Hello, complete beginner!

[Doug]

I can only apologise to you not so novice fish lovers out there.

Suddenly this becomes more off topic:

Only one fish is left now, and it's a goldfish (a Comet with little tail left).
I added a heater to the tank with thermometer, and it seems quite content with sitting next to it all day, so that, along with the medication, here's hoping....

One worry I have is that it isn't eating much, but I'll see.

Also, I have since found out that the pet shop now has had an outbreak of finrot, and it's in one of the tanks I got some of the fish from. Even if there is a connection, I didn't exactly help.

The Comet(s)/Common Goldfish HAD white spots, etc, hence the mis - diagnosis. Ironic then that the sole survivor happens to be one of them.
I called it Blackfin due to it's tail and as pose to Blackbeard (also, there is another at my Mum's work <my Mum's a Primary teacher> called Blacktail) but it, err, doesn't really have a tail now, so I suppose the black bit now means invisible.

I'll get a decent size tank set up over the weekend, take lots of time to get the water all right, etc, be careful with what I get, and just hope my fish recovers so it can move in first, once I'm sure.

Thanks for all the help, Ive done just about everything wrong here, but, as they say, you sometimes have to break a few eggs to make an ommlette.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[bullisbm]

It is unfortunate to have learned the hard way, but you do seem to really have gotten something out of it.

Don't let this get you too down. I guarentee everyone here has had problems like this at one time or another. I know I have had my share of problems.

[Doug]

Thanks.

Looking after just one fish is a bit easier too, particularly when all it seems to want to do is snuggle

I'm not entirely sure if that's a good or bad sign, I've had the water at 78 - 80 degrees, which I now read can do damage, but it doesn't seem to be bothered - famous last words.
I've turned it down a little now anyway.



And not a Loach in sight!

Anyhow.

[janma]

Goldfish live in a temperature of maximum 72 degrees.

[Doug]

I have brought it down a bit as I read that it was 75 max.

Anyway, it is still alive and is receiving it's finrot treatment. It was eating last night, albeit sporadically.

Those white spots have appeared again though
I put in a tiny drop of the white spot medication also just for good measure.

Is that actually white spot, or are white spots also a symptom of fin rot??


Looks like I'll have to start again whatever, and we found a shop in Glasgow called Waterworld where they seem to know what they are talking about. So it would appear anyway.

Told us to euthanise the goldfish though leave the water for at least 2 weeks, test it, and then start again with a couple of small fish.

Seeing as I don't want to kill it, I have a problem.

[brett_fishman]

not sure if 2 weeks would be long enough to kill off all the ickies, maybe 4 weeks would be better

if this is still the 5g we're talking about, it is too small for most fish to live happily, with the exception being the betta, you could keep ONE betta in a 5g with NO OTHER FISH.. 5 gallons is the absolute minimum tank that anyone should keep a betta in

[Doug]

What they actually said was, leave it for 2 weeks and then test the water (we can take the water to them to check). I have to admit that, on reading things, I'd be inclined to leave it for longer also.

It is the 21 liter tank.

The other thing is, on getting a bigger tank, we used to have gerbils (which bred), and we have several large tanks from them. They lived in either Peat or wood/sawdust.

The question I have to ask is, if any of then need sealed, what should I use, and also, they will need cleaning out, so what can I use which will be safe??

I mean, surely the people who make the tanks treat them with something so they can make sure they are safe for use??

I need to check what size they are, but from memory, they were reasonably big (one we picked up from the local dump was HUGE).

I have not mentioned this previously as I have been unsure whether they would be safe to reuse.

[Doug]

Basically, how should I safely go about it??

[brett_fishman]

as far as i know, there is no way to test the water for disease and parasites

as for cleaning, i hear most people just clean their tanks with water+vinegar mix (i forget the ratio) then rinse it well afterwards

as for resealing, the gerbils may have nawed away the some of the silicone, i'd wait for a more experienced person to come by, but they may or may not have to be redone

[Doug]

I meant tests such as the water Ph, etc.

Yes, the gerbils knawed it as they do everything else!

