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Goldfish problems in a Tropical Fish Tank 9/5/05 I have a 20 gallon tank and I had let the tank set for a couple of days and I had bought 4 gold fish and two algae eaters. The big ones, well the two algae eaters died because they had gotten really sick and then I had bought CopperSafe. Well three of my gold fish had died and one still lived well. After a while I had bought three other fish, a silver dollar fish, glassfish and a different kind of algae eater a small skinny one. Well now I am fighting fungus and my gold fish has it really bad. I bought some fungus cure and for some reason it has not worked or my gold fish has it really really bad. I don't know what to do and I had followed the instructions on the bottle and everything. Right now all my other fish are good. They are normal but I am going to wait to buy some more and see how these guys do. I have a few questions to ask. 1. should I remove 3/4 of the water and put fresh in? <Take out 1/3 of the water, vacuum the gravel and clean the filter.> 2. how can I stop this fungus from getting to my other fish or how to prevent it from getting as bad as it did?? < This is not a fungus but a bacterial infection. That is why the medication you have chosen has not worked. Goldfish and tropical fish should not be kept together. Tropical fish prefer warmer water than goldfish. If kept too warm for too long your goldfish will continue to have disease problems. This problem can be treated with Nitrofuranace or Erythromycin. These medications will affect your biological filtration so watch for ammonia spikes.-Chuck> If you can PLEASE email at this address and let me know because I don't know if I can keep fighting this over and over.. my name is Crystal and I need your help bad... Sick goldfish... actually crowding, mistreatment/poisoning, mis-feeding... 7/26/05 Hi All, I am writing from Australia. <I'm responding from Hawaii, where the "discoverer" of both countries, James Cook, was murdered in 1793> I have a 110 litre tank, in which I have recently tested my water quality. Ammonia 0 and nitrate 0. Our Ph is usually a little low between 6.6 and 7.0. This tank has been setup for over 18 months. I have 7 goldfish and 6 clouds in the tank. <... this tank is too small for this much, type life> A few months ago after some research on the net we treated them for what we thought were flukes. We were recommended Cupramine. <Not what I would have used on Trematodes...> This appeared to work on some but during this course we lost 2 fish. We have since replaced one of the deceased, now 6 of the fish are laying on the bottom of the tank for most of the day and the remaining fish is near the top. They are very active in the morning at feeding time, however, soon after they lay around. I am feeding them Nutrafin sinking pellets for the goldfish and a small amount of flakes for the clouds. <... there are better foods> Occasionally a couple of them make some strange fast jerking movements through the tank. They also have there fins clamped. The sites I have looked at describe some symptoms but I cannot see any clear symptoms on my fish aside from the listlessness and clamped fins. Can you give me some answers please. <Likely what you are seeing is resultant from the copper, directly and not... the system and your fishes are being poisoned, their systems biological filtration being subtended. Please read (this will take a while) re Goldfish Systems, Disease, Flukes, Cupramine... on WWM... I would execute a few successive daily water changes (25% or so), stop the copper use, switch foods... test for ammonia, nitrite... Bob Fenner> Nichole Ich... goldfish... blitzkrieg med.s... not studying... I've scrolled through lots of your comments on questions. You seem to be more knowledgeable than anyone at the fish store here in NYC. <Heeee!> I bought a new 48 gallon tank for two goldfish (one comet, one is a generic -- I don't know what it is called) w/an Eheim canister filter. The store installed it when I was out of town -- big help. The less strong one (comet) developed Ich, the other one has more or less fought it off. They first recommended CopperSafe. <Mmm, better to use Malachite Green, rather than copper-based med.s on goldfish> I followed the directions. They continued to have the spots, but were as active as always. We left for eleven days and came back to one dying fish and the other lethargic. A person from the store came and 'serviced' the tank and added CopperSafe. The weaker fish just sprawled out. I didn't think it would survive the night, but it did. The store then recommended Rid Ick. <Is copper and Malachite...> I don't like using carcinogenic stuff, but '¦. I followed their instructions, which were to re-dose every two days (not enough according to the manufacturer). <... should be done daily> After the first two doses, I stepped this up to every 36 hours, thinking they were too weak to take more. Somehow or other, these fish are still alive. Actually, it seems that the medication is the only thing keeping the stronger one down. The weaker one hasn't eaten in at least a week, probably two, and mostly sits at the bottom listlessly. The other one occasionally swims around and ate today. I do not want to use any more Rid Ick. The store recommended Aquarisol, which I bought. <Another copper salt solution...> I have set up a QT (old two-gal tank, can't leave these 1 ½ yr olds there long) so that I can remove them and let the tomites in the display tank die. I haven't yet moved the fish. Frankly, I have no idea what to do, but this is taking a HUGE amount of time. Any thoughts??? <Yes... please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm and the (many) linked FAQs, starting with the ones above... and Goldfish Disease... set upon one plan and adhere to it... I would add salt, one of these Ich medications (if it were me/mine I would use just "Nox-Ich" or another just Malachite Green solution (like Kordon's)... monitor water quality... and the Ich should be gone in a week. Bob Fenner> Thanks. Re: Ich 9/16/05 Thanks for the comments and for the direction to your Ich treatment comments. <Welcome> Sorry to ask for more comment, but I have been getting so much conflicting advice including, just yesterday from the fish store, to slowly cool down the tank. <... no...> According to your info., that wasn't such a great idea. My problems with the Rid-Ich+ (or Nox Ich) is that the active ingredients are carcinogenic for me! <Much less so than putting gasoline in a car...> After a week of sticking my hand/arm in the water during water changes, etc., it occurs to me that I am not wild about doing that. Also, I am not seeing any encouraging response at all from the weaker fish; it remains listless and rocks side-to-side a bit. And just for good measure, I put in Aquarisol this morning for any lurking tomites. Clearly, I've been all over the lot. <Yes... randomly, surprised you haven't hit a proverbial light post> My instinct is to try to get the weaker fish moving and eating again, then bomb the Ich. It may be too late, though. What would you do at this point? <Read> One other question. How do you know when they are "cured" (presumably returning to normal swimming around) and how quickly should all of the spots be gone? Thanks again. <Please don't write... read where you've been sent, the linked files beyond. Bob Fenner>
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