Fish mystery

Alqua

Just wondering if anyone has any idea what happened here...
I have, well, had 2 goldfish, well they more more pond fish really. Not carp, but they came from a pond, and were a bit bigger than your average goldfish. One had glucoma and his/her eyes were swelled up to a massive size. The other one was grand.

Recently, maybe a couple of weeks ago, we noticed the fish, mostly the healthier one, was spending a lot of time on the bottom of the tank, and gulping a lot as if finding it hard to breathe.
Yesterday morning I noticed that the two of them were doing that, so I said I'd change the water when I got back to see if it'd make a difference.
When I got back the one with glucoma was dead and the other one was on his side and barely breathing.

The other one is recovering now, but I don't know what happened. I would say old age, but I don't think that would explain the two of them suddenly not being able to breathe. Could it be the water? (the tank is cleaned out fairly regularly, and it wasn't that long since we had cleaned it out) The tank itself? since it's really old, realising some sort of chemical from the sealant?

Arcadian

Was the tank not filtered ?

Alqua

No. We had a filter once, but it broke down and we didn't get a new one. I don't see that as a problem though, since we cleaned it regularly and they were grand that way for 11 years.
This evening the surviving fish went sideways again, but revived again when I put him into fresh water. I'm stumped.
Maybe this warm weather has something to do with it? I got some new medication for the water anyway, and new stones incase it was anything contagious.

Dizzyblabla

wow!! your fish is 11 years old?? I thought I was the only one, my fish is about 13 years old now! - but has had that eye problem too for the past 3 years I'd say, if not longer.. really gross to look at!

kasintahan

Alqua wrote:

No. We had a filter once, but it broke down and we didn't get a new one.

Dude, you defintely have a problem if you can't even keep the filter alive!

(sorry, hungover, couldn't resist )

Alqua

but has had that eye problem too for the past 3 years I'd say, if not longer.. really gross to look at!

Yeah it's horrible! Especially when it spreads to both eyes and they just get massive! My friend always said she'd love to pop his eye with a needle...lovely.
I think there's stuff you can get that will cure that eye thing. Yesterday when I bought that medication that was listed as one of the things it cures, except it was a bit late for my fish!

Dude, you defintely have a problem if you can't even keep the filter alive!

Blame my parents, I was too young to take responsibility for the filter.

The other fish seems to be ok now, but it seems he goes sideways if the water heats up during the day at all.

Kersh

It was probably heat related...warm water holds less oxygen than cold water, but to be honest, goldfish dont do well in tanks, for example, a 2 foot tank will HAPPILY hold one goldfish. It will hold 4, but they wont be happy. They need a lot of surface area per fish, and esp without a filter, its animal cruelty. as are goldfish bowls.

boroughmal

sounds like a classic case of nitrate poisoning. The fact that your goldfish also had pop-eye is the telling factor. Of course they died, you didnt look after them enough. Without a filtration system to take out their faeces they ate them every time they breathed.
Why is it that some people do not wake up untill their pets are dead?
Regards

Alqua

Er... I did look after them actually, very well. I cleaned the water regularly, and it always was clean to look at. I found out why we didn't have a filter, and it was because the fish went a bit weird when we got it. They're from a pond, and maybe I'm just raving, but I've never seen a filter in a pond.
And if I hadn't looked after them, how would they have lived happily in the tank for 11 years?

fred funk }{

Your fish died because you didnt look after them.
Yes ponds do and should have filters.
Clear water isnt always healthy water, Most toxic chemicals arent visable to the human eye.

Alqua

I accept that the fish may have died because of a problem with the water, however I have always looked after them to the best of my ability, and I think if I was doing anything wrong, they would have died long before now.

boroughmal

Perhaps I should apologise for being so abrupt.
My problem is that I have allways encouraged good fishkeeping by preventitive methods. Any of my customers are asked first if they have kept fish before, most say a long time ago. I then proceed to tell them the minimum requirements of fishkeeping and when they try to be ignorant of this I do not sell them fish. This is because I know they will kill them, by ignorance, not by nature.
all my fish that I supply are treated for standard deseases before transit, they are then stress coated for transit & wrapped in Oxygen bags. I personally gaurantee that the fish , whilst in my care are perfectly presented.
So I get really annoyed when the new keeper lets them die through ignorance or neglegance. I am sure that you are a very caring person, but you have to see it through my eyes as a avid fishkeeper.

I put it this way.
Some of the fish that you get have travelled half way around the world to get to you, It is your duty to care for them in strange surroundings, you would not put your hands in dirty water so why would you expect a fish to live in it. Water quality is the most important thing to these animals, without it they die. There are four considerations when it comes to water for fish.
Number one is Ammonia, this is what the fish produces when he goes to the toilet. Would you expect to swim in dirty polouted water? then neither does your fish
The second is Nitrite. This is produced from nitrobacteria eating the faeces of the fish & other animals that inhabit a tank. It is Toxic at certain levels & must be neutralized
The Third is Nitrate, This is an element that makes all things grow, but at certain levels it also is no good to the fish & must be removed.
The fourth is P.h. This is the diffrence between water inside the fish & water on the outside. If it is the same inside as it is out then the fish has no way to controll its intake or exhallation, Just imagine if you had no skin to hold you in. This is why the diffrence in the p.h. must be maintained in the water.

If you read this you will see that water to a fish is lifegiving just the same as air is to humans. There would be an upcry as there was in the sixties when we had to breathe polouted air. My upcry is now!

I apologise again, "Its easy to be ignorant when you do not know"

Alqua

Apology accepted.
I'm not sure what it was, but the fish that died had pop-eye for a very long time, was very old, and was probably going to die soon anyway. In that, I'm not saying there was nothing wrong with the water, but if I had done something wrong, they would've died ages ago. The surviving fish is thriving, I don't think I've ever seen him better.
I can assure you, boroughmal, I am a big animal lover and would never do anything in half measures, including cleaning out a fish tank/looking after any other pets.

boroughmal

Some goldfish are bred with the syndrome they are called bubble eyes.
The diffrence detween an infection & breeding is that the bred fish is comfortable with it and the infected fish tends to scrape into things because his view is either dulled or distorted. When a fish develops the syndrome it should be treated with a antibiotic, which removes the mucus that causes the eye to swell.
My problem is not neccessarily with you direct but with the vast amount of people that put fish through misery because they dont take time to understand any other problem exept living & dying.
My wife looks after a house for a friend while they are away, she went to the house to get the dirty washing. There was two goldfish were left on the side for five days without changing the water. I happened to walk in and spot them and noticed they were laying on the bottom. I immediatly gave them clean water allbeit tapwater and then transported the fish to my house for the duration of the holiday. Within three hours one of the fish was dead, He had nitrite poisoning. Two fish in I gallon of water and 5 lots of food fed by the cleaner. The owner wasnt told on the phone that the fish had died. but when she comes back I will tell her what I think of her.
I changed the water I gave them stresscoat I cleaned the gravell & tested the water, but only managed to save one fish.
Goldfish live up to 35 years and this is an article I wrote for children.
Perhaps you will do me the honour & read it.
Regards
www.fishkeepingsupplies.com
Aquarium and Fish Supply Tropical

Why don't I keep a goldfish ?



Well did you know that the goldfish is the only fish that was kept for its
looks and not for food?

Did you know that the Chinese have been keeping goldfish for the last
thousand years?

Did you know that the goldfish is the most popular pet in the British Isles?
Around fifteen million people have or have had goldfish in the last ten
years!

Did you know that a goldfish can live up to 30 years or more, but the
average is about five years?

Did you know that the goldfish is often born a different colour - normally
brown or black but changes to gold as he gets older? Sometimes he changes
again when he gets ancient. Just like humans, they lose their pigment and
go grey or mostly silver.

Did you know that there are thousands of different types of goldfish and
hundreds of different shades ? The most popular is red, followed by
shubunkins - which are multicoloured, followed by red and white, followed by
black..

Some of the different types are the common goldfish. He is the one who
looks just like a carp, but has no barbs on his mouth - that is how you tell
the diffrence between the two.

The Oranda. He is the little short fat one with a longer tail or sometimes
what looks like two tails.

The fantail. She is the one with beauty and a long tail like a fan spread
out sideways when you look down on them.

The shubunkin who is graced with three colours a black a red and sometimes
a yellowy colour on top of his white.

