Timmy's "Asthma"

[scruffy]

Timmy is a comet goldfish who's about 6 months old and 6 inches long. He (or maybe she) lives in a 55 gal with two other comets who are a little smaller than him anda blackmoore that's about 3/4 his size.

I've noticed periodically that he will be up at the surface breathing. I've just tested the water, it's perfect. I can't find my PH card, but it came up dark blue and I think that's good for goldfish. I change the water about once a week or so, and the last time, my Nitrate had been at 70ppm, but the ammonia and the nitrite were gone.

Could this be do having been in bad water before? I did have him in a 10 gal with one of the other comets a few months ago (when he was about 2 inches) and even with daily water changes, he had some black streaks which I took to be a sign of high ammonia or nitrite - I forget which one does that. The streaks cleared up and now he is a lovely golden yellow, but still has this problem with needing to come up to the surface, even with the airstones I have running in the tank.

Otherwise, Timmy seems normal. He swims around fine and breathes normally (he doesn't gasp under water and his gills seem OK). His dorsal is usually up when he's not on his nose looking for food. He eats OK and poops okay. He does seem a little plump, but it's more like he's stocky, than bloated and dropsical. He's got a couple missing scales, like maybe he got too close when I was shaking gravel out of the gravel vac, but the rest of his scales look fine.

Should I worry about his breathing if he's otherwise doing fine and the water's OK? Is there anything I should do to make him more comfortable? Or should I just consider this to be a chronic condition like asthma and continue with the airstones and changing the water as needed?

S

[cocoa_pleco]

his breathing issues sound like low oxygen or gill flukers

[Rue]

What's the temperature? Goldfish don't do well in warm water for any length of time...

[Arkie]

dont they???? ive had mine in my tropical tanks for about 2 mths and all are going really well. maybe cause i put them in when they were little so they got used to the temp????

[cocoa_pleco]

dont they???? ive had mine in my tropical tanks for about 2 mths and all are going really well. maybe cause i put them in when they were little so they got used to the temp????

yep, when i was a beginner i had goldies in tropical tanks and they got used to it. as adults its painful to their metabolism but as long as they were raised young with warm temps theyre fine

[Arkie]

thanx cocoa, i was feeling a bit neglectful for a while there

[tropfish]

did you buy him as a feeder from the petstore? the feeder tanks are so overstocked and a bre, i'm sure there was pretty high ammonia. The ammonia could've burned his gills and caused damage. As long as you have good water conditions it should heal.

[scruffy]

I keep the goldies in cold water with real plants, 1 8-inch airstone and two small ones. Maybe I'll trade one of the little airstones with a bubble disk. Don't know. I'd been noticing this problem for awhile.

How do you diagnose and treat gill flukes? That might explain why the other fish don't seem to do this.

[scruffy]

I keep the goldies in cold water with real plants, 1 8-inch airstone and two small ones. Maybe I'll trade one of the little airstones with a bubble disk. Don't know. I'd been noticing this problem for awhile.

How do you diagnose and treat gill flukes? That might explain why the other fish don't seem to do this.

[scruffy]

Just FYI: I did some reading on flukes and didn't find any mucous or notice Timmy "scratching". His gill plates are nice and shiny. I did realize that I could get more out of the airstones if I moved them to the bottom and I also put them on separate pumps. I also relocated the airstones on the 42 gal because one of my mollies was doing the same. Hope this helps.

S

[2manyfish]

The classic sign of gill flukes is the fish holding one gill cover clamped shut. It is their way of trying to "starve" out the parasite. The fish would also be gasping at the surface most of the time, or laying on the bottom gasping.

If your nitrates are at 70ppm then you need to up the amount of water you are changing out or up the number of times you are doing them per week. You really want to keep them under 20ppm. This could explain the fishes behavior...

[cocoa_pleco]

The classic sign of gill flukes is the fish holding one gill cover clamped shut. It is their way of trying to "starve" out the parasite.

you learn something new everyday!

