Black Moor Unwell

Question
QUESTION: Hi

I have quite a large aquarium with a few different kinds of fish. 2 Fancy Goldfish, 1 Standard Goldfish, 1 Shubunkin, 1 Black Moor and 3 Zebra Danios.

The Shubunkin and Danios were added recently (quarantined before added).

Recently the Black Moor has seemed to be unwell; he sits at the bottom of the tank or hides in ornaments. He used to be one of the most active in the tank. He is not of his food and eats as normal. I checked the Ammonia Level last night and is 0.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


ANSWER: Well, does he have any outward signs of disease or parasites? Spots, bumps, fuzzy films, cloudy eyes, odd bloated belly, torn fins, a large amount of missing scales and so on? If not, could one of the new fish be picking on him? While goldfish are usually peaceful you will find a few who are destined to be bullies. I would watch the tank closely from a far and make sure no one is picking on him. Also, does the tank have an air stone? Perhaps he needs more oxygen? I would check these items and get back to me. Hopefully it is nothing serious. Oh, how recently have the new fish been added? Has the moor only acted as this since the additions? Let me know and I will continue to assist you.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,

His fins seem to be torn slightly (rugged edges) and also a few missing scales towards his tail fins. None of the other fish seem to be picking on him, but I'll keep a look out. The tank has an air pump with a new carbon based filter. The new fish have been in for about 2 weeks and the moor has only started like this in the last 2 days.

Thanks

Answer
If his fins are torn, he might have tail rot. Do the fins look torn or jagged? If they look almost eaten at it is likely to be fin rot, which needs to be treated. I would definately be trying to figure out if he has the fin rot or not because it can kill if it is too advanced, even with treatment. However do keep in mind that the treatment itself is super stressful. So it is a good and bad thing. On one hand you have to treat it if it is fin rot but the treatment may or may not be too much for the fish. Keep an eye on it! Let me know if anything changes or you need more help.