File :-(, x, )
well shit Anonymous
I recently set up a 20-gal fish tank, its got three amazon swordplants, a lava rock arch, two small snails, a whisper 20 filter, and a 6-inch airstone.

I had a small feeder goldfish from somewhere else, and I went and bought a shubunkin goldfish to accompany him. The shubunkin has always been skittish and not very hungry, and the feeder goldfish is always bullying him and not letting him eat. The only way I get the shubunkin to eat is to distract the feeder then sinking flakes right in front of the shubunkin, even then, he usually spits out his food.
Now he has started to lay on the bottom of the tank, almost all the time


what is wrong with my fish?!?!?

also, he does NOT have ick(ich?),or any discoloration and I put both fish in the tank at the same time.

pic related
>> Anonymous
help me /an/
>> Anonymous
what are your water parameters? (Nitrite, NitrAte, Ammonia)
>> Anonymous
Some fish are picky eaters. Try giving him something else to eat, peas (squeeze the pea meat out of the shell and give it to fish) lettuce, zuchinni, freeze dried bloodworms/plankton, different brands of pellets.

as for laying on the bottom we need to know the water params as said above
>> Anonymous
http://www.petfish.net/forum/index.php/board,5.0.html
>> Anonymous
Op here
unfortunately I don't have any ammonia/nitrate testing strips, I really need to pick some up

I do have pool test strips tho, the hardness is around 300, the ph is ~7.8-8.0, the total alkalinity is ~180
and I've tried the peas, the shubunkin wont even go for it, the feeder loves em tho. I have both flakes and pellets, the shubunkin seems to like the flakes a little better, he doesnt seem to have the patience to keep nibble at a pellet
>> Anonymous
The feeder goldfish gave him AIDS
>> Anonymous
You can go to a Local Pet Store and ask them to test the water, and give the numbers
most pet stores do it free
>> Anonymous
bullying him.
you said it yourself, your fish is stressed out.
remove him from tank.
>> Anonymous
that tank is extremely bare, which probably isn't helping with the stress issues.
>> Anonymous
>>161504
Whilst bare, that is a nice looking setup.

ITT, cool looking fishtanks.
>> Anonymous
>>161519

pH is high. You could bring it down by doing a (25%) water change, but since you just set it up, it would be a little risky. I think that you put the shubunkin in too soon. Generally, you'd want to wait for a few days to allow the feeder to establish a stable environment. You're bound to hit nitrite spikes when starting a new tank within the first two weeks (especially with plants). Plus, feeders are not good starter fish. They're hardy, but they're also very diseased since they're bred to feed other animals. It is possible that it infected your shubunkin, but more than likely, the fish is suffering from the conditions of the tank. You don't have a heater in your tank, do you? Shubunkin like cold water.

Anyway, that's all I can think of... good luck!
>> Anonymous
>>161833

if the op's pH is way different than the pH the fish are used to, then yeah that could be a problem. but the water here where i live has pretty high pH, so fish at pet stores are already adjusted to this particular water quality.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
#1 dont get anymore fish. When full grown the common goldie will be fuckhuge(5-6inches long), the shubunkin will be larger, and should be kept in a pond, or a huge several hundred gallon indoor tank. General rule of thumb for goldfish is 20gallons per goldie.

the whole being able to raise a goldsish in a bowl is an oldwives tale. A huge load of shit. And goldfish dont sie all the time like you always hear about. Ive got an orange oranda, thats two years old and the size of a fucking grapefruit. As long as I take care of her she could easily live to 20+ and get even bigger.

Dont feed goldfish flakes. It is the biggest load of shit ever. Go and buy sinking pellets. When they gulp down flakes at the surface for every meal they tak air into their digestive system and this can cause loads of problems. Plus flakes are messy as fuck and will cloud up your tank in no time. Sinking pellets, prevent them from suckign in air, and the pellest hold tpgether keeping the water clean.

Chekc this goldfish forum. the pople there know everythign you could possibly want to know about goldies. Fish nerds, if you will.

http://www.goldfishparadise.com/
>> Anonymous
>>161913

Also adding, did you JUST setup the tank and throw in fish? Bad idea. Probably why your fish are acting sick. You ahve to let the bacteria in the biological filter grow. The bacteria eats ammonia and breaks it down into nitrates and nitrites.

If you dont give the tank time for this bacteria to grow, your fish are just sitting in water with ammonia that just keeps building up and will kill them.

best way to do this is chucka frozen raw prawn into your tank and let it rot for two weeks. Bam, youve got bacteria ready to go. Put in one fish every week or two as to not overload your bio-filter.

Also dont buy thoe shitty carbon/ammonia removing packets. Huge ripoff. Youll end up spending tons of money every month on them.

Buy some cermaic rings. You only have to buy them once. Use those and some sponges you can buy at hardware stores. Put sponges in the filter first, then thwe rings second. Sponge removes most of the filth, and nice clean water flows though the rings allowing the maximum amount of ammonia eating bacteria to grow.
>> 4tran
>>161914
Isn't a decomposing prawn going to generate even moar ammonia, as well as stink up the entire residential complex?
>> tigerfeather !CrwtTbFNxQ
>>161913
20 gallons per goldfish? I think that's a little high. My recommendation is 2 gallons per inch of ADULT goldfish, not a whole pond or several hundred gallons. As long as a person has a bigger filter than needed (such as an Aquaclear 30 for a 20 gallon tank), and a well-kept tank, then there shouldn't be a problem.

