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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 14, 2010 13:27:57 GMT -5
It sounds like something in the water or a disease that kills fast. It's just a shot in the dark but have you looked into Costia? I have never had it in my tanks but I hear it kills in 24-48 hours or something with few symptoms. I know you have given a few symptoms here and there as you have posted but I feel if I know more that could be helpful. Are there any symptoms all across the board your fish are having? And what symptoms (if they vary from fish to fish) do the individuals have? The sudden death, itching, and general lack of symptoms keep on making me think of Costia. Also, did you add anything few such as a decoration or something else into your water? Another thought is some kind of poisoning from something in the tank. I do know you started the whole thing over and sterilized everything earlier when this was going on. Here's an article on Costia. This disease seems to affect koi and goldfish but I have not heard it doesn't affect tropical fish. www.aquariumoddities.com/goldfish/health/costia/
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 13, 2010 22:54:06 GMT -5
I think there is a possibility I may be underfeeding. I looked at Foneme and Aztec and Foneme seems even thinner than the last time I checked. This worries me greatly. I notice Foneme and Aztec (mainly the fish that are thin) air-suck after the initial minute they are fed opposed to foraging like the fatter ones. Meaning they aren't foraging to get enough. I looked at my male betta and Puon and Oranda and they look underweight too. These fish forage plenty so I think I may be underfeeding.
I don't really pay attention to the what the fish can eat in 3-5 minutes rule. I normally guess but what I see is my goldfish don't produce much waste like they are rumored to.
So, if anyone could give me a formula for how much per inch of fish or a video feeding demonstration that would be helpful. I am not positive fo the cause of this but I know I struggle to keep my goldfish's weight up. The fact that this is happening in multiple tanks is with different fish what concerns me.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 13, 2010 19:50:27 GMT -5
Thanks for the reasurrance you two. Babygeige, I hadn't known the age of the filter when you posted about it. If I had known before that the filter was 4 years old, I wouldn't have been so worried by your post (filters break down after a while). I'm no longer worried about my Aqua-Clear. Thanks for clearing things up everyone.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 13, 2010 19:39:58 GMT -5
Thanks Babygeige. I have not had one die in 4 years now. They may have issues but I rarely have problems with them disease wise.
Here's more info on them.
Fish with defects.
Aztec- None other than inability to gain weight.
Alden- Possible swimbladder problem (most likely just air sucking), tail fin is constantly tinted with blood + white coloration (possible fungus or parasite) that disappears and reappears. This was been going on 1 1/2 years with no signs of worsening and I have medicated the fish which didn't work so I let this fish be. Structural abdomonal problem, hard to tell weight b/c of this but may have problem putting on weight although I am unsure due to the fish's defect. Fish is active and nibbles my finger the hardest of all my goldfish. It is obsessed with nibbling one particular floating plan in the tank for food.
Hansel - Only defect the one I mentioned in my first post.
Foneme - Inability to gain weight
Wickren - None (Very friendly healthy fish)
Nemo - None (Has gained weight from increased feeding as of late (which is good), never had weight problem.)
Oranda - Her eyes have become fluid filled (like a bubble eye). I am unsure if this is a result of a cross with another variety of goldfish or if it is genetic. The fish is blind but searchs around in the gravel I can hear it searching across the room at night.
Puon - Slowly expanding abdonomal cavity (may be fluid retention or tumor). The oldest of my fish, she sometimes gets stuck on the bottom. I have tried medication and baths to no avail. The fish begs me whenever I come close to the tank and is ethusiastic when it comes to food.
Puon has a slightly strange shaped nose, possibly attributed to how it couldn't get food in its mouth easily which developed a year after I got it. This eating impairement has improved and doesn't seem like much of an issue anymore. This fish's days are probably numbered...
Kona- None, is very fat and is growing at a rapid rate.
Saylme- None, came from a tank with deformed fish (most likely malnutrition), has blossomed w/ no obvious problems from troubled past.
Puon and Oranda are kept together in well maintained 10 gallon tank. I have them together due to their genetic problems worse than the others. I attribute their small tank size somewhat to the severity of their defects. The other 8 goldfish are in a 40 gallon.
They've been the same basically since I got them. This ranges from 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 years. The older ones have the most noticable defects which have appeared very gradually as they aged, like a period of many months.
EDIT: To anwer your question, Foneme used to be much fatter but has lost weight and has been thin for at least 1 1/2 years. Aztec may have also been a little heavier but I am unsure as I used to pay little attention to their weight. At times they manage to gain a little.
So to answer your question, despite having interest in food, they have gone downhill but VERY slowly but they seemed healthier when I got them.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 13, 2010 15:36:43 GMT -5
Beautiful set-up. Were those rummy-nose tetras and a bala shark i saw in there?
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 13, 2010 15:34:08 GMT -5
Not to get off topic but I hope this doesn't mean my Via Aqua HOB which is for about 45-70 gallons is junk. It was been working great so far in the few months I've had it but this post makes me worried it will malfunction. Sorry to prod into a thread like this but this has me a bit concerned. I want the best filtration for my fish and don't like filter malfunctions (mine has not malfunctioned though.)
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 13, 2010 15:29:23 GMT -5
I thought of something that may be a way to vary my fish's diet more. I have many tropical fish foods and many foods reserved for goldfish but I never feed the goldfish food to my tropical fish or vice versa. I am wondering if feeding them each other's foods (say only once a week) would help them nutritionally provided it suits their dietary requirements like I wouldn't for example feed my goldfish a betta food high in protein and animal matter, but perhaps something I feed my guppies that is higher in fiber/plant matter.
