Goldfish question (newb)

[jaymcp]

I have had an aquarium for about a year now and have never had an issue until now. I have a 29 gallon tank with 3 goldfish and all has been until a couple days ago. I have one that is sitting on the bottom of the tank but when I walