Hi

Nitrate ~40ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Hardness 150ppm
KH ~80ppm
pH ~6.8ppm
Temp 72F

All other fish in tank (55G, Emp 400 + Canister Filter) appear healthy and are acting as normal. My 1-year old Lionhead refused to eat today and has been staying on the low end of the tank all day, sometimes resting on bottom. He hasn't gone above the bottom 6 inches or so of the tank, but he's not picking at gravel or anything. He just sort of floats there. He was swimming as normal and feeding yesterday. There may be two small red spots forming on his sides, but they are not raised and the red matches some of his normal coloration, so i'm not convinced the spots are a symptom. I have not seen him poop all day either, but he doesn't look bloated. All his fins are in good shape as well.

Over the last 2-3 weeks, I've lost 2 balloon mollies from the tank as well. Don't know if it has any relation - I think they were just getting old.

Any ideas? I want to make sure I jump on this before it gets any worse.

Thanks!

Hi Matt and welcome.

Could you tell us how large the tank is and how many fish are in there and how often and how much you do water changes?
Also do you have an ammonia kit & reading for that? Pin prick red dots can occur after an ammonia spike among other things.

Hi Matt and welcome!

I'm sure a mod or someone will be along here soon to help you. I noticed that you didn't post your ammonia readings with your water params. The more info they have from the above box, the better they will be able to help you.

I'm way far from being an expert, but I did notice that your ph seems a little bit low, as goldies prefer ph to be in the 7ish range. I couldn't tell you if that would have anything to do with the problem with your fish, but I'm sure someone more knowledgeable could.

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll get the help you need here soon!

I'm also no expert, but I do see two things wrong.

Nitrate is a tad high. This may be stressing the fish out somewhat.

Mollies and goldfish generally are not kept together.

To do a proper diagnosis, the more experienced members of the board will require as much detail as possible, even the slightest thing may be important. Please give is as much information as possible, and if you are able to post a picture please do.


Good luck and welcome to kokos

Tank: 55 Gallons. Emperor 400 filter & Fluval-type canister filter (forget brand name)
Stock: one Lionhead, one Oranda - both about 4"L. 3 hillstream loaches (3"). 1 clown pleco(3-4"). 1 otocinclus(2"). 1 adult balloon molly. 1 juvenile balloon molly. 6 pygmy cory cats(under 1" each). 1-5 red cherry shrimp (they hide). 2 giant african filter shrimp (3" and 5"). 15 adult guppies, 15+ guppy fry/juveniles, and a population of ramshorn snails. Tank has been established since May, no fish have been added (except for births) since August. No medications used in the tank since I've had it, no history of diseases or problems. It is a live-planted tank.

I do monthly water changes of 30-40%. Changed closer to 40% of the water last week on Monday or Tuesday with the usual additives - ~15 pumps of Stress Coat, 3 tbsp salt, 2tbsp aquatic fertilizer, and a tsp of iodine (for shrimp). This is my normal procedure, same as I've been doing since I started the tank. In my Emperor filter I use two pads of ammonia-filtering material and two of the usual ready-made carbon cartridges. I just cleaned this filter as well.

pH has been around 6.8 since I set the tank up.

Ammonia is reading at 0.2. Sorry I didn't post that earlier!

Like I said, everything was normal yesterday. Yesterday I fed them Tetra Fin Goldfish Crisps, which is what I feed on most days.

Anything else I can tell you to help?

Thanks!

Two things off the bat, you're overstocked with incompatible fish, and not doing enough water changes. You need to do weekly water changes. I'll let a mod jump in and explain though.

woa mate your tank is waaaay overstocked and as lola has already said your tank has fish that are incompattable. let me start with all fish past otocinclus should not be kept with goldfish. Goldfish are coldwater fish were as balloon molly, pygmy cory cats, shrimp and guppies are tropical fish meaning that they like warm water so they need a heater in the tank. once a month water changes are not enough especially at 30 - 40% at a time in my 60 gallon tank i change water once a week and i change 25 - 40% most people on this site will agree with what i have just said. with your nitrates they are tolerable to up 50% for goldfish so your nitrates are a tad high also alot of fancy tailed goldfish can not cope with nitrates over 30ppm then there are some that can't cope over 10ppm. your ph is fine for goldies but your ammonia is high in a cycled tank it should be at 0 but since you do not do water changes often enough that may be the why you have some ammonia.

i would do water changes until nitrates hit about 10ppm and ammonia hits 0ppm as i think he is acting lethargic from high nitrates and some ammonia as said above with fancies and high nitrates. if you have anymore q's just ask away here to help.

OK - did another 30% change today and added Jungle Buddies ammonia clearing tabs - even before the water change my ammo tests were showing just the slightest touch of green color, not quite as dark as .2 but not wholly yellow. After the water change, my lionhead was briefly a little more active, but now he's settled back to the bottom of the tank.

I'm not going to feed the tank today to further help any ammonia traces filter out.

Still - all the other fish are acting normal. Is it possible there's a digestive issue going on with my lionhead? The tank is crowded, but if it were bad water conditions wouldn't I be seeing symptoms in more than just one fish? I'd also think the smaller fish would be the ones hit first - like canary in a coal mine.

No physical symptoms have progressed, he's still just lethargic with about 3-5 red freckles. They haven't changed since I noticed them yesterday. No frayed fins or anything else.

Should I keep changing the water this week, 25-30% per day? Or should I just wait and see what happens?

Thanks again.

I would think with that many fish in a 55gal, you should be doing daily water changes. As Dan stated before, you need to do enough water changes to get the ammonia down. That many fish are going to produce a large amount of ammonia each day. You might also want to think about getting another tank and keeping your tropicals and GF seperate.

If it is a water issue, not all of the fish will necessarily react the same which is why you may not be seeing symptoms in any of the others. Different breeds are more or less susceptible to bad water conditions and even individual fish of the same breed can differ greatly when it comes to water quality. Your lionhead is probably just more sensitive. Some goldfish will even flip upside down or bottom sit if the nitrates go over 20.

if you think that there is a digestive problem it could just be constipation i would do a pea diet. feed some boiled peas to him for 2 days then fast for 1 if there is no improvement there may be something more serious

How is your lionhead now, Matt? Any change?