Help Please Need Advice

[Squeaky Leekus]

I have 6 fish in my tank 3 comets and 3 gold barbs and 1 plec, for about a week one of the gold barbs has been pointing downwards sort of floating in the middle of the tank and looks really under the weather.
I have changed 1/3 of the water twice this week and added some revitalising tonic but no difference. Today it has got a small red blotch / ulser looking spot on his side.
What should i do??? Do i take him out and put into a seperate bowl/bag? I dont have another tank to use as a hospital tank sadly.
Could it be ammonia burns? if so what can i do?

very sad if he dies ;-(

thanks for any help

 

[phoenixgsd]

what are your tank readings, ammonia, nitrite ect

 

[fluttermoth]

How big is your tank, OP, and was it cycled?

 

[Squeaky Leekus]

Hi I dont have anything to test the ammonia but the nitrite is 0.1mg/l so i am doing another water change now
thanks

Hi
It is a 68L tank, had it a few years with the same fish no problems, no new additions etc, What is OP?

 

[fluttermoth]

OP = Original Poster, sorry!

The fact that you have a nitrite reading worries me as it mean either your tank isn't cycled for some reason (how are you maintaining your filter?) or that your filter can't cope with the fish's wastes (most likely, in my opinion).

You've got a lot of big, messy fish in a very small tank and will probably continue to have problems, I'm afraid. Most of those fish shouldn't even be able to physically fit in a tank that size, if they're a few years old.

 

[Squeaky Leekus]

Ok so i need a bigger tank, they are not big fish really the barbs are only about an inch long. The filter is hugh its a Juwel sponge filter i fulyl(the sponges) clean it (in tank water) about once a month and twice weekly water changes so i thought it was ok.
So in the meantime how do i make it better for him? I have taken him out for the time being and put in a pot while i change some more water

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Goldies are coldwater, barbs and plecos are tropical. Not a good mix. Genereally, its 20 gallons for one goldfish and an additional 10 gallns for every one added.

 

[fluttermoth]

I'd keep the sick fish in the tank, where at least it's got the benefit of some filtration.

Do some large scale water changes; maybe 75 or 50% every day for the next week and see how it looks then. Don't forget to temperature match and dechlorinate the new water!

 

[lloyd]

Goldies are coldwater, barbs and plecos are tropical. Not a good mix. Genereally, its 20 gallons for one goldfish and an additional 10 gallns for every one added.

Room temp is perfect for all your fish. my first guess is that your filter cant cope with the waste from your commets and plec. onother problem you have is golden barbs are active shoalers and need a bigger tank and more of there own kind than three. as far as barbs are concerned golden barbs are very docile but keeping 3 cramped in a small tank could well lead to squables, that and the fact the your water is of poor quality means you are likely to get infected ill fish.

my plan wiould be to rehome all fish and start again. your comets would be over the moon if you know any body with a pond and golden barbs will be quite easy to pass on. unless you want to get a bigger tank, then you can up the number of golden barbs

 

[Akasha72]

I see you've got some good advice there Squeaky Leekus but I wanted to ask how old the fish are? You say you've had the tank and fish for a number of years? How long exactly?

My Dad keeps gold barbs and I believe their life span is about 3-4 years so along with your water problems you could also have a fish that also getting old and weak

 

[Akasha72]

onother problem you have is golden barbs are active shoalers and need a bigger tank and more of there own kind than three. as far as barbs are concerned golden barbs are very docile but keeping 3 cramped in a small tank

68 litres isn't small. I had an old 2ft tank (that my Dad now has with 5 gold barbs and 5 rosy barbs) and that was 54 litres. My juwel is just over 100 litres and just short of 3ft in length. That would mean the O.P has a tank somewhere between 2 and 3 foot in length. Hardly small. Also barbs don't grow much more than 5cm in length.

 

[fluttermoth]

Well, gold barbs get to 7 or 8 cms; rosy barbs are much bigger at about 14 cms.

 

[Akasha72]

Well, gold barbs get to 7 or 8 cms; rosy barbs are much bigger at about 14 cms.

I got it wrong, they're not rosy barbs they're ruby barbs - doh!

Sorry if I offended, I just wanted to point out that 68 litre tank arn't as small as they sound

 

[lloyd]

I know how big 64 litres is and its to small for golden barbs. in vietnam fisherman claim that golden barb shoals can be quite large and much larger than alot of similar sized cyprinids so im guessing that a shoal of wild fish would take upp much more room than what a 60 litre tank can house and thats not even considering that the fish actually move (infact are very active). barbs cant just be classified as small fish. common carp are barbs and in a lake in france there is one that has weighed in at 100lbs.

an average 3ft tank (90cm x 30cm x 30cm) holds 85 litres.

im not being touchy im just trying to be informative