Greetings,

My black moor (Ella) and oranda (Franky) lived happily together in a 20 gallon tank for nearly 4 years, but Ella died yesterday and Franky is sick. Here's the narrative, but the standard information that you ask for is below. Franky laid eggs last spring, which to me seems to be a good indicator of overall health, and all seemed to be going generally well until recently. For the past 4 years I kept Franky and Ella at my office - everybody loved coming to visit them and they (mostly Franky) usually demanded a lot of attention. Franky would make a really really loud popping sound with her mouth at the corner of the tank closest to my chair, and only calm down when I ran my fingers across the tank and gave her attention. If no one was at my desk she would make her noises until someone came over to visit her. Two months ago I moved out of state and moved the aquarium to my parents' house. My mom was keeping up with 50% water changes at least every other week. She was using Novaqua to treat the water, until the last few weeks when she was letting new water sit in a plastic bucket for a few days until it was time for a water change. Ella, the moor, had periodically displayed white discoloring on her fins over the last 4 years- which was not ich and was not a fungal infection - no one could ever tell me what it was, but it was definitely not ich and I feel pretty confident it wasn't fungus. Pimafix did nothing to help it. It was as if she had been splashed with bleach, and then a few days to weeks after a major water change it would return to black. Two days ago Ella was looking good, my Mom says, and Franky was as active as always. She is a very engaging fish - loves to swim fast, swim laps, splash, and demand food and attention. She's pretty aggressive. Two nights ago the power went out for 12 hours. The next morning (yesterday) when my parents went to feed the girls Ella was deceased and resting on the bottom. My mom immediately did a 50% water change. Franky hasn't eaten since then and she is floating on her left side, or hanging in the water with her head toward the gravel. I flew home today, coincidentally (my parents didn't tell me about the problem until I got here), and I tried to feed Franky peas in case she has SBD, but she won't take them. She spits them out. Also, I had to put the peas right in front of her mouth and hold them there for her since she is not actively feeding. She does swim a very little bit now and then, but mostly only moves because of the filter's current. She also still seems to manage to tuck herself under a plant now and then to stay lower in the water column - which is how she usually rests at night. She's not making any of her noises and it's so unlike her to barely acknowledge you when you approach her tank. I am hoping I can nurse her back to health - I just happen to be visiting my folks for the week. Please tell me if there is anything you recommend that we do for her. She is a very important part of our family. I just hope she makes it through the night.

Below is the standard information that you ask for:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
Ph level: 7.2
Tank size: 20 gallons, running for 3 years
Filter: Penguin 125 Biowheel, filter size B
Water change: 50% at least every other week
Fish in tank: there were two until I lost Ella, Ella was about 4.5 inches mouth to tip of tail, Franky is about 6 inches mouth to tip of tail
Water conditioners: none used lately, used Novaqua for last 4 years, parents were using water that had been sitting in a bucket for a few days prior to water change
Medications: none added
New fish: no
Fish food: Ella always ate sinking pellets (she rarely went for floating food and liked to filter through the gravel)- latest brand was Wardley Goldfish Slow Sinking Crumbles; Franky prefers floating pellets (she's always been positively buoyant and had an easier time with floating food) - Nutrafin Max Goldfish Color-Enhancing Pellets
Unusual Findings: Ella periodically displayed a bleaching type of discoloration on her fins; Franky has visible blood veins in her fins and before she gets new spots of orange she often has a deep blood colored splotch around the base of her dorsal fin, then that dissipates, which seems to be correllated with the appearance of a new orange spot elsewhere on her body; neither have/had ich or fungus, or bloody streaks
Unusual behavior: Ella passed; Franky is not eating, not activley swimming, floating and listing onto her left side

Thank you in advance for any insight's you can offer.

Hi there and welcome to the forum.I am so very sorry that you lost Ella Fish. She really sounded special.
I recently lost a fish myself,same problem.Electric was out over 10 hours,and this fish went into dropsy while I was at work.
The first thing that I'd like to say,would be to upgrade your filter as soon as you get the chance.We recommend Goldies to have 10x's filtration of the size of their tank,so you want at least something that filters over 200 gallons per hour.This will help with the waste they produce and offer extra aeration and power to the tank.
The next thing that I would advise,would be to up those water changes to 50%weekly. Pristene water params are the best thing that you can do for a fish,so doing the water changes weekly will only benefit Franky. I have a black Moor Mambo,that use to get that white look,and I knew that she was overdue for a water change.The more waste/ammonia your fish produce as they get bigger,causes their water to go acidic,leaning more to lower ph's and possible ph crashes,which may have been what's causing Franky's problem, especially as it goes away once you start big water changes. Being that the filter sat 12 hours and got stagnant,I personally would turn it off,and dump out the old water in it,and rinse it out good in old tank water.I'd also rinse the filter pad itself.to make sure anything nasty is rinsed off. I have to say that Franky not eating is a bad sign.She could have gotten very sick from when the power went back on and that filter came pouring out with that mucky water. Do you see any scales lifting,any redness/lumps etc?I know on a Moor,the red would be really hard to see,but that is a sign of bacterial.When you say her head is to the gravel,is the back end of her floating up? As Franky's not eating,you may have to start an Antibiotic in the water such as MaracynII,because as I mentioned,a fish not eating is a bad sign.
Your params look good right now,so definitely keep watch on them to stay there as that is most important in a fish ailing. I really hope thatFranky pulls throught this for you.

Greetings Mr. Moderator,

Thank you ever so much for answering my post, and doing so quickly. Franky is still hanging on this morning. Her scales look as beautiful and smooth as ever, and she does not have any redness or lumps. If it weren't for the fact that she is floating and still not eating you would never know she is sick. As for her hanging with her head towards the gravel, most of the time she floats at the surface on her left side. However, periodically when we check on her we find her at the back of the tank between the plants and the tank wall, near the filter intake, hanging vertically - but not stuck, she seems to be doing this of her own accord, at least to the extent that she can control her movement. So yes, her tail is up, and she's perpendicular to the tank bottom. I've seen other fish do this at a 45 degree angle uncontrollably, abdomen towards the surface, but that's not Franky's condition.

Today Franky has a very small skin tag hanging off of her head that is white. I'm afraid we might have scratched her while we were traying to support/stabilize her with the net last night to see if she would take some peas. I hope not, we tried to be very gentle and careful, but I don't know what else would have caused this.

As soon as the stores open I will go see if I can find some MaracynII. Thank you for that recommendation. Right now I'll go rinse out the filter and filter pad, as per your suggestion, but I wonder if I shouldn't just use a new filter pad? Also, I'll ask my parents to please keep up with a weekly 50% water change.

Thank you again ever so much for your quick reply and suggestions.

Best wishes,
Ella Fishgerald

Oops, I think your name is Sharon. Sorry, it's as if my gender icons got switched around for a moment. My profile was wrong too. Please accept my apologies Ms. Moderator.
Best wishes,
Ella Fishgerald

Please,no problem with the gender.Around here we are pretty casual and friendly,and I'll answer to about anything if it's nice.
Actually,you can replace it with a new one,you'll just have to watch your params a bit more as it may cause a bump in the cycle.
Normally,with Franky's condition,I wouldn't rule out SB at all, but it's the part where she's not eating that really concerns me.Your power was out ,so for 12 hours your filter just sat there,the temps probably dropped,there was no aeration,etc. Now Normally,
It takes about 20 minutes for anaerobic bacteria to start building up and producing toxic gases. Whether or not a fish will be poisoned really depends on how close they are to outflow when it is turned on, how long it is off and on the volume of water. So a single fish can just belly up if it is right in the first jet that comes out.
This is what I'm assuming happened to Ella,and why Franky is so sick. Now depending on how stressed out he was,and where he was when the filter started back up will determine if he'll just float around a couple days ,or if it caused him enough grief/sickness to need medicated. I would get the Meds just to have as a stand by.
Are peas normally in their diet?Have you tried feeding Franky regular fish food?
I would really recommend that you take a look at The Goldfish Connection.They sell Medi-Gold,a medicated food that I feel is a "Must have" in a Goldfish Home. The medicated food also has a greater chance at helping stop any bacterial infection alot sooner than the meds in the water would,so that's why I was asking about the peas and her regular diet.Post soon Ella.

Hi Sharon,

Thank you so much for all of your help and advice, and I'm sorry that you recently lost a fish too. Unfortunately, Franky didn't make it. She passed a little over an hour ago. I was about to go to the store to get her antibiotics when my Mom called me over because Franky was breathing less and becoming more still. After some time I'll probably look for Franky and Ella Jr., and I'll heed your advice about keeping medicated food on hand, and about a filter that can process 10x the volume of the tank per hour. In answer to your questions, we did try feeding Franky her regular food but she wouldn't eat. We thought we would see if she would take peas in case she had Swim Bladder Disease, and well, just to see if she would try to eat something. Her diet was strictly floating pellets. I used to keep anacharis in the tank and they would eat that too. So, with this sad news I'll stop my posting to the 911 page. For everyone else out there with sick fish, I bid you well and hope your little guys pull through.

Many many thanks again. And thanks for hosting this most helpful site and forum.

Best fishes,
Ella

Shame about Franky he sounded like a right little personality!

I'm sorry they didn't make it Ella I hate power failure because as Sharon said, the garbage that goes back into the tank once it resumes is like a toxic waste dump

I'm really sorry that you lost Franky too Ella.I've had two power failures like that during my fish days,and lost fish both times.It's a very bad situation. I'm also relieved to hear that you're not giving up ,as it sounded like you took good care of your fish,and just needed a few tips.
I sure hope that we see you around with your new ones again..Take Care Ella.