Frantic Behaviour In My Goldfish!

[Guest swimityswim]

I'm sorry if Ive posted this in the wrong place...I'm new!

I did a patial water change today, and about an hour or so later one of my goldfish started to act very strangely. Firstly his fins are clamped, and then he starts to swim around manically as if he's hyper...and then he starts bouncing off the gravel (is this called flashing??). Now hes started to pince the other goldfish and chase them around. I'm really worried about him...and the others, although I cant see anything physically wrong with any of them! Any ideas???

[lynda441]

I'm not a moderator or anyone who might be able to give any technical advice, but the first thing is, you need to answer all of the questions. That helps so much toward understanding where the problem lies. But, my first comment is that when you have a fish react frantically, it's because of a sudden change. Usually, it's reaction to ammonia poisoning, but it could also be chlorine or something like that and the traditional response to initially fix this problem is to do a major to complete water (75%-100%) change making sure you use dechlorinator and some stress coat if they aren't already together in the same bottle. But that this occurred right after a water change is curious. How large a water change did you do and did you use dechlorinator? How might this water change have differed from previous ones?

[*]Test Results for the Following:

Ammonia Level?

Nitrite Level?

Nitrate level?

Ph Level, (If possible,KH and GH and chloramines)?

Ph Level (KH/GH) out of the Tap?

Brand of test-kit used? (strips or drops?)

[*]Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running?

[*]What is the name and size of the filter/s?

[*]How often do you change the water and how much?

[*]How many fish in the tank and their size?

[*]What kind of water additives or conditioners?

[*]Any medications added to the tank?

[*]Add any new fish to the tank?

[*]What do you feed your fish?

[*]Any unusual findings on the fish such as

"grains of salt",

bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?

[*]Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating,ect..?

[rocmills]

I'm no expert here, either, but the last time I saw behavior like what you are describing is when I did a large water change and the new water was much warmer than the old water. It isn't just chemicals that can make them go berserk, water which is not matched in temperature can also cause this behavior.

--Roc

[Pixiefish]

Any difference in PH, temperature or forgetting to use de-chlorinator can have a fish swimming beserk.

Post up all the answers to the white box as Lynda has suggested and we will be able to help you more.

[Guest swimityswim]

Thanks for all your replies!

I'm afraid I can't test for nitrate or ph, etc as I don't yet have a testing kit.

Tank size is 55 litres and has been running for a month

We do a 30% water change every 5 days, and have done one larger water change since we've had the tank, probably about a 70% change.

I can't tell you what strength the filter is as the box has gone, but it was bought from the pet shop with the tank so is suitable for its size...think it was for a 50litre plus tank.

No medications.

3 fish..all fancy goldfish. Only had them a month so theyre still quite small!

Fish always fed with the sera goldy royal food that the pet shop suggested.

No signs of illness physically (no grains of salt or cotton wool type things!)

The fish that has been acting strangley is now hiding in the corner, and has been all day! Although he did eat two grains of food today. His fins are still clamped though. The other 2 fish seem fine...its very puzzling.

I definately added the dechlorinator to the water when I changed it. If it was due to the water being slightly too warm or too cold...should he have returned to normal (so to speak!) by now...its well over 24 hours ago?

[scaring]

Hi and Welcome.

I'm also a newbie, so I'm just going to let you know you are in good hands. Pixiefish has helped me and this forum is very good about getting back to you with knowledgeable information and wisdom.

The main problem is that they REALLY need the info listed above in order to help you. If you can afford to get one, I would suggest going as soon as you can. It's the only way they can know with more certainty what is wrong. Is there a friend that might have a test kit you could borrow? If you buy one and can afford to, get a master drop kit. They are better than the strips which can be inaccurate.

As far as the poor fishy still being stressed, if the water was off by more than a few degrees, it can send some of the more delicate fish into shock. Since this fish is so new, it might not have fully recovered from being taken to a new home, especially if you bought the fish shortly after it was delivered to the fish store.

The moderators live all over the world, so sometimes it might take a few hours for one to get back to you, just be patient. You caught it early.

[Pixiefish]

Well, perhaps the best thing to do next is to either get a test kit, or to at least get the fish store to test your water for you. We need exact numbers rather than pet store readings like 'OK' or 'safe'.

It is very hard to diagnose problems without a full water picture as some water issues will have a fish clamping in the same way as a parasite load. Without ruling out a water problem we cannot progress to the next step which would be looking for parasites..