Goldfish Not Eating

Question
Dear Ms.Fields,
I have a six-inch fantail goldfish that has been acting very sluggish and not eating for the past few days. He lives in a 46 gallon aquarium with two other goldfish, a two-inch oranda and another fantail about three inches. Lately, my big goldfish spends most of his time at the top of the tank grasping for air. He currently has fin rot, which I taught was causing the strange behavior, but the other two goldfish are behaving normally and they too have fin rot. I started treating the entire tank for fin rot with Jungle Fungus Clear today and hope to see improvement in the morning. If there is no improvement, what should I do? And how can I get my big goldfish to eat again? Thank you so much for your time and help.

Answer
Hi Jasmin,
I'm sorry to hear that. :(

Finrot is usually caused by a water quality problem and polluted water is always guaranteed with goldfish especially - large individuals.

The most important thing you can do is start doing large partial water changes of about 50% at least every 2-3 days. It is vital they have clean water as dirty water conditions fuels the bad bacteria's growth that are causing the finrot in the first place.

With water changes and medicating. Simply redose the tank with the medication after doing the water change (be sure to gravel vacuum too)

The big goldfish may not eat for a while due to him not feeling good and being sick. He'll be Ok.

Treat your goldfish for as long as they have symptoms. This goes against medication directions but it is not dangerous to them to continue medicating and it is very important to make sure the fish is truly 100% better.

It may take a week or two or more for the fish to fully recover so don't give up!

I do hope this helps and best of luck!
Karen~