Is my tank too tall?

[Mr.Oranda]

Hi everyone, 

its been a while since I posted here, I hope everyone is well.

I’ve got a bit of a head scratcher here:

 I’ve had an Oranda for three weeks now, he’s about four inches red and white colored. He went through a two week quarantine, he was super excited and healthy when I bought him and nothing developed when he was in quarantine. He was one of the happiest goldfish I’ve ever seen and that’s saying something! I have a quarantine medication regiment that has worked real well in the past and did that. I then put him in my 65 gallon with two other lion heads, lightly planted at about 30% percent. The tank is 25 inches tall. But once he got in there he would only perk up for meal time. He would go to the top and just hang out, not gasping for air and I noticed no swim bladder issues. I have plenty of surface agitation with aqua clear hang on backs enough for a 210 gallon tank and an air stone for extra agitation. I did my weekly water change and he  returned to himself for a little while but then went back to hanging out at the top. Well, I put him back in my twenty long/short quarantine tank and now he’s acting like his normal self swimming around like crazy and only going to the top every now and then to get a little air. I’ve noticed no signs of illness, streaking, red marks, etc.

I wonder, is my 65 too tall for him? Do I have too much surface agitation? Any ideas as to what is going on with him would be welcomed. I’m completely perplexed. 

My tank parameters:

PH: 7.8

Ammonia: 0

Nitrates: 20-30 ppm 65 Gal., 0-5 ppm 20 Gal.

Nitrites: 0 

[Arctic Mama]

It could honestly be either of those factors with the tank . I’d suspect illness but his improvement in your shallower tank makes that less likely.  Nitrate sensitivity could also be the culprit. Some more delicate fish really do best in the 5-10 ppm range, so consider servicing your filter and clearing out the mulm, then see if he responds better.

[shakaho]

I think he's telling you what he wants -- shallow water.  

[Mr.Oranda]

Thanks for the suggestions. I’m going to continue monitoring him in the shallow tank and work on lowering the nitrates in my larger tank. I’ll report back with updates!

[koko]

On 8/17/2019 at 1:05 PM, Mr.Oranda said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I’m going to continue monitoring him in the shallow tank and work on lowering the nitrates in my larger tank. I’ll report back with updates!

I had years ago a 55 and a 80 gallon tanks and every rounded shaped fish I had in those tanks had Swim bladder issues. I do highly suggest to use a shallow tank or tote👍

[FishyMandy]

My tank is 24" tall and while most of my fish do well in it I have a few that get floaty or constalty bottomsit in it. I hope to one day have a longer, wider, shallower tank for them.
My biggest pond is also 24" deep and everyone does well in there, but I only keep long bodied single tails in that one

[Mr.Oranda]

Update: I still have him in the 20/short, and he’s done really well. I did a water change today and I am keeping the water quality as immaculate as I can. I noticed he’s still going to the top corner and chilling out. He will have bursts of energy and then rest. He’s still eating normally. I’m not sure if he just likes to rest at the top or what. He looks very good. His colors are vibrant and belly/shape is nice and full. When he is “resting” his dorsal fin is up and his other finds are flowing as you would expect from a resting goldfish. I will continue to watch him. The saga continues...

[koko]

1 hour ago, Mr.Oranda said:

Update: I still have him in the 20/short, and he’s done really well. I did a water change today and I am keeping the water quality as immaculate as I can. I noticed he’s still going to the top corner and chilling out. He will have bursts of energy and then rest. He’s still eating normally. I’m not sure if he just likes to rest at the top or what. He looks very good. His colors are vibrant and belly/shape is nice and full. When he is “resting” his dorsal fin is up and his other finds are flowing as you would expect from a resting goldfish. I will continue to watch him. The saga continues...

If you can find him some duckweed. that will give him some good food to nibble on whiles he's up there. Sometimes it even fixes the issue  

[Mr.Oranda]

Great suggestion! I have a friend who is always trying to get rid of duckweed I’ll ask for some. I forgot to mention that I treated with another round of prazi when I put him back in the 20 gallon. Although, my quarantine process has worked well in the past I wasn’t completely sure he didn’t have flukes or some sort of parasite that would labor his breathing. Something I couldn’t see. So his problem could be parasitic, after the water change today and another dose of prazi he looks even bette

Edited August 21, 2019 by Mr.Oranda

[koko]

11 hours ago, Mr.Oranda said:

Great suggestion! I have a friend who is always trying to get rid of duckweed I’ll ask for some. I forgot to mention that I treated with another round of prazi when I put him back in the 20 gallon. Although, my quarantine process has worked well in the past I wasn’t completely sure he didn’t have flukes or some sort of parasite that would labor his breathing. Something I couldn’t see. So his problem could be parasitic, after the water change today and another dose of prazi he looks even bette

I like to treat my fish once a year with Prazi. I feel better and I do notice the fish always look and feel better after. Some fish will 😡 when you treat them. My Zac fish does everytime. But she's really happy after.

Good on ya. For doing the Prazi. Yeah duckweed is a natural food for them. I got a golf ball size of it for my 12 big fry in the pond. They ate it all in 4 days.😲

[Mr.Oranda]

Update: after the last round of prazi my fish is doing great! I returned him to the main tank and he is swimming around and going nuts now that he’s back with his friends. I do notice at night he’s still parks at the top a little bit but he’s not gasping and his swim bladder is fine. After a while he goes to the bottom and sleeps. I will buy another tank in the future that isn’t as tall and put him in it, I think that will definitely help. Now that I know more about goldfish than I did when I bought this tank I will not buy one that tall again.

Thanks for the help guys. When I get photobucket set up again I will take some pics of him and this new ranchu I have. The ranchu has a perfect black stripe that runs through the middle of his body but only on one side! It’s something else.

Thanks again, I hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

[koko]

3 hours ago, Mr.Oranda said:

Update: after the last round of prazi my fish is doing great! I returned him to the main tank and he is swimming around and going nuts now that he’s back with his friends. I do notice at night he’s still parks at the top a little bit but he’s not gasping and his swim bladder is fine. After a while he goes to the bottom and sleeps. I will buy another tank in the future that isn’t as tall and put him in it, I think that will definitely help. Now that I know more about goldfish than I did when I bought this tank I will not buy one that tall again.

Thanks for the help guys. When I get photobucket set up again I will take some pics of him and this new ranchu I have. The ranchu has a perfect black stripe that runs through the middle of his body but only on one side! It’s something else.

Thanks again, I hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

That's great news. Yeah it took me a while too to figure out that long shallow tanks are better for them.

I really wished I had gotten a 100 gallon pond than my 70 gallon.

You can upload photos here👍

[Arctic Mama]

Woohoo! I’m glad the tank change and prazi helped!