Sick Black Moor :(

Question
My tank has been set up for about 2 years, It is approx 13 litres. I have a comet which is as healthy as. And my sick fish is a Black Moor, he has been sick once before with white spot along with my comet but was treated and recovered.These 2 have been firend for approx 12 months now. I have a carbon filter in my tank which runs 24/7. I have a ph checker, the type you put drops in a sample of water and it seems to be level now. I dont have a nitrate or amonia checker. My water has only just been changed 100% and it read these levels. before i changed my water i didnt check the levels but the water hadnt been changed in a long time(approx 6 months i know this is bad). The water was a good clarity and had no smell above normal. i always use bottled water when topping up my levels and used bottled water the last change. I change my sponge and carbon in my filter approx every 3 months but clean it every 3-4 weeks. So my black moor seemed fine yesterday he was swimming around and i didnt notice his fins diminishing until tonight. Im really worried and dont want him to die. His top fin is almost gone. he is spending most of his time on the bottom of the tank but does move from spot to spot. Can he be saved? I have put in some white spot cure in the tank in the hopes it helps until tomorrow when i can get to a pet shop. Do you have any suggestions? And please tell me he'll be ok. i guess its my fault i need to be more frequent with my water changes...

Answer
Hi Vanessa;

Water changes definitely need to be done more often but that isn't the most urgent problem for your little friends. Their tank is far too small for them and it's also now going through a break-in period after changing all the water out. It is a sad misconception that goldfish can live in small spaces. Waste toxins have been poisoning and irritating them and the weaker fish is just not handling it anymore. Goldfish are very messy guys that require at least 40 liters per fish to thrive and a weekly 25% water change. Partial water changes are much less stressful on the fish and on the biological balance of a tank than replacing all the water at once. Their best chance for survival now is a bigger tank. Get one that's at least 80 liters.

Goldfish also need good strong filtration in the form of a power filter. Get some test kits to monitor the ammonia and nitrite and you will see that one or both are elevated almost constantly in such a small space. Don't use any medication. They aren't suffering from disease or parasites, it's from waste toxins. The medication will actually irritate them more right now anyway. Change 25% of their water every day until you can get them through this and they get a larger tank.

So basically in a nutshell, what I recommend is;

**Water change of 25% every day until they get a bigger tank. Use water conditioner during changes, but nothing else.

**Test for ammonia and nitrite every day.

**Get a larger tank with a power filter such as one that hangs on the back of the tank, or a canister filter that connects to the tank by hoses. Avoid undergravel filters or any others that operate only by air bubbles. Goldfish create too much waste for them to work properly.

Also, you will need to know about New Tank Syndrome, also known as "Cycling". Your little tank is going through it right now and your new one will too. Here is a link to my page about it;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

Hopefully your fish will feel better very soon...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins