Is my Goldfish depressed?

L

lara

New Fish
#1
Sep 3, 2003
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Isle of Dogs, London
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#1
Hi All,

I have a goldfish which is also black and silver. I keep it in a cold water fish tank and I change the water every 3 weeks or when its really dirty. I use oxygen tablets occassionally as I noticed having a filter made the water really dirty. I haven't changed anything for about 5 months but recently my fish looks really depressed. It just sits on the bottom. Usually when I am near it, she/he goes loopy which I believe is for attention. When it is sitting on the bottom of the tank and I stick my finger in the water it does move but then goes back to sitting on the bottom. I've put some flakes in and it only touched one.

Help me...I don't want it to die.
 

Fish Friend

Fish Friend

Superstar Fish
#2
May 29, 2005
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#2
No wonder its dperessed! what size tankl is it, what are your water parameters and how long has it been set up ???? using oxygen tablets isnt too good, id say its better for you fishy if you had a proper air pump. and a proper filter, filters will not make your tank dirty they do the complete opposite, did you cycle it before you put it in ?
 

L

lara

New Fish
#3
Sep 3, 2003
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Isle of Dogs, London
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#3
the filter I had before and black bits in....looked a bit like charcoal....obviously not. I've just noticed that since I've not used it I've not had to clean it out as much.

Using my ruler...I've worked out that its 12000 cubic cm which is about 2.6 gallons. How do I work out the water parameters?
 

PerfectAngel

PerfectAngel

Medium Fish
#4
Aug 20, 2005
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#4
u need a kit to test for Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite (you can purchase them from your local pet shop). Since it's a goldfish is such a small tank you need to do water changes at least 20% each week... but you really need a bigger tank.. is it just one fish in there? my rule of thumb is 10 gallon per goldish.

I agree the oxygen tablets isn't too good. Filter is always better, dont have any idea how it makes the water dirty.. have you change the carbon sponge things inside the filter ever?

It seems like your fish is swimming around with too much Ammonia (his own waste) in the tank. i would do a water change.. and get a kit to test it...

how long have you had your fish? and how long did you have the tank set up (cycling) before you put the fish in there??
 

L

lara

New Fish
#5
Sep 3, 2003
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Isle of Dogs, London
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#5
hey,

Will have a look into getting a test kit. Its only the one fish in that tank, but he is quite small. Maybe about 8cm in length. The filter that I had didn't have a sponge just black pieces. Maybe I should get a completely different filter.

I've had him for about a yr and a half now, but was given to me from someone else who used to keep him outdoors but they were moving abroad so I took over. Used to have three but sadly two died.

When I first set the tank up I kept the fish in the plastic water filled bag and put the whole thing in the tank for a few hours then I open up the bag and let him roam free. I used to put plants in there but it would eat it. I do worry that I over feed it but it always seems to be hungry ! Its that 3 second memory thing. I only feed it twice a day, but when I have a plant in there it will eat that within a weak !
 

Fish Friend

Fish Friend

Superstar Fish
#6
May 29, 2005
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#6
goldfish of any size are pooping machines, youre black bits will have been charcoal and the black sponges were good, the were getting rid of harmul toxins in the water, buy a new fish and youll have to risk it with him and cycling im afraid
 

C

ComHam

Small Fish
#7
Apr 17, 2005
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#7
2.6 gallons? Wayy too small for a goldie my friend. Also, you should be changing the water every week, not just when it get's dirty.
 

Orion

Orion

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#8
Feb 10, 2003
5,803
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Kentucky
www.thefishcave.net
#8
Yes, 2.6 gallons is way to small. Even though it may look fine just because the fish is small, goldfish produce a lot of waste, much more than your typical tropicals.

I would get a 10 gallon asap for it at the bear minimum. A 20 gallon would be much better. You also need quality filtration for the new tank as well. This will help keep the water cleaner, and healther for the fish.

For now, I would start changing about 15% of the water every week starting today.
 

A

alice_123

New Fish
#9
May 18, 2009
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#9
help

my goldfish is doing the exact same thing! ive only had it for a day and since i took it out of the bag, it just sits at the bottom of the tank not moving. i put an oxyginating tablet in it and some tap safe to take away the chlorine. i feed it flake food but i dont know if it eats it. the woman in the shop said the tank was big enough for it and there is only one in there.

please help!
thanks
 

RyuKing

RyuKing

Small Fish
#10
Sep 12, 2009
24
0
0
San Diego, CA
#10
alice_123 said:
my goldfish is doing the exact same thing! ive only had it for a day and since i took it out of the bag, it just sits at the bottom of the tank not moving. i put an oxyginating tablet in it and some tap safe to take away the chlorine. i feed it flake food but i dont know if it eats it. the woman in the shop said the tank was big enough for it and there is only one in there.

please help!
thanks
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Hello there,

I'm new here, however I've been raising goldfish for a very long time. I've dealt with it all when it comes to these things. In my opinion they are a very high maintenance fish because of the amount of waste they produce. As far as depression to me it seems feasible. Reason being is because one of my current fish seems to be doing the same thing. My water is completely perfect. Temperature is good, you name it. It's all good and the only thing I can think of is that it's lonely. Last week we lost one due to the fact it broke it's jaw somehow. A broken jaw leads to a quick death I've learned. Either way we got them at the same time and they were together for at least four months. For some reason I think our other fish is depressed that the other fish passed, but I don't know. It's very aggravating because our survivor just sits on the bottom all day long doing nothing. As of yesterday I purchased a new fish in hopes it would help our other, but so far it hasn't. Anyone have any good useful advice?
 

homebunnyj

homebunnyj

Superstar Fish
#12
Jul 13, 2005
1,299
4
0
Western NC
#12
stoddern said:
in my opinon if this is how your gonna keep fish crush up some xanax so it's happy when it dies then if you want another fish read up on proper care before doing anything
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What???!!

