Gold fish not swimming or eating

[bellathefish]

I have a fantail and lionshead goldfish. The were both happy and eating well for a couple weeks but now the fantail just sits at the bottom and is not eating. The lionshead is very acitve and eating well. How is it that one can be so happy and healthy and the other so depressed?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

What size tank? Ammonia level?

Goldfish produce a lot of waste, so without any more info my guess would be that the tank isn't fully cycled and there is ammonia building up. In that case, start with a large water change to improve water quality, and the fantail should perk up.

Could also be parasites or a swim bladder issue. Try tastier food and see if he will eat anything, and see whether he looks like he is swimming funny (swim bladder issue) when he does move around.

 

[FreshyFresh]

What's your weekly water change volume? Hopefully they're in a 29g tank at a minimum. Fancy goldfish will eventually get fist sized. Fed lightly, with a quality pellet food,etc, 2 fancies in a 29g would require a weekly fin-level water change (~80%).

 

[bellathefish]

Oh crap, I know so little about fish. My tank is only 20g. The guy that sold me the fish said it was way big enough. I change about half the volume weekly. Guess its not enough?
Thanx for advice. I now have a plan

 

[FreshyFresh]

You could get by with these 2 fish in a 20g for some time, just shoot for larger weekly water changes. A real basic rule of thumb for fancy goldfish is, 20g for one, with 10 additional gallons for each additional fancy. 29g is a nice easy to get, off the shelf tank size for this. They can often be had for $1/gal on sale at Petco, Pet Supplies Plus or sometimes Petsmart.

 

[bellathefish]

Thanx. Appreciated it.