poorly/dead goldfish

[matt_penny1]

Hi all,

I have a problem i hope u can all help with.

a friend has a small 20l tank which before 2day had 2 fantailed goldfish in it, for some time one of the fish (fish1) has been showing some strange behaviour, it would spend ALL it's time upside down at the bottom of the tank, it would sometimes eat, sometimes wouldn't and it would rarely swim about, while this was happening fish 2 was fine!

fish 1's behaviour started after some new plants were added, shortly after the plants were added what can only be described as a snail was found (looked very snail like but only 2-3mm big. and at the same time the "snail" was found white "blobs" appered on the side of the tank. the "blobs range from .5 mm to 1.5 mm (ish) and i ain't got a scooby doo what they are. they don't seem to move but i think i can just make out a dark patch in the centre of the "blob"

back to today and fish2 (the fine one) was found dead at the bottom of the tank!! the fish belonged to my friends daughter and she's heart broken

any ideas!

thanks in advance

 

[clutterydrawer]

heya

my first questions are...was the tank cycled? and, what are your water parameters?

and secondly...I don't want to sound like a stuck record or accuse your friend of neglect, but 20l is way way way too small for even one goldfish. sorry if you already knew that but you didn't say. if kept in a small tank, goldfish can get stunted which can cause swimming problems and death.

 

[black angel]

hi
your fish had swim bladder disease. there is a few ways this happens, one being an abnormal swim bladder and another more common reason is feeding the fish flakes without soaking them first. when feeding fantail type gf they need to have the flake food pre soaked for a minute or two to get rid of any air, or feeding them holding the flakes under water so they dont take in the air. starving the fish for a couple of days and then feeding boiled squashed shelled pea helps too. gf need a varied diet and this should also include frozen or fresh foods like bloodworm and greens like lettuce.
the snails are brought in with real plants and the blobs are the eggs. these should be removed asap.
as clutterydrawer has said fancy goldfish need at least 10 gallons each to be healthy. your friends tank is way too small just for one and would have needed water changes every couple of days to stay healthy.
if your friend does decide to get some more then a 20 gallon tank would be needed along with a filter and plenty of air. also test kits are vital and you should invest in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and ph. the esha strip test is good and ammonia can be bought seperately.
hope this has helped if your friend decides to get more gf. looking at cycling will also help in the set up of the tank. good luck.