The ranchu or the tanchu. King of the goldfish, he has a crown of bubbles
on his head and a downward sloping tail with one or two fins.

The bubble eye. She can be recognised by her name as her eyes normally have
large bubbles covering them.

The moor. Someone put soot in the tank and he has been black ever since,
that's why he is a fishy tale. Not quite as fancy as the ranchu, but
sometimes he has big eyes as well that protrude from his head.

The pom pom. He is the same as the tanchu, with a smaller crown on his
nose. He is second to the king in fishy circles.

The panda is the latest craze with large fins that resemble a butterfly so
sometimes he is called that.

So will I buy the one with the humpy back or the biggest tale or maybe two
orandas to be king and queen of my water? It matters not as you will like
the one you bought when he swims up for his food in the morning and blows
bubbles or suck you fingers.

If you take him home gently and give him clean water every day, he will love
& cherish you with his looks when you walk past and will always care for you
as long as you treat him right.







Who is my friend?

So I went to the shop and we saw the goldfish that we wanted. I was going
to take him away today, but I didn't have a tank or a bowl to put him in. So
I asked the people on the fishkeeping site of how to buy a tank for goldie?

The first thing I was told was that you have to have at least 5 litres or
about a gallon of water for even the smallest of the goldies. You can work
this out with a 2 litre milk bottle and fill it up five times & empty it
into a bucket. You will see its over half full so I want a bowl that's
bigger than that because as I grow, so does my fish.

A 12x12x24" tank carries 12 gallons of water so I will buy three fish and
let them have babies until the tank is full. I had to tell my mum that the
tank is big enough to put 12 fish in but they will not grow because they
will get squashed, so she let me buy the bigger one (I am not stupid you
know)

So I went back on the internet and they told me that goldie doesn't like
tapwater because it has all those nasty chemicals in it that we drink that
goldie doesn't like. So when I get my tank, I will get Tapsafe and put the
water in a bucket & leave it overnight for changing water in the morning -
so goldie gets clean water every day.



Well it's a few weeks later and today we are going to the shop to get goldie
and some of her friends. I have saved up my pocket money and mummy is giving
me a bit extra because I am good and we now have enough money for the tank.
Daddy said he will buy the fish for my birthday, but that's not for a couple
of months but I am getting a small present today. I can't wait for daddy to
get home from work! I have my paper bag ready to put over the fish bag so
that goldie doesn't get scared on her way home and I have a stiff cardboard
box to put the plastic bag into so the bag will not get punctured at all.

We're here at the fish shop now and I told my dad that he has to bring a
measuring tape to make sure it's the right size. I get to choose one and my
brother has to choose the other and I will let mummy choose the third one,
as its only fair because she gave me the extra pocket money when dad said I
wasn't worth it.

I need some food or he will starve. I wish I had asked my friends what food
to get! But the nice man in the fish shop said that the fish needs flake
food every day and worms on Sunday as a treat. Only as much as they can eat
in five minutes and no more. Twice a day and a little extra on Sundays.

Well "I don't want the one with the white spots" he is not well or the one
with a ragged fin as he has been eaten by a shark. I want the one who is
swimming nicely with the red spot and the wiggly tale. My brother had to
choose the big one as he is nearly as big as me. Mummy said it didn't matter
which one she chose as she liked the one that I liked second, so now we have
three.

I cant wait to get home but mummy has to get food or we will all starve, so
I am holding the fish box in between my brother who keeps saying that his is
better than mine. But its not you see, mine is prettier.



Dad put the tapwater stuff in four buckets that he borrowed last night, so I
have unpacked the tank and its going in the sitting room on the side table.
I hope its strong enough to take the tank. Mummy has put the water in and I
have to leave the fishes in the bag for half an hour until they get warmer,
because its cold out today.

I put my hand in the bag and the fish wiggled so much, but I got him and put
him in his new home. My brother nearly dropped his, so daddy put the other
one in. We didn't put the water in from the shop because their water was
dirty as all those fish wee'd in it and we didn't want wee in our tank.



So now I can go to bed because I'm tired and my little friends will be
waiting for me when I eat my breakfast. I'll feed them flake because
tomorrows a school day and they don't get treats till Sunday! And not a bit
extra as my friends on the internet said, they will poison themselves like
sleeping beauty if they have too much. I love my goldie!.