RyuKing just stated that his fish seems lonely; didn't say anything about the tank size or anything else. What's up??

Surely you're not replying to the OP? That was in 2005.
 

RyuKing

RyuKing

Small Fish
#13
Sep 12, 2009
24
0
0
San Diego, CA
#13
homebunnyj said:
What???!!

RyuKing just stated that his fish seems lonely; didn't say anything about the tank size or anything else. What's up??

Surely you're not replying to the OP? That was in 2005.
Click to expand...
If you could help me out that would be great! My daughter adores our surviving fish. He's a Red Ryukin and his name is Marby. I really don't want anything to happen to him because we lost a Fancy in June. His name was Ollie we had him for one year and then out of nowhere he got dropsy. His ending was a sad one for me and her. He was a great fish and loved to swim and play around his tank. Shortly after his passing I bought three new fish one being Marby, one being Speck and the other we named Spryte. Unfortunately Spryte passed away two days later. I'm not quite sure why either other than he was much smaller than the other two. Unfortunately it was Speck who just passed and how he broke his jaw we have no clue. Now Marby is very lethargic and we're hoping the new fish will help. Our new fish's name is Flick. Flick seems right at home. If you have any advice I would really appreciate it.
 

S

stoddern

Large Fish
#14
Jul 26, 2009
153
0
0
Vermont
#14
my apologies I didn't see the post start date, I was not refering to RyuKing's post at all, and I am very sorry if I offended any body by that post, I was having a very bad day (I've been dealing with cancer and just found out my GF is sleeping around on me) could a mod please remove that post
 

RyuKing

RyuKing

Small Fish
#15
Sep 12, 2009
24
0
0
San Diego, CA
#15
stoddern said:
my apologies I didn't see the post start date, I was not refering to RyuKing's post at all, and I am very sorry if I offended any body by that post, I was having a very bad day (I've been dealing with cancer and just found out my GF is sleeping around on me) could a mod please remove that post
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No worries at all. We all have our bad days. Sorry to hear about your health, hang in there because I have my own health issues.
 

RyuKing

RyuKing

Small Fish
#16
Sep 12, 2009
24
0
0
San Diego, CA
#16
Happy to report Marby is more healthy than he's every been. Turns out he was sick and not depressed. Maracyn II did the trick in a separate hospital tank. Now I have Marby and Flick in a 20 gallon and they love it, especially their air rock. They play in the bubbles like little kids sometimes. Pretty comical actually! I'll post pictures soon. Note to all of you I'm still convinced they can get depressed though.
 

M

motnguoi

New Fish
#17
Oct 15, 2009
1
0
0
#17
RyuKing said:
Happy to report Marby is more healthy than he's every been. Turns out he was sick and not depressed. Maracyn II did the trick in a separate hospital tank. Now I have Marby and Flick in a 20 gallon and they love it, especially their air rock. They play in the bubbles like little kids sometimes. Pretty comical actually! I'll post pictures soon. Note to all of you I'm still convinced they can get depressed though.
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wonderful! thanks for the info..
However I think you should vary more examples to your writing much more interesting !
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I

i<3myfishes

New Fish
#20
Dec 28, 2009
1
0
0
#20
Re: Happy to report Marby is more healthy than he's every been. Turns out he was sick and not depressed. Maracyn II did the trick in a separate hospital tank. Now I have Marby and Flick in a 20 gallon and they love it, especially their air rock. They play in the bubbles like little kids sometimes. Pretty comical actually! I'll post pictures soon. Note to all of you I'm still convinced they can get depressed though.

New to this forum stuff but, I have to agree I had a goldie, black moor, red oranda and pleco in a 20 gallon tank. My goldie and pleco are both about 7 years old and my moor and oranda about 2.5 years. The 2 oldest are HUGE so I knew my tank size was inadequate. I purchased a 40 gallon and moved the Goldie, Oranda and Pleco to the bigger tank and left the Black moor in the 20 gallon. I purchased a baby Pleco and 2 more very small goldies. My Black Moor stayed at the bottom of the tank for about a week. I was worried I was going to lose him and thought maybe the new fish may have been diseased as I didn't quarantine them prior to adding. Anyhow I treated the tank for everything under the sun, water paramenters were perfect I just didn't understand. Out of curiousity, I put him in the 40 gallon tank with the other 3 that he has lived with his whole life. I assumed that since I've heard people say fish don't have a memory he would be fine. Fish DO have a memory, I am here to tell you. The minute I put him back with his buddies he was as happy as a pig in poo!! He has been non stop and back to normal. Now, I'm back to square one LOL and need yet another bigger tank since apparently I can't seperate my babies... So yes, I do believe fish have a memory and get sad/depressed...
 

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