One of my Ranchus is sick =(

[Dana Lee]

I'm very lucky I got my fish from a breeder and not a pet store. The minute I notice a change in my fish I was able to email her pictures and a video. She thinks he has a bad aeromonas infection on his caudal fin. And it's all my fault I forgot to change the carbon and rinse my media on my one filter last week when I did my tank cleaning. Tomorrow I have to run out and buy some triple sulfa and a large air stone to get more aeration in there (just have a bubble wand right now). I also need to add epsom salt and baking soda to the tank after a partial water change. And put my heater in there to raise the temp up a bit. The breeder (East Cost Ranchu) is so knowledgeable and sent me very detailed instructions.
I am hoping he will be ok, my poor little Chubs Fishkin (cleo his buddy is perfectly fine):

 

[waterfaller1]

I am sorry Dana, I hope he will pull through. What are his symptoms? Is that red streaking I see on his tail? I do not use carbon unless something dies or gets in the tank, or for clarifying the water on occasion. Carbon is exhausted rather rapidly, leaving it virtually useless. When you say "rinse my media", are you rinsing it in tapwater or waste water? Media that houses your beneficial bacteria should only be rinsed in the water you remove during a water change, never in tapwater which will kill the good bacteria.

 

[Anne & Gang]

 

[Thugluvgrl187]

Hope he pulls through!

 

[sodakat]

That looks like septicemia to me. My husband is the fish guru here, not me, but I can recognize setpicemia. He treats septicemia with Furan-2 and possibly neomycin.

Increased aeration is a GOOD thing for sure. Do you use a large sponge filter in that tank too? I really like them. Something similar to this:



Carole is much more an expert than I am, so listen to her. I just live with an expert and sometimes pay attention to him. I do have orandas and angelfish but he keeps mega tanks of discus and has learned a lot over the years.

 

[rockoko]

oh no, I hope you can cure him!

 

[roxynoodle]

I have no advice, just

 

[Dana Lee]

Thank you his tail looks slightly better today. I sent the breeder a 4 min video of him, she instructed me to get rid of the power filter and replace with a sponge filter, I will run them both for a week and 1/2 so the good bacteria gets in the sponge filter. Yes, Carole I rinse my media in the removed tank water. I clean the rocks that are in the plant pot with a toothbrush, and rinse those and the plants in tap water that has been treated with water conditioner. I skim/turkey baster out poop when I see in. His only symptoms are red streaky tail and redness at the base, that looks almost like a teeny tiny wen. Starting Sunday night he took to hiding behind the bigger potted plant, however, when I feed them he still comes "running" and eats like a pig.

My fish breeder (love that lady) viewed the video and instructed me to get the sulfa, raise the ph with a tsp baking soda dissolved in removed tank water, raise the temp to high 70s with a heater, and she wanted me to add 1/4 tsp of plain epsom salt, he is the chubbier of the two fish but she says if his organs are at all irritated the salt will help. Because he is eating like a pig still she thinks it's an aeromonas infection She also suggested I get rid of the power filters (they stress ranchus) replace with the sponge filter. I ordered the filter she gave me the link to on the spot as well as a good dual air pump she suggested. She also suggested I look into buying a UV Sterilizer (which I will look into and prob purchase this week). Thank God she knows what to do and is up late lol I went to 2 petstores looking for sulfa, the first didn't know a darn thing about what I was doing. The second pet store had everything, inquired why I needed it and were clueless as well. Cynthia, owner of East Coast Ranchus is def an awesome awesome ranchu breeder.

My Dad thinks I a nutty mcnutterson doing all this stuff and giving medicine to a goldfish. He didn't even know fish could get sick

 

[Birdiemarie]

Ohh...I hope Chubs will be ok.

 

[Birdbabe]

I havent had fish for years, but I hope he is gonna be ok. Love the name"chubbs". I had a fish named that years ago, he would even let me pet his nose when he came to the top of the water.

 

[Mizzely]

Aww I hope he is okay! I get attached to my fish and it is hard for me to see them sick!

 

[Dana Lee]

Thanks guys! I am hopeful that by following the breeders advice he will get well. He's still eating which is great. I just got home with my heater (loaned it to a friend) so I should have him feeling good soon I hope.

 

[waterfaller1]

Have you tested for ammonia-nitrite-nitrate? {ammonia will also cause what you are seeing}

 

[Dana Lee]

Ammonia is at .25
Nitrite 0.5
Nitrate 0
Ph 6.5 (this needs to be 7.0-7.5 but it was 6.0 this morning so I will do what she said and add 2 tsp basking soda with tomorrows 25% water change)

Thanks!

 

[wyrinth]

Hope he pulls through , he's very cute. I never have any luck with fish.

 

[Dana Lee]

Thank you!

 

[waterfaller1]

Is this an uncycled tank? Is it possible you may be overcleaning it? You should not be showing any ammonia or nitrites.You should be showing nitrates, at 10-20 PPM.
Do you have Prime? How big is the tank? What type of test kits are you using? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Dana Lee]

Tank is 29 gallon. API test kit. Prime? like aquarium conditioner? I have nite-out and ammonia remover on hand (microb lift brand) but I didn't put any in the tank after it cycled. Am I doing too big of a water change? Once a week I take all but like 2 inches of water out. I did notice I neglected to really clean the inside of the filter and it was smelling not so great (like ham gone bad). I did clean out the filter pipes really good tonight (I have the sponge filter on it's way). Is there something else I should put in there? A particular brand of Prime? Thanks for asking questions! I appreciate the help ​

 

[waterfaller1]

Ok, go to Petsmart or a better shop and look for or ask for Seachem Prime. It is in a red/white bottle. Prime removes chlorine, chloramines, and neutralizes ammonia & nitrites. The latter two it does not remove, but neutralizes for 24 hrs, this is enough time to do a water change-50%, then test again. Your tank is not cycled. If it were, you would not be showing any ammonia or nitrites, both of which are deadly to fish. You would be showing a reading for nitrates if your tank were cycled. That is the end product, and the one you want to keep at 20 ppm or below. It will never be 0 in a fw tank. Feed lightly, and stop cleaning everything out like the filter for now. You need to allow the beneficial bacteria a chance to build a colony. How long has the tank been set up? What is the PH of the water straight out of your tap? With ammonia showing, and such a low PH you can have a crash very easily. Trying to adjust it with baking soda is like chasing a dragon, you will never have it become stable. You just need to concentrate on getting it cycled. This is what is harming the fish in my opinion. What type of filter does the tank have? I recommend that you re-read cycling a tank, and join Koko's goldfish forum. There are good articles on the home page, and lots of seasoned GF keepers to help at all times.

 

[Dana Lee]

Thank you! I will get the prime tomorrow. The tank has been set up since July 3rd. The fish were added July 28th. PH out of tap is 6.0. The filter is a Aquaclear 50, I have the sponge filter coming but I will run the aquaclear along with it as long as I need to, to cycle the tank. I will join koko's tomorrow. Thank you!