 5 days, should i do it more?i waited 4 days between meds as it says on the bow, i am really nervouse about putting in fish in new tank as all the shops said i must wait a week, sharky has been good today although he still rests alot he is swimming around the tank and has fed well, think he just needs lots of time to recover as you said, wot is the best way to measure ammonia and nitrates? cheers chris

I think you should get your own test kit if you havent already. You can get esha strips that test for most of what you need but you will also need to get an ammonia test kit seperately.

Now, I really think with too many fish your tank isnt a good environment any more and I think you need to put the healthy fish in the bigger tank one every 4 days if that helps and this will help the filter get the bacteria going slowly and wont cause too much problems for your fish.
The blackening would have been ammonia burns which happens when the water gets dirty and the black is the healing.
With sharkey alone in the old tank and doing a 50% water change with dechlorinator every two days you should see a big improvement in less than a week.

In the big tank use aquarium salt at 1 teaspoons per gallon and again 12 hours later to give you .2%. This will help your fish through the cycling stage of nitrite in your tank and also act as a tonic and destressor. Remember when doing water changes to re add the salt. Do a water change if the ammonia gets to over 1 on the test strip and when the nitrites kick in keep that around 1 as well.

Undergravel filters arent ideal for goldfish and i think for that tank you should get something like a fluval2+ which is better for the fish.

oh my god my poor sharky, woke up this morning and sharky siting on bottom of tank and looks like he is gulping, i quikly logged on and read your e-mail, i put the three fish in the new tank as sharky looks so ill. i did a 50% water change , and hoped for the best. he is no better i have just tryed to feed him and he tryed his best to swim to get his flake but sinked back to the bottom, please help anybody i'm desperate. he definately has fin rot as the top fin has a little hole in. do i treat him or not?

Your tank with sharkey in is around 5 gallons. How big is sharkey? If he is over the two inch mark then he can take salt at .2%, if not then he cant have salt.
With him now on the bottom it sounds like he has an infection of his swim bladder. There isnt really anything you can do if he has an infection there as we dont have medicated food to help.
All you can do is keep his water really clean and try interpets swimbladder remedy which i think has formaldehyde in it.

hiya thanks sorry being really thick is that 2 " with his tail? if it is yes he is do i put in 5 teaspoons desolved and then 5 again at 12 hours, im trying to get my head round the % bit. yes he is in a 5 gallon tank

2 inches body length. If any smaller then really I wouldnt go with the salt.

thanks you have been so much help i really appreciate it, il get some swimbladder stuff first thing,

with the new tank that has started the cyle do i need to test the water every day? do i do a small water change everyday to keep the levels down? do i do the test b4 of after the water change? where we put the new gravel in the water was a bit mercy, even though we steamed and rinsed the gravel. the top white filter is filthy already should i change it or just leave it ?

Change the white filter as it gets dirty as you will be needing to keep on top of any problems. I would test the water every 3 days to begin with, and when you see ammonia then everyday.
You can change small amounts if you feel the need and should use a gravel vac each time.

well hopefully i can do well, thanx again speak to you soon. p.s what fish have you got?

Believe it or not i dont keep goldfish. I had four two years ago and they all died as the water just wasnt right for them.
I have 3 tropical tanks with fish that suit the water, basically battery acid.

hiya starting to think it would of been easier to do tropical but i have grown very attatched, today i have bought a water testing kit and tested both tanks, new tank running ammonia 0.25,nitrate 5, nitite 0.25, ph 7.8 and is 7.4 out the tank, sharky is not doing any better has not fed today and has sat on the bottom all day sometimes tilting to the side, i feel so bad not being able to make him better, i tested his water and ammonia and nitrate 0, nitrite 10, ph 10.

forgot to ask yesterday you said not to use salt with a sharky as his body length is under 2". the other 3 fish in new tank are only 1" in body length will they be ok with 3% salt in the tank or not?

I really think at that size the kidneys arent efficient to cope with the salt but if they seem fine then keep it in as it may be doing some good. For sharkey though, he is too sick to have salt, but thats my opinion though.

When a fish sits on the bottom and starts to tilt im afraid it doesnt bode well. Just keep the water clean and if you can get a heater very slowly raise it to around 24c to help boost his immune system.

ok i will give it a go, as sharky is struggling and that i'm so new to this, is there a time when its kinder to let them go, if so and it's the right thing to do what do you do? i feel bad even asking but it seems so cruel the thought of watching him sruggle for his last gulp

No one can tell you when its time, only you know your fish and when its too much for them.
If he starts to curl over into an arc then thats really the end of the line.
Clove oil is the best way to do it and tomorrow if no one else has got it i will find the link for you.

Bloggs, how is the fish doing today?

hi andrea and sandy i have been away for two days and when i left on friday sharky was lying on his side. i changed his water b4 i left and hand fed him as he hadnt eaten for four days.my partener told me over the phone that he was getting worse and could hardly moved. i returned today and it brought tears to my eyes he was lying on his side gulping as usual and didnt even flinch when i lifted him up in the net, all of his scales looked like they where rotting away and lifted, tail had shortened considerably, red streaks through what was left, i have let him go to fishy heaven as felt it wasnt fair for him to suffer, thankyou for all your help along the way, i will always use this website and read over and over again all the info to try and get things right. my fish in the new tank look really healthy bright colours and perky. i do have another question i tested the water today and it is now day 6 that they have been in the new cycling tank the ammonia is 0.5, nitrate 5, nitite 0.5 and ph 8. is that o.k. i havent done a water change yet and wondered should i do one now to clean all the poop out, or should i wait untill the ammonia starts to rise and do it then? i didnt know which was best for the filter and the fish? chris

I would do a small water change *25%* at day 7 and then retest an hour later and the day after. As long as you keep ammonia and nitrite below 1 then it will be safer on the fish. If nitrites become higher then salt will help them through it at a level teaspoon per gallon and again 12 hours later, remembering to re add the salt after water changing.

Im really sorry you lost little sharky though

thanx sandy, last question i promise with the old tank i was going to use it for a hospital tank. is it best to bleach everything to kill any bugs that sharky had and if i do as it is a undergravel filter do i set it up and keep it running always or just fill it when i have a sick fish, hopefully i wont,

Yes, bleach your tank but remember to rinse really well. As for the UG i think personally you should ditch it as its not great filtration for goldfish. You should get am imternal filter that has lots of media in it which will suit goldies better. You could run it in the new tank until it gets cycled.

thats a good idea when its cycled do i then take it out and put it in empty tank or does drying it out kill the bacteria?

Leaving it out for more than 4 hours will see the bacteria die off so put in the tank once its ready to go. To keep the ammonia going you will need to add the fish at the same time.

hi well i'm on day 17 of the new tank cycling with the three fish in and live plants, just want to check i'm doing it all right. i changed the water at day 8 and all levels have stayed the same, i have been testing the water every pther day to see if the ammonia or nitrites are rising. they are at 0.5 at the moment, is this ok? as i expected the ammonia to have come up by now. shall i still change the water 25% every week or not to remove all the poo? also on the filter insructions you are advised to rinse the sponges in the filter every two weeks, shall i do this now or wait as the tank is cycling?