Of course, we could seal it and then add water. I'd soon find out surely??

[brett_fishman]

if you left the tank running for 2 weeks or more, then got it tested, you'd have roughly the same pH, and unless something is seriously wrong with your filter, you'd have 0 ammonia, nitrites and nitrates

[Doug]

OK.

Anyway, I'll get the tanks out tomorrow/today and take a nosey at them.

Problem is that I'll be in Northern Ireland next week as part of my course, so unless I do something later today, there will be a 5 day gap.

Leave it somewhere (like the bath - we usually only take showers. Or, more likely, the garage) and see if it leaks over that time period.

[helen nightingale]

i am sure youcan buy proper aquarium safe sealant in some aquatics shops, so if you look at the tanks and decide the gerbils chewed toomuch, just be carefull to choose the right sealant. and if the tank is HUGE, then make sure there is bracing bars on it, to stop the tank from bowing out.

i too am not sure if leaving the old water and then testing it would help with your white spot situation. part of the life cycle of ick (white spot) involves the fish shedding bits of the ick organism, which can stay in the water.

you said about youd put a drop of whitespot treatment in. sorry, i cant remeber if you already said this, but have you checked that the fin rot treatment and the white spot treatment are OK to use together? as long as they are fine together, make sure you use the right dose of BOTH treatments, and complete the whole course of treatment. if you just put a little bit of treatment in, it may just weaken the ick and not kill it, and in the long term this can lead to drug resistance problems. also, some fish can carry ick without showing signs of it. if they get stressed for some reason, then all of a sudden the ick develops, even if you have added no new fish to cause the infection.

dont worry too much for now about a sick fish not eating too much. if it eats lots, there is a greater risk of it passing striaght through and polluting the water, which wont help its recovery from the finrot.

i know that a lot of people dont want to kill their fish, so dont fel bad about that. what i do if i need to kill a fish, is catch it and put it in a container of tank water, with some clove oil mixed in. this is an anasthetic to fish, and if you use a strong dose, it will put the fish to sleep permanantly. personally, i prefer to see a fish put out of its pain than let it die slowly, and this seems to be a painless way of doing it. i wouldnt want to just whack it on the head. sorry to be so grim here.

i hope it all works out for you soon

[Doug]

i am sure youcan buy proper aquarium safe sealant in some aquatics shops, so if you look at the tanks and decide the gerbils chewed toomuch, just be carefull to choose the right sealant. and if the tank is HUGE, then make sure there is bracing bars on it, to stop the tank from bowing out.

Yes, I was talking to someone, and they told me to take all of the sealant off, and then start again with aquatic safe sealant from somewhere called Coral (I'll have to look that one up).

you said about youd put a drop of whitespot treatment in. sorry, i cant remeber if you already said this, but have you checked that the fin rot treatment and the white spot treatment are OK to use together? as long as they are fine together, make sure you use the right dose of BOTH treatments, and complete the whole course of treatment. if you just put a little bit of treatment in, it may just weaken the ick and not kill it, and in the long term this can lead to drug resistance problems.

I added a single drop as I put in the finrot treatment. They aren't meant to be mixed, so I never did it again..

dont worry too much for now about a sick fish not eating too much. if it eats lots, there is a greater risk of it passing striaght through and polluting the water, which wont help its recovery from the finrot.

Ah. It has livened up a bit and was eating earlier.

i know that a lot of people dont want to kill their fish, so dont fel bad about that. what i do if i need to kill a fish, is catch it and put it in a container of tank water, with some clove oil mixed in. this is an anasthetic to fish, and if you use a strong dose, it will put the fish to sleep permanantly. personally, i prefer to see a fish put out of its pain than let it die slowly, and this seems to be a painless way of doing it. i wouldnt want to just whack it on the head. sorry to be so grim here.

Yes, I'd read of clove oil. Seemed the best of all the options.

i hope it all works out for you soon

Thanks, so do I.

[Doug]

Went away and got a phone call on Tuesday.

Oh well, at least I can start again properly this time.

Thanks again.