Hole-In-The Head Or Similar

[Guest zeraph-dylan]

Hello. I am new to this forum (hi) and I recently purchased three medium sized goldfish from a chain retailer. The fish were kept in large, densely populated tanks like most goldfish in stores. When I got them home, one (who had seemed just a little wonky) began to sicken. He floated strangely, his top fin was down, going upside down in the bubbler as if for relief, and his pigments seemed to change (in his eyes). He ultimately just seemed to rot away and died.

The next fish had come from the dealer healthy seeming but with fin down, is now on the brink of death. Appears to have lost pigmentation/shininess, looks awful, some kind of long string has come off of it, eyes depigmented, and blooms of white beginning to appear on decimated fins. I isolated and added a little salt.

My remaining fish seems FINE. My question is: should I take special care with this fish? Am I dealing with something contagious? Related to my water parameters or those of the dealer most likely?

Some backup info:

Water temp ranges between 60 and 70 degrees. 10 gallon tank, fishless for a couple months, added h20 from established tropical tank. Basic cheapy filter. 1 week, coming up on first water change. Allotin conditioner. Feed 1x/day, goldfish flakes. Only unusual thing is that while this tank was fishless, I had to treat the room w/ a flea fogger. I covered the tank with a plastic bag, so any contamination would have been minimal.

Thanks y'all! I hope not to lose this remaining fish!

<3

[number20121]

Hello!

10 gallons is too small for goldfish. As a rule of thumb, 20 gallons for the first, 10 gallons each for every other fish. Having them in a 10 gallon tank right now requires a lot of water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite down.

But don't feel too bad, we all started out wrong, ESPECIALLY me.

So I would do a BIG water change right now to get out as much as possible of whatever might be in there.

Also in general flakes are not good food for fish. They lack nutrition and by eating from the surface fish tend to swallow a lot of air which might result in swim bladder disorders. Slow sinking pellets are your best choice for fish food!

The more experienced members here will probably be able to help you a lot more

[Hidr]

Not a lot I can help you with until you answer ALL the questions up top. But this is a few thing I see might help. Get a test kit and start testing adding to many fish to such a small tank might of crashed your cycle. So until you get a test kit do daily 80% water changes. Also see about a bigger tank asap. One goldfish need 20 gallons and 10 for each fancy after that. Long bodied fish need 20 gallons each.

Also be sure you soak the flake food for about 10 min and squeeze the air out really good before you feed and start looking for a good quality sinking pellet for your goldfish.

I would at this point see about the test kit bigger tank and getting us the info we need to further help you from the top of the page.

[Guest zeraph-dylan]

Hi!

Thanks for your responses. Here's some test info:

PH- 8.0 (tap same)

Nitrite - 2.0

Temp- 60 degrees F

Ammonia - 0.25ppm

Nitrate - 10 ppm

The other one is exploring and looking for food, seems very normal and relaxed. Going to do a water change now. Thanks- feel free to move this discussion if desired.

Definitely can't buy anotehr tank right now. I think I'll do the frequent changes and try to get a good bio filter going. THANKS to every one who has yet responded.

[dogsbykat]

Welcome! Sorry you're having fishy trouble. If you can't afford a bigger tank right now, you can always use a rubbermaid tote as a temporary home. Either way, you'll need good filtration to keep them healthy: 10xgph, so a 10 gallon needs a filter pumping 100 gallons per hour. You should do large daily water changes until you get 0 ammonia and nitrite and around 10 nitrate.

[kukana d]

BIG water change ASAP-you need to get the nitrites way down............Good luck to you and your fish

[Hidr]

I would get a rubbermaid or keep an eye on craiglist.com for a new tank. Or maybe tank all but one fancy goldfish back and do daily water changes till you can get the bigger tank. (Ask for one for Christmas)

Good luck

[Lupin]

What test kit were you using?

Why is your temperature very low?

Do you have a heater already?

When you decided to get your fish, did your ammonia and nitrite count at ZERO?

I'm surprised your other fish is "okay" while you have a very high nitrite. Perhaps the bacteria slowed down from that very low temperature. If your temperature fluctuates between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, please get a heater. Only a heater can help keep the temperature stabilized and prevent further losses. Yes, temperature fluctuations can kill your fish quickly and temperature dips can cause your fish and bacteria to slow down.

How did you acclimate your fish?

Were the temperature between tank and bag water evenly matched when you introduced your new fish?

Were they kept in insulated containers on the way home?

These are another questions that came to my mind when you mentioned about how your first fish died besides the fact it got "wonky".

Welcome to KGW!

[theaquaticlibrary]

which method did you use to cycle your tank as your water parameters are way off.

there should be zero readings for ammonia and nitrites, these are lethal to the fish.