[scruffy]

I really think it's more of a water quality issue. If he was holding one of his gills shut, wouldn't he be doing it when he's eating and mooching? I haven't seen that.

Yes, Timmy did start life as a feeder fish, but I think he may have had an ammonia burn as April or May. He had swathes of black on the top of his had and on his top lip. He looked kind of like Will Farrell in "Anchor Man" or Alex Trebec, about 10 years ago. I am relieved that cleared up.

Actually, it was really of rewarding watching him develop into the golden boy he is now. He was just a tiny little silver slip, and I'd have been fine if he stayed that color, but it's been a nice surprise to he how he turned out. If you have the patience to get just one and the ability to get a tank begin enough for a comet to grow in - a 20 gal - and the ability to accept it when things don't go well, feeders can be great pets. Mick and Johnnie came from that same tank and they could pass for Sarassa comets.

S

[Lady Hobbs]

nitrates should never be over 20. More gravel cleaning and water changes will keep it low.

[scruffy]

Believe me, I do a water change when it gets higher than 20 ppm. I usually do the 55 gal about once a week. I could test the water more often. It was up on Monday, but can't remember how much Nitrate was in there. I just did a water change.

[insadjuster]

Goldfish naturally gasp at the water surface regardless of O2 content. I have kept goldfish in tanks ranging from 10 gal to 125 gal as well in ponds up to 500 gals or more over the years. I have raised them from one inch size up to 12 inches long. They have been kept on the cold side, warm side and in between. They have had the O2 levels supplemented with surface agitation (aerators, etc) and without. Levels always in the acceptable or better zones regarding ammonia, nitrates, etc. I have never had one not gasp at the water surface. Goldfish feed almost constantly and use the gasping or mouthing of the water surface to help draw food into their mouths as if it is floating just an inch away it will be pulled towards their mouths. Goldfish are basically carp. I have seen pond raised carp mouth the water surface constantly also. The odds it is related to ammonia/O2 levels is slight especially if you found them to be in the acceptable ranges.

The black coloring of Timmy was not due to ammonia "burns", which basically looks like white coloration on the ragged edges of the fins and reddish/pinkish raw looking skin areas. Goldfish are almost never born with their final coloring. I have had many feeder goldfish bright orange with cute black spots or solid black fins or even almost green all over coloration and as they grew, their colors changed at least several times before they reached their final pattern. Even expensive koi with excellent breeding lines will change, just not as drastically. I had a small feeder that was bright orange, black spot on his forehead and the tips of all fins were solid black. It was about an inch in size. It grew to about six inches long in about 18 months. It changed color patterns at least four times. It ended up being a creamy white allover speckled with a small amount of yellowish gold scales. Not a hint of black.
I don't think you have an issue but your concern shows that you are trying to make sure your fish are healthy so that's a good thing! Good luck~!




I really think it's more of a water quality issue. If he was holding one of his gills shut, wouldn't he be doing it when he's eating and mooching? I haven't seen that.

Yes, Timmy did start life as a feeder fish, but I think he may have had an ammonia burn as April or May. He had swathes of black on the top of his had and on his top lip. He looked kind of like Will Farrell in "Anchor Man" or Alex Trebec, about 10 years ago. I am relieved that cleared up.

Actually, it was really of rewarding watching him develop into the golden boy he is now. He was just a tiny little silver slip, and I'd have been fine if he stayed that color, but it's been a nice surprise to he how he turned out. If you have the patience to get just one and the ability to get a tank begin enough for a comet to grow in - a 20 gal - and the ability to accept it when things don't go well, feeders can be great pets. Mick and Johnnie came from that same tank and they could pass for Sarassa comets.

S

[scruffy]

Thank you so much for your answer Insadjuster. You hear about so many different opinions on ways to raise fish and it's so easy to find things to make you panic. I bet you it is just the munchies. That's the raison d'etre for a goldfish!

S