abnormal behavior

[briealeida]

I have three fish ( a regular goldfish and two black moors) and they all live in a 10 gallon tank.

One of the black moors (Fred) and the regular goldfish (not sure of the species) named Hidetoshi are fine, active, et cetera. The other Black Moor, Det. Briscoe, kinda just floats around most of the time and only moves his fins sometimes. Is this abnormal? He seems to be breathing OK and sometimes he will play with the others a little.

Also, how often is going to the surface normal for fish? Thanks so much! I really want to make sure my fish are OK!

 

[skratikans]

for that many goldfish, that tank is WAY too small, i d be looking into a 50gal at least..whats your nitrate, ammonia, and nitrite levels? how often do you do water changes?

 

[MissFishy]

Welcome to the tank Brie! The first problem is that your tank is WAY overstocked for those three fish. Goldfish are some of the messiest fish you can keep and therefore need much larger tanks than most other fish, so three goldfish in a 10 gallon tank is far too many. Your tank probably has water quality issues which are making your fish lethargic and sick. Goldfish generally need 20 gallons for the first goldfish, and another 10 gallons for each goldfish you plan to keep after that. So for the 3 fish you have right now, you should have at least a 40 gallon fish tank just to keep the water quality up and your goldfish healthy.

The very first thing you should do is an immediate 75% water change and gravel clean as your tank is probably pretty dirty. Take a sample of that old water to your local fish store and have them do a check on the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels in the tank. Write down those numbers and post them back here. Don't just let them tell you "they're fine." Next, you really need to think about getting a much larger tank if you plan to keep all those fish, and LOTS of filtration.