Would this work?
Thanks. Renee
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 13, 2010 15:25:30 GMT -5
I have a small rescued goldfish named Hansel. She is totally white in color (not a true albino though) and is fat and eats well. I noticed she has a deformity though. My goldfish always open their mouths VERY wide when I come to the tank to say "I'm hungry! Feed me!" and when I see Hansel open it's mouth in the feeding gesture, part of the right side of its mouth is closed by some skin. And there is a tiny hole next to it near where the opening to the right side of its mouth should continue on Furthermore, it is lacking one nostril (the other is fine) which is instead between the right side of its mouth and eye.
This fish has never had an injury to its mouth or a disease that could have caused this known in the history I have had it which is about 2 1/2 years.
The fish eats well and is noticably chubby and active despite its small size. Though this is probably just something silly the fish does (probably unrelated) , it likes to look for food on the otherside of leaves and other things in the tank.
So, to the question, is this likely to become a problem as the fish ages? And if it skin grows to cover more of its mouth so it has trouble eating (which I don't think is happening right now), what should I do?
This seems like a genetic defect to me. It is not noticable on the fish except when it opens its mouth wide and begs for food at close range.
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I am also concerned about a few other fish in the tank. They do not put on weight easily (though some others in the tank do very easily). One, Aztec has been very thin since I got it and others seen to battle to keep their weight up. I tried meds for internal parasites a year ago with no results. The fish with weight problems eat well (although sometimes they look for food in the wrong place when a flake is right under their nose). Many of them have deformities that have risen up with age and due to poor genetics. (All were once feeder fish who were rescued.)
All are very enthusiastic at feeding time and are active (namely at feeding time.)
I read in one of Carl's articles that symptoms of fish TB are a sunken belly (anorexicness), lethargicness, etc. Their only symptoms of this are their weight (minus symptoms other genetic problems that are unrelated). The fish are fed twice daily (probably a little too much), what they can eat in 5 minutes about. I feed them Spirulina 20 every morning and Aqueon Goldfish Flakes every night with algae wafers every so often but probably not enough.
Though I think it is unlikely, does it sound like fish TB? What else does it sound like it could be?
Thanks. Renee
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 13, 2010 15:03:30 GMT -5
Nice additions to the article Carl. I liked how you added some new medications to your list and also the info you provided on Aquatronics.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 11, 2010 15:30:15 GMT -5
Nice video. The fish definitely look good. Your mollies nibbling at the filter remind me of my goldfish at feeding time. Only mine are much more in a rush and determined to look in every nook and cranny of their tank for food. lol
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 11, 2010 15:26:19 GMT -5
I just glanced over your article. Good use of adding detail so the beginner reader can understand.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 9, 2010 20:25:08 GMT -5
Thanks for answering my question. I hope I can still add a little salt to tetra tanks though. I prefer to have a little as a preventive measure and also since all fish (to my knowledge, even catfish) require a tiny bit of salt in their systems. It won't stress them to a little in there would it? Say 1/3 teaspoon per 5 gallons?
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 9, 2010 20:20:50 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about your loss. Best of luck with the others.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 9, 2010 16:19:49 GMT -5
I haven't written in a while because nothing of significance (other than the fish are doing well) has been going on.
Here is the good news (which there is a lot of when it comes to them).
They are never in hiding (unless I am doing a major cleaning on the tank lol), there were absolutely no problems with the tank cycling, and clean-up has been easy (they are not messy). Also, I have not lost another fish nor has any become sick at any point. They do nip but at an acceptable level and when they tear each other's fins slightly, it heals up incredibly fast. They seem happy and go into feeding frenzy mode during feeding time. They're also not really into schooling and like their space contrary to being schooling fish.
My only question as far as care is concerned when it comes to their care is how much salt they tolerate. Being soft water and considering where they come from I'd imagine they don't like much salt. I've been adding probably 1/3 or less tablespoons per 5 gallons.
Not to get off topic, but speaking of salt, is the general rule of 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons good for goldfish? I have always given them that much but have never been totally sure on it.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 7, 2010 11:39:14 GMT -5
Thanks for teh update. I think having descriptions on how to care for specific species of plants is good.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 5, 2010 16:18:12 GMT -5
It might be because the temperature fell. I'm not sure if flowerhorns can handle whatever temps they're in or not but based on an educated guess, I'd recommend moving them indoors and/or increasing the temperature of their water.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 5, 2010 16:16:37 GMT -5
I'm not sure to what advice I can give on this one but sorry to hear about your misfortunes. Hope the meds work and the fish recover. Best of luck Cashay/Sherry!
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 1, 2010 16:15:49 GMT -5
Sorry to hear that your fish died. I hope the rest are doing well.
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 30, 2010 12:16:53 GMT -5
I think that is pretty normal. I have heard that the same happens with goldfish when it goes into the 50's and also other sources. However, I'm not sure how healthy it is for them, especially if it is way of of their temperature range.
I had a teacher who I gave 2 betta fish to. They were in a 5 gallon but the electricity when out twice. When it got to in the 50's, they got really slow and once it got into the 40's they died of the cold. My teacher wasn't too happy about this of course and decribed it as finding them dead, belly up. I highly recommened that you get a heater if the temperature will fall too much.
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 26, 2010 16:56:06 GMT -5
I read the article and why the debris wasn't getting picked up makes a lot more sense now. I realized I was basically just letting the sponge sit in the tank with the air running nearby. Not very efficient. lol My sponge filters seem to be working a lot better now thanks to your help.
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