Goldfish Bottom aquarium floor

//Goldfish Bottom aquarium floor

Goldfish Bottom aquarium floor

Goldfish on bottom of aquarium floor

The past few weeks I have been having problems with my goldfish on bottom of aquarium. I have maintained my water parameters (kh=137, gh=322, ph=8.15, nitrates=5ish; no nitrate, chlorine, or ammonia) the water is Crystal clear and temp is about 71-72. There is no sign of fun damage and the gills are normal. He sits on the bottom and kind of hops around. He swims to the top and grabs an air bubble then swims back down and holds it for a while then blows it out and does it again

Goldfish bottom sitting

He has done this before but recovered within a week or so. This time he is staying like this. It has been almost a month and I am truly at a loss as to what I can do. I have dosed with chlorophyll, aloe, melafix, pimafix, I have tried different water change intervals. I have given him a salt bath.

Goldfish on bottom

Nothing seems to help him. I have tried only feeding breakfast, (only a few peas). I don’t know what else to try. Any suggestions? I’m worried about my little guy!  :unsure:

Goldfish on bottom

By | 2019-04-01T18:56:24-05:00 April 15th, 2016|Categories: Goldfish Koi Health Issues|

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6 Comments

  1. Venus April 15, 2016 at 12:43 pm

    As long as he’s only bottom sitting, and not starting to curl, he should improve. He’s probably been on a steady diet of SSG

  2. jds627 April 15, 2016 at 11:38 am

    I just realized that another big difference is that I used to fill the buckets in the bath tub but now use the kitchen faucet. This means that the water is now running through the flow restrictor/aerator. like you said that compounds the problem. I feel good armed with this new info and think I can him happy soon!

  3. Venus April 15, 2016 at 9:30 am

    Sounds like a plan, allowing the pump to work the water over. If the gases are strong enough, working the water over by hand may not be enough

    Even though the faucet is the main culprit, the water is under pressure just to get to your home, and every location, every faucet is different. When I run freshwater, I set the faucet on low. At my old house, I had the cap removed which made all the difference

    If you can keep the water free of SSG, Timmy should improve, but it will take some time

  4. jds627 April 15, 2016 at 8:03 am

    When I do water changes i dip and pout the water as i fill the bucket in order to try and break up the ssgs. I guess i should do it longer, or prepare the water change and let my third pump run in it all day before i add it to the tank. I think I will try that. Thank you for the suggestion! I think he will be ok. I will let them go longer between water changes now too, since it does not seem to be an issue that requires water changes but may actually be the opposite.

  5. Venus April 15, 2016 at 7:51 am

    I wonder if Timmy has been exposed to supersaturated gases? I know you moved recently, and this means there was a lot of fresh water being added to the tank. The symptoms are very similar to nitrate poisoning. The fish sits on the bottom due to the increased pressure in the body, and if the exposure continues or was severe, the fish even bends to one side

    SSG are relatively unheard of in the fish industry, but a lot of fish will be effected, and even die. Caused by forced pressure in tap water, they must be eliminated from freshwater before every water change. Some water has more; some has less depending on the amount of pressure the water has been subjected too. We don’t always notice the tiny bubbles that accumulate on the glass

    SSG are absorbed into the body just like oxygen, only they’re not utilized. They often form in pockets under the skin, looking like tumors, but sometimes they end up in the blood stream

    I once did a test, filling a glass of water, and letting it sit. I wanted to see just how long the SSG would remain in the glass. Over a week later, they were still present in small amounts

    When a fish has been exposed, it feels as though it’s suffocating, hence the surfacing and gasping at air

    Unfortunately, there’s no treatment that I know of. Just as though he’d been exposed to nitrates, keep the tank as full as possible, exchanging only small amounts at a time during a water change, and make doubly sure your freshwater is free of these gases

    You might check the walls of your tank to see if any SSG are hanging out in the tank, but probably not, if you have a pond pump. The action breaks up the gases, but not soon enough to keep your fish from being exposed after a water change

    Time, deep water and making doubly sure no more SSG get in the water is the key. After you prepare freshwater, scoop some up in a clear glass; let it sit for a good hour. Do you see any tiny bubbles on the sides of the glass? If so, the water hasn’t been worked over well enough

    I prepare my freshwater right after a water change. I have a little fluval filter set up in my freshwater bucket to eliminate SSG, as it also eliminates chlorine, making the water safe for the fish

    Fingers crossed for the little guy

  6. jds627 April 15, 2016 at 7:29 am

    I forgot to mention I also dose with h202 and have tried changing the water level to see if that makes a difference…but to no avail.

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