Caryl

The children at Seddon School are very upset as their goldfish is sick. I have been to see it and have no idea what is wrong. It is in a nice 26L or so tank all by itself and has been happy there for almost 12 months. The water in Seddon is straight from the river and runs through a UV filter. It is a bit on the acidic side but pH doesn't worry goldfish. A few weeks ago it started excessive pooing and could produce 15cm strands several times a day! Poo was same colour as his food. Otherwise his behaviour was normal. Now, the poor thing looks like his skin is sloughing off his body. To me it does not look like it has fin or tail rot but bits of skin are dropping off. Ammonia, nitrates and nitrites and all are excellent according to my test kit. It now sits on the bottom, upright, dorsal fin still erect. Breathing is normal. Gills not inflamed. It has lost a bit of weight but that is because it has gone off its food recently. It is not hollow bellied. It is not pooing as much either, probably because it isn't eating much. The kids have propped a cuddly toy (Cookie Monster) beside the tank in an attempt to cheer the fish up but it doesn't seem to be helping. Any ideas please? The skin coming off is most noticeable on the white areas. It is not an over-production of slime coat. The 3 white bits on top of the gill are bits of skin falling away.

I think he thought the pond and fish were his presents!

Here are Ant's pics...

I use a fishing sinker to hold down the knitting needle on which I thread cucumber for my bristlenoses. They are also used to hold down smaller bits of driftwood until they are fully waterlogged.

Hmmm wonder what the cats think of the new addition? 8)

Hi and welcome. Yes, add your location to your profile (done through the User Control Panel top right). It is important to have a selection of tanks so your children can learn even more about fish keeping. It is a very educational hobby 8)

They cruise the surface when it is warm and sunny. In winter they hardly appear at all as they spend most of their time at the bottom where it is warmer. I will see if I can get Grant to video them following me as I mow the lawn 8) It is the plant that looks like branches. No more trouble with herons. They only pass through for a few weeks near Christmas. I am sure it will return the same time next year! :roll:

To attach an image you need it to be hosted online somewhere in an image sharing place like Photobucket or similar.

I assume by 'thick green plant' you mean the oxygen weed. It was hauled out of the local river :lol: There must be at least 100 goldfish in there now :bounce: The oldest would be 5 years or so. The pond is into its 3rd year.

I also have a large supply from my Dr (he is only too glad to get rid of the poly boxes). I have 6 pack size and larger. Anyone want some feel free to send me a PM.

If the eggs are stuck up the side of something they are angel eggs. That would also explain why the angel was guarding them so fiercely Danios are egg scatterers. Worth trying to get them to breed again, they will probably keep laying eggs anyway but unless you have a pair they won't hatch. Females will lay eggs whether a male is present or not.

It would help if you gave a better description of the type of algae or showed us a pic of it. Removing plants will make algae worse as they compete with the algae for food.

Are we talking common lollipops or Chuppa Chup type lollipops? :lol:

I may have had no success with the tropicals outside this year but the cooler weather did not slow the goldfish down at all! The most fry I have counted, coming up to feed this week, has been 40 but they are still mainly bronze so hard to spot. They are also zippy! :roll: Here is the size difference...

Ours is using the old bimetallic thermostat but I'm not sure if you can buy them anymore.

Perhaps it is a fishy version of going on holiday :lol: Chilling out etc :roll: Since he otherwise appears fine, and has done it before, I would not be concerned. Of course he might be doing it for the attention

Oooh never thought of Kenny. :lol: (but would he keep getting us in the brown stuff? )

They might have rescued her from the fire. Does the phone number still work? Perhaps you could ring and ask them.

I just wanted to let everyone know what excellent service we have received from the Navman people. When we went to add UK maps to our old Navman (who we called Gavin, no idea why, he just sounded like one :roll: ) we were told it was too old but they offered us a new one plus NZ and UK maps (which we would have to wait for as they were still in production), as a trade in, for a very good price so we got them. We had been using the new Navman for 4 months when it suddenly died. We contacted Navman and they told us we had to send it back to them. We packaged it up and sent it to Auckland with a note asking that it be dealt with quickly as we were due to take it on our overseas holiday with us in 2 weeks time and needed it urgently. Grant posted it Tuesday and today, Friday, a brand new one arrived as replacement! They had transferred all our data and settings into it as well. Can't complain about service like that! All we have to do is load our new UK maps into it (which had arrived the day after the thing died :roll: ) Kudos to Navman personnel :bounce: Now we have to name the new Navman. Since he has an Aussie accent (the Pommie one sounds too condescending) I think we will call him Bruce :lol:

Mine had bulbs. I just replanted them.

No I agree. If it was a mature tank with adult fish it would be different.

Nice pics of the grandchild Caper. Those jack rabbits look big! We have lots of magpies here unfortunately. I wonder how come the bear wasn't given trousers in this PC day and age :lol:

A cheap stand can be made from concrete blocks (cinder blocks). You can drape some material across them to make it look neater.

I agree with you caper, these discussions are not ridiculous. Many seem to think "It's only a fish, who cares if it dies". They are not fluffy (unless they have fungus) and can't speak for themselves the way a kitten of puppy can. Sure there are worse things to worry about than poor retail service but that does not mean it is less worthy of discussion. Good to hear you, at least, have learned something Caper. A day in which you have not learned something new is a day wasted. 8)

I only have one tank running but when I had many I must confess to using the same equipment across all of them I so rarely have to quarantine a fish but when I do need to separate one, for whatever reason, I set up a small tank on the coffee table and fill it with water from the main tank plus a filter I have had spare kept from the main tank. Like Alan, if it was to medicate a fish I would not use a filter but if I was separating, say, some fry, then I would add the filter I had prepared earlier (cooking joke). Once the tank is fiinshed with, the water goes on the garden and pot plants and the filter goes back in the main tank. If it was with a sick fish, I would thoroughly clean the filter then sit it in the sun for a few days but, as said, I don't use a filter with sick fish. If the tank had been infected with whitespot you only have to keep the filter away from live fish for a couple of weeks and the cysts etc will die from lack of a host anyway.