tarannosaurus

Some of you guys know that I just got my first goldfish. He is very shy and loves food. Anyway, I have noticed that he does these quick spin moves and now has a messed up scale on his right side. I am pretty sure doing that against crushed coral (my city's water has a very low pH) is what hurt him. Does anyone else have a goldfish that does this? What should I do, if anything?

http://s1093.photobucket.com/albums/i434/tdeems2009/?action=view&current=20120120_1540201.mp4

I don't think there's anything wrong with the water, but here are the parameters just in case anyone asks for them:

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 5

pH: 8.2

Temperature: 68

Not sure if it is worth mentioning, but the last water change was on Friday.

Well my tank must be cycled because I checked the water today and had 0 ammonia and nitrites and nitrates were at 10.

Thanks everyone! I am really happy with my fish too. Still can't think of a name...

Btw, that fleshy thing that was on the nostril has gone away. I wonder what it was.

Wow, what a fabulous fish for a first goldie! Our first were from Petsmart.

I recently set up a 55 gallon with sand, and the sand was completely smooth. Then I added three new fish, one of whom is not very active. By morning, the smooth sand was all bumpy -- they had pecked at every bit of sand in the tank overnight. There was not a smooth spot left. It's just what goldies do.

Thanks! My first fish was an oscar from Petsmart, and it was a great fish. I looked there for a goldfish, but nothing really spoke to me.

This guy must have stayed up all night rooting around in the sand, because bumpy sand was the first thing I noticed this morning. How cute.

Thanks!

Steve is not sure what it is. I'm just going to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get worse.

I can't wait to see how the colors will end up.

Aww. you got a little monster. So cute, congratulations.

Haha he's checking everything out with his mouth. Dumb question. How do I know if it's a male or female?

Thanks!

Did he/she just arrive today? If so, the shipping didn't seem to have much of an effect at all.

He/She might be hungry, but it is best not to feed for 24-48 hours after arrival to let everything settle to normal before feeding.

Helen's suggestion to show Steve the video is an excellent one. It doesn't hurt to get his opinion, although if you had pics and the video from RG, you could compare yourself.

Yes it did. And yeah, I was expecting it to be more stressed. Definitely nothing on the nostril before. I sent Steve an email.

Aw. What a cutie. She/he will turn at least partly orange and white later in life. I think it'll look really good, actually

I couldn't tell for certain, but it looks like he/she has a little pom pom growing on the left nostril.

What is it doing with the sand? Digging around, looking for food! That's what!

I was also thinking it would change colors. And that might be cool if it was a pom pom. So you think he/she is hungry?

congratulations! it's a beauty!!

just as a precautionary measure, i would be sending this video to RG stating your concern as soon as possible. as it's difficult to see if it's a problem or just a norm to the fish, i think that RG should be informed just the same. the sooner the better..

again, congratulations, it's a very pretty oranda

I think so too. Thanks!

Derp.

http://s1093.photobu...113_2345461.mp4

This is my first goldfish. It's from RG. It's very active. Not sure if m or f. What do you guys think?

It looks like there is something wrong with the left nostril. Does anyone know what that is? And what's it doing with the substrate?

Okay, will do. Thank you!

And I use Prime.

What a relief. Now I'm not so worried. So I'm just going to keep the nitrites below... 2? If they go any higher, I'll need to do a WC right? Not trying to kill my first goldfish here... And no more adding ammonia, right?

Thanks for the suggestions. I already added salt after the WC. I usually add some salt after water changes anyway because I have had some good benefits from it with other fish.

I wish I had a QT, but I don't.

Is it possible to finish up cycling this tank with a fish in it? I don't mind doing daily water changes. I realize it will take longer, but I am more than willing to do daily water changes to keep the nitrites low.

Did you add back ammonia to 1ppm after WC? Check back later tonight and tomorrow to see what the readings are.

Yes, sorry I failed to mention that. The fish is expected to be here tomorrow morning. Do you think it will be okay in this tank for a little while? I suspect the cycling process is almost over... Ugh, I really hate doing that though.

This is really bad. I assumed my tank was cycled because I had 0 ammonia and nitrites and nitrates were at 20. I recently added more ammonia (just to keep the bacteria alive) and then nitrites and nitrates rose significantly. Nitrites were between 2 and 3 and nitrates were around 50. I did a WC and my new readings are:

Nitrites: 0

Nitrates: 5

Ammonia: 0

I am very concerned that my tank is not finished cycling because I have a fish on the way. I feel so bad. What in the world should I do?

I have seen a lot of videos where orandas display this behavior. Very interesting.

Here's another good one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUhgGhi7Wfw&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL0273964F48F0CA98

Some other fish do it too. Like this oscar: