Telescope Goldfish

Question
Hello.
I have a rather large bowl for my fish, maybe about a gallon, I'm really not good with that kinda stuff. I don't have a filter. I've had the tank for one day- it's brand new.
I have one Telescope Goldfish that I bought yesterday at Petco. The temp is about 65 degress, I read it about an hour ago.

The reason I bought it in the first place was because I noticed that another fish (not the same type; it wasn't even supposed to be in there)was pickking on it by following him and bumping and "biting" his sides and fins. I didn't want him to get hurt so I bought him.
When I brought him home, I noticed that there is two problems:
1. He is missing his whole right gill cover. His gills are exposed on that side and are a dark blood red color. I didn't know if this could hurt him or was fatal. Also I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help him. Will it grow back?
2. He's not eating. I put his flakes on the top and he won't eat them. Then they sink to the bottom of the bowl and he STILL WON'T eat them. What do I do, is he okay?

He seems to be okay, his coloring is good and he has plenty of room in his bowl to wim around.

Thank you for answering my questions!!

Answer
Hi Chelsie,

I'm happy that you are trying to help this poor fish but at the same time I really wish that you would have done some research before purchasing this goldfish and a 'bowl'.  I think it should be illegal for pet stores to be allowed to sell bowls.  Nothing can lively safely in a bowl - NOTHING.

A goldfish, even a small telescope, REQUIRES a 20 gallon tank for one with 10 gallons for each additional goldfish and a filter for double this.  So one goldfish in a 20 gallon tank would need a 40 gallon filter.  Anything less just isn't enough to sustain the large bioload that goldfish produce and the ammonia will build up very rapidly (probably why he's lethargic & not eating) and will die.  Ammonia is a bi-product of waste and is fatally toxic to fish.  The biggest mistake people make with new fish is thinking that goldfish are easy and inexpensive.  Not the case at all.  They are more expensive to care for and their tanks require far more maintenance.  I have 4 fancy goldfish in a 55 gallon tank with a 110 gallon filter.  It's barely sufficient.

The other issue you are going to have, even in the right tank, is that it is not nitrogen cycled yet.  Every new tank goes through this and it takes 8-12 weeks to complete.  I always recommend that people do this without fish because if you attempt it with fish they die from the ammonia build up.

Unfortunately, pet shops, especially large chains, do not treat their fish well.  There have been many times I have gone in to buy supplies for my tanks and have seen the fish in deplorable conditions.  I wish I could rescue them all but I can't.

If you don't want to, or cannot upgrade to a larger tank (even 10 gallons with a 20 gallon filter would be better than the bowl although I don't advise it, especially with a sick fish) I would sadly return the fish to the store.  If you don't the bowl will kill him and even if you get the bigger tank he probably won't make it through the cycling process.  

What you need to do in the meantime is change the bowl water everyday.  Do not remove the fish, simply syphon most of the water out and replace with conditioned water of the same temp and double dose the Seachem's Prime (this is a water conditioner and detoxifier for the ammonia build up).  Be really careful doing this.  Excessive water changes will shock a fish and this is why you cannot do this long term.  I would also add the approproate amount (1 tsp per 5 gallons) of aquarium salt and Melafix for the wound to make sure that the he doesn't get a bacterial infection from the wound.

Your best chance of saving this fish is to get the right sized tank.  Even if you do, you will need to do 25% water changes every day for 4 months and double dose the Prime and use aquarium salts and Melafix to save him.  Heck, even a clear plastic rubbermaid container of 20+ gallons with a 40 gallon hang on filter would be cheap and better than nothing.

Hold off on feeding him for 2-3 days.  He sick and in a bowl with no filter and the ammonia is not making him hungry.  Try one or two flakes in a couple of days.  Whatever he doesn't eat, scoop out because this attributes to the ammonia.

Also, don't mistake an injury for a natural chracteristic.  A lot of telescopes, especially if they are white or calico, have naturally bright red gill covers.

A good reference page for you would be:

www.kokosgoldfish.com
www.liveaquaria.com

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Good luck : ) April M.