Test your water at your local petstore, see what advice is given (if you go to a corporate store, ask to see the department manager or department lead to make sure that the advice is correct), and follow that. A tank that's less that four or five weeks old isn't nearly old enough for the fish you want....you should have stuck with just the cheap feeder for now.
>> Anonymous
>>161931

>>20 gallons per goldfish? I think that's a little high.
But most gold fish will get at least 10 inches long, soooo..
>>My recommendation is 2 gallons per inch of ADULT goldfish
You agree with the 20g per goldfish.
>> Anonymous
>>161943

And will take 5 years to grow that big. At which point the feeder goldfish has probably outlived its worth. Fish NEVER grow as big as people claim they do, because they are never in the perfect conditions required.
>> Anonymous
>>161965

Ah yes, of course. They don't deserve appropriate care because they cost twelve cents.
>> Anonymous
>>161966

And since when did "appropriate care" involve giving it space many times what it needs in its entire lifespan?
>> Anonymous
This thread needs to be archived for all the wrong reasons.
>> Anonymous
especially goldfish poop, poop and poop.
They are shit-machines.
The larger the tank and filter, the less problems you have.
>> Anonymous
Op here, I did have the tank set up for a week before I introduced the fish, and I attempted to start the cycle by feeding the tank fish flakes every day.

I DO have a heater, but it is not turned on and I keep the water ~77 F

one interesting note, the shubunkin is more active when I'm not around, or when it is darker in the room. Maybe he is just nervous and stressed, I'm off to the pet store to get some more plants anyways, I was thinking two more sword plants, some java fern, and a type of bunch plant to float on the surface

I also have these sinking goldfish pellets, I have found out the shubunkin IS eating these, hes pooping for the first time.

So seeing some progress, but I'm also getting some test strips when I'm getting the plants.
>> Anonymous
>>161724

Yeah lack of an environment doesn't help at all. New tank. New water. Baren living space. All that equals a lot of stress for any creature.

Work on getting the environment and set-up darkened areas where it can hide.
>> Anonymous
op here, the shubunking died last night

interesting thing about it tho, it had a red stringy-looking thing coming out of its gills
what could this be and what does it mean?
>> Anonymous
>>162419

lawls is that sum parasite?
>> Anonymous
>>161504
Careful of overloading your tank with plants, they're usually harder to care for. Especially since your tank is a plain gravel set up, pick your plants carefully. Also, you should buy some construction paper and give your tank a background (backdrop is what they're call? i forget), it helps a lot in reducing stress. Stick with something dark like, dark green, black, dark blue. Stay away from bright colours, white, red, neon, etc.
As for your goldfish, sorry to hear. You should let the feeder cycle the tank a while longer before buying a new fish.
>> Anonymous
Camallanus cotti is a red parasitic worm.
Lives in the intestines though.
>> Anonymous
>>162429
wow, this Camallanus cotti looks like the thing coming out of the shubunkin's gills. My theory is that the parasite found out the fish was dead and decided to move on

I'm doing a water change and gravel cleaning tomorrow just in case theres any more parasite eggs, worms, etc.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
You have the same tank and setup as me, except the airstone. Anyways in pic is my 6 year old feeder goldfish which is I'm guessing 6 or 7 inches long, just compare it to the size of the filter I guess( same filter as in OP's pic btw.) Had a second fish with him but it got "popeye" or and died a month or two ago.

Also I've been feeding him flakes ever since I got him and he seems fine.
>> Anonymous
>>162640
our tanks our frighteningly similar

and I find it strange my 14 cent feeder goldfish is alive and THRIVING, this guy never stops moving, he recognizes me and comes to the top for food, will even nibble on my finger every now and then

but the fish I paid three bucks for died after not even a week
>> test Anonymous
test
>> Anonymous
>>162649
Same as mine, whenever I enter the kitchen (where the tank is at) he keeps swimming back and forth the side of the tank closest to me until I lean over the tank and drop food at which point he swims up and waits for me to pretty much directly drop into his mouth.

My other fish on the other hand (one that died) cost the same as him but it had huge fins and a huge tail so I'm guessing it was more decorational, yet it never swam up to eat or even recognized me. Still an unpleasant suprise to find it dead after having it for 6 years.

Also to add to the similarity in the tanks, I have the lid and the light too but I never use the light since it seems to annoy the fish and prevents him from swimming up even when I want to feed him.
>> fortune
a bit hazy try again
>> Anonymous
fags
>> Anonymous
barrel roll?
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
Are you sure they are proper tank buddies?>

I say eat the goldfish. It's not like you are going to lose a family friend..


in that case.. Why not eat a family friend as well.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
Meet Knuckles :D
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>162774

argh, wrong picture.

Here's the right one
>> Anonymous
is it weird for my goldfish to be so affectionate?

the whole time i was cleaning the tank he was just hanging out by my hand, he comes to the front glass when i walk in, he follows my fingers, every time I open the lid he goes to the top and ALWAYS nibbles my finger before even taking a bite (i hold the goldfish flakes underwater so they sink for him)