My Goldfish appears sick.

Question
Dear Expert,
I went on vacation last and since I've been home my Goldfish has been hanging out at the bottom and top of the tank. He or she is not eating and looks as though she is in a transe. I have a 10 gallon tank and two goldfish occupy it. The other one seems to be fine. I clean the tank regularly and change the filter. I use Proquatics water conditioner and only use distilled water. Any advise? These fish mean a lot. They stayed alive the entire 2 months I was evacuated for Katrina and Rita. My house was without electricity. I feel the need to do something.

Thank you in advance,
Maria  

Answer
Hi Maria;

You've all been through quite a lot haven't you?! Let's see what we can do......

Start first by making a water change, but don't use distilled water. It eventually makes fish weak because it is missing important minerals they need. Use regular tap water with the water conditioner. Make the switch very slowly though. You don't want to further weaken her from stress. Replace 25% of the water the first day and then again the second day. After 4 days of this there will be mostly tap water in the tank. Just having fresh water with more of what she needs may help her "snap out of it".

Also look at her body for signs of swelling, her eyes for signs of bulging. These symptoms indicate an internal infection. Medications that absorb into the fish such as kanamycin or "Maracyn 2" may help.

Or, if her belly is rounded it can also indicate constipation. Feeding peeled cooked green peas, or, if the fish isn't eating epsom salt baths can help. Here is more about that on a betta site (type of fish really doesn't matter);

http://groups.msn.com/TheBettaObsession/epsomsaltbath.msnw

I hope she feels better soon!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins