Black moor goldfish

[tikotaz]

Ok I have a black moor goldfish, he doesn't seem to want to swim around anymore, he's lethargic. Tilts to the side abit, petstore isn't giving me any answers as those are the only two things i've noticed about him. Some advice would be appreciated.

[emc7]

Tilts to the side abit,

Try feeding unshelled, cooked peas.
Check you water quality (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)
Consider adding 1 tsp salt/gallon (add slowly over hours)

[tikotaz]

Thanks for the ideas, I fed him peas the other day. I let them dethaw he ate three of them. I'll do another tank change and if the water is high in that i'll put in stuff that I know helps reduce it. But thanks again. Alright I did try that, he's swimming around for the time being. Though I will dethaw a few more peas and feed them to him, even though I have to cut them up rather well.

[JustOneMore20]

I wouldn't worry about putting chemicals in. Some of them don't work and if/when they do they could affect your readings (give you false readings).

I would do water changes daily until the ammonia and nitrItes are 0.

I'm a bit afraid to ask, but what size tank is the goldie in? And what type of filter do you have on the tank? Goldfish are messy fish and can quickly foul the water if you don't do water changes regularly. The smaller the tank, the more water changes you need to do weekly until you can get him a proper size tank. 1 Goldfish will eventually need 20 gallons to himself.

[tikotaz]

This one is still a baby, he or she is in a 5 gallon tank. Though back to laying on the ground. I have a air filter pump that I clean on a daily basis, they last a week even with cleaning. I do changes once every two or three days with him, but he's still bleh. He's not swimming again with the other suggestions, though eventually I do plan on getting him into a much bigger tank, not sure what form of bottom feeders I could put in with him, I test with the 6 in 1 test strips each day and the nitrites and nitrates are very minimal, then after the change I put in that stuff with the conditioner, and test it the levels have lowered.

[trashion]

"Minimal" is not good. There should be NO nitrite. Test strips are also very unreliable. Air filter? Is it one of those smallworld ones? Those are not sufficient. You need a power filter (HOB or canister,) and a 29 gallon tank. To keep a goldfish in a small tank is not a good idea, even if it is just a baby. They will stunt, VERY fast, and it's very hard to keep a 5g stable. There are no bottom feeders that really mix well with goldfish (except for maybe dojo loaches)

[JustOneMore20]

I agree with Julie! (seems like I'm following you around)

Just wanted to add that the Dojo loaches would be a good tankmate, but they get pretty large and need atleast a 3ft tank. I think they can reach 8-10 inches.

20g minimum for the goldie, with a good filter.

[tikotaz]

I actually found the 5 gallon was a little too big for him, he's swimming around lots now. But when he starts getting bigger I will transfer him back, it's weird how he was reacting to the larger tank. In the 5 gallon he was majorly dwarfed in it. well he started acting the same so I had some lifegaurd medication left on hand, been cutting it small considering what size tank he's in and he seems to be doing better on the third day, still have two days left to treat. But I think I am getting him back to normal if that is the case I will move him back to the five gallon. Alright finished the treatment but he's still the same, he swims a little more but he's still acting rather weird. What do I do?