Is my fish ok?

[Harper1313]

My fish (black moor goldfish) keeps sitting in one specific spot. It’s a toy in the tank and it likes to sit still on one part of it. It also floats around but it does swim. It doesn’t float on its back or side or anything it just seems a bit strange to me. I’m new to fish and only got it 3 days ago does anyone know what it is or if I’m just overthinking?

 

[Retired Viking]

Is your tank cycled? You need to test your water, can you take a sample to your local pet store? Goldfish produce a lot of waste so do a 75% water change. Have you added water conditioner to deal with the ammonia? Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? How big is your tank? Do you know what your water is (hard or soft)

 

[Colin_T]

Any chance of a picture and short 30-60 second video of the fish?

If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

 

[Harper1313]

Yes I cycled it when I got it for 24 hours before getting the fish and made sure to get the fish used to the pH and temperature before adding them fully. And it’s a 24 litre tank which the shop told me would be able to hold either 4 of these fish or 6 small one

 

[Harper1313]

 

[Essjay]

There are two problems.

The tank is far too small. One fancy goldfish needs a 100 litre tank, minimum. Two fancy goldfish need at least 150 litres.

Goldfish For Beginners

Types and Sizes of Common Goldfish Breeds First of all, never underestimate the size of fully grown goldfish. There are no 'dwarf' breeds of goldfish, whatever 'the man in the shop' might say; even the smaller 'fancy' types have the capacity to grow to a good six inches/15 cms in length...

www.fishforums.net

Secondly, you didn't cycle the tank, you let it run for 24 hours. To cycle a tank you add ammonia to the tank and wait for several weeks until the tank has grown enough bacteria to remove the ammonia.


Fish excrete ammonia. In a new tank, there are no bacteria which 'eat' ammonia so it builds up and poisons the fish. Bacteria will grow slowly over the next few weeks, and they eat the ammonia and turn it into nitrite - which is also poisonous. More bacteria grow which eat nitrite but it takes another few weeks until there are enough of them. Until then, it is the fishkeeper's job to test the water for ammonia and nitrite every day and whenever there is either of these above zero to do a water change to reduce the levels.
With such a small tank, ammonia will have been building up from the moment the fish were put into the tank.

The first thing you need to do is to change at least 75% of the water every day - make sure to add water conditioner to the new water and make sure it is the same temperature as the tank water.
Then you have a difficult choice to make, I'm afraid. The fish need a much bigger tank. If you can't manage a tank at least 150 litres, for the sake of the fish you need to return them to the shop. A 25 litre tank is suitable for only a very few fish, a betta being the only fish recommended for this size - but a betta would need a heater.



One final comment - the shop that said you could have 4 to 6 fish in the tank gave you appalling advice. If you decide to take them back to the shop rather than buy a bigger tank, please do not believe anything else they tell you.

 

[Colin_T]

The 2 fish will be ok for a while in that tank but they should eventually be moved into a bigger tank so they have more room.

You might ask the pet shop if they will let you return the tank and upgrade it to a bigger tank. Most shops will but some won't.

---------------
The filter will take around 4-6 weeks to cycle (develop colonies of good bacteria that help keep the water clean). Do not clean the filter during this 4-6 week period unless it is blocked and no longer pumping out much water, because you can stop the filter bacteria from developing. Two weeks after the filter has cycled you can clean it.

To clean the filter, turn the filter off and unplug it. Take the filter case apart and squeeze the sponge out in a bucket of tank water. When the sponge is clean, put it in the tank. Wash the filter case and impellor assembly (magnet with plastic blades) under tap water. Be careful with the impellor because they sometimes have plastic or rubber washers or grommets on them. Don't lose these parts or the filter might not work properly after.

After you have cleaned everything, put the filter back together and put it back in the tank. Plug it in and turn it on. Throw the bucket of dirty water onto the garden and top the tank up with some dechlorinated water.

---------------​

Until the filter has cycled, only feed the fish 2-3 times a week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. You should also monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels in the water and do a 75% water change any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0, or a nitrate reading above 20ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[utahfish]

Local Fish store strikes again!