black moor

[munkybutter]

my girlfriend has two black moors and we just got in from college and one of them is lying on the bottom of the tank 'gasping' for breath and his tail is bent to the right slightly, does anyone know whats wrong with him and what if anything can cure it?

its in a cold water tank with another black moor and 7 goldfish its about a 10 gallon tank regularily cleaned out and nothing new has been added to the tank recently

 

[Tempestuousfury]

The stuff you said under the title says it all.

Coldwater fish require more oxygen than frshwater fish. Cold water can hold more oxygen than warm water.

All you have to do is increase the surface agitation by the filter and other air pumping equipment and you have to decrease the temperature to the proper levels. Salt and a water change would help too.

Wait for or ask someone to tell you what the proper water temp should be and how to achieve it if you can't.

 

[munkybutter]

thanks for the advise, ive moved the fluval filter to the top of the water to provide more surface movement and i added my old back up (rather noisy) battery pump.

the tank doesnt have a heater and not all the fish are behaving in this way, his tail is pretty much at a 80-90 degree angle to his body could it be that his tail has broken somehow?

i also noticed that one of the other black moors eye pouch appears swolen and he isnt moving that eye, can this be cured?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I think you may have real probelms with the fact there are 7 goldfish in a tank that can only just about house one.

Not only do goldfish require more oxygen but they are also a lot more messy than tropical fish and moors can get to 10".

You say it is "regularly cleaned out". What do you mean by that? Water changes? Stripping down?

 

[munkybutter]

20% water changes and about half the gravel cleaned as well as the filter sponge once a week

 

[greathat]

not enough goldfish are dirty and need a LOT more space than tropical fish. You need a lot less fish in that tank or you will just have a lot less fish...

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Hmm. I read your first post, but i missed the "7 other fish" part.

I had a 10 gallon with 3 goldfish and some tropical fish. Not good. The goldfish all got fin rot and they took months healing.

Goldfish are the dirtiest fish that I know of. the amount of waste they excrete dwarfs that of tropical fish. The rule of thumb is 1 fish per 10 gallons, but I'm not sure how valid that really is.

You might have better luck removing many of them or converting it to a tropical tank where you could have a lot more fish.