Hello,

Please can you offer some help for our goldfish. We have had him about 4 years and he lives alone in a bowl with about 7 litres of water.

He is currently upside down (head on the stones) with a rotten tail at the top. The tail started to rot a few weeks ago, but now has almost completely gone, though did show some signs of regrowth about 2 weeks ago, but major deteriation over the last 5 days.

We have performed partial and full water changes, adding disease safe, and fish safe to the bowl.

Today he is very unresponsive, still head first, not moving from one spot for several hours.

What can we do? - no Pet Shop open for another day - will he make it?

I'm gonna suggest you get him out of the bowl asap and into a huge rubbermaid tub until you can get a proper tank..fancy goldfish need 10 gallons(approx 40L) per fish a common/comets need 20g per fish ..goldfish need filtration they are a dirty fish and can mke small waters toxic very fast ..,adding meds to toxic water can do more harm than good .most ilness comes from bad water and improper filtration and such..we ask if you can fill out the box above that would help very much ...testing water is essential to a fish's health if you don't have a kit I would get one ..you need to test ammonia .nitrIte,nitrAtes and ph are the most important ..ammonia can burn your fish ,nitrites can damage the gills and nitrAtes are not harmgul unlesss high. an established tank should read 0 ammonia ,0 nitrItes and 10-20ppm for nitrAtes ..when nitrAtes get high they can cause your fish to flip .I hpe this has helped a bit good luck with your fish .somone with more knowledge will chime in ..just in the mean time get him in lots of water make sure to condition it and an air stone and pump is essential also

! You're doing the right thing by being here. I know the sheer amount of information you'll find here will overwhelm you at first, but we're all just trying to help you and your fish.

Water in every environment (lakes, ponds, and aquariums alike) goes through what's called the Nitrogen Cycle. Ammonia (NH3) is produced by rotting food and fish water when it breaks down. Ammonia is toxic to fish! So good old Mother Nature created what we refer to as "beneficial bacteria" or BBs. There are two types. The first type eats ammonia, and then turns it into Nitrite (NO-2). Nitrite is also very toxic to fish! The second type of BB eats the nitrite, and turns it into Nitrate. Nitrate (NO-3) is not harmful to fish, which is good! However, if it accumulates it can be toxic. In nature, the plants surrounding the water would absorb the nitrates, making it safe for fish. But most of us don't have any or enough live plants to control the nitrate level. That is one of the reasons we do Water Changes.

However, these BBs don't just appear in our tanks when we set them up. We have to go through a long process, called Cycling, to grow first the ammonia BB and then second the nitrite BB. This can take up to 6 weeks for the nitrogen cycle to be fully operational!

For more information:
http://kokosgoldfish.com/cycle.html

Goldfish, contrary to popular belief, are the one of the messiest, most difficult fish to care for. Because they produce SO MUCH waste, if you do not have a cycled tank, the ammonia bacteria often can't eat up the ammonia before it makes your fish sick. Then once you have enough ammonia BBs, the same problem happens with the nitrite bacteria. While all of this is going on, your fish is going through ENORMOUS amounts of stress. This is why we change the water so often! This is also why we test our water using a water test kit (API drop kits are the best): to let us know what part of the cycle our tanks are in. That way, you can watch your ammonia and nitrite levels, and make sure they stay low through water changes. We also use water conditioner to detoxify the tap water, which can have chlorine in it (also poisonous to fish).

Unfortunately, this magical process of nature cannot occur without a place for the bacteria to grow. They need bio media and lots of aeration to grow in. That is why we use filters, like a hang-on-back power filter-- both to pick up the detritus floating in the tank, and to provide many places for the BBs to live. Because the waste output of a goldfish is so great, they need at least 40 liters of water. The filter needs to be strong enough to process the water 10x the amount of water. So for a 40L tank, you would need a filter that has a turnover rate of 400 L per hour. (In gallons, it would be 10 gallons and 100GPH, which is one of the standards for power filters.) Most of us choose to use a filter that has even greater power.

All of the problems your fish is having are due to being poisoned by the water conditions. One way to think about is how would you feel if you were put in a cupboard with insufficient oxygen and no way to get rid of your waste. No one would want that!

Please try to purchase a proper power filter, a bigger house (40L at least; this can be a tank or just a big plastic tub), a test kit, and water conditioner.

Until the pet shops are open, do a 100% water change. If you have no water conditioner, leave the water to sit out for 24 hours (the chlorine will evaporate).

Good luck!

How is your fish now, Zowi? I hope we didn't scare you away with too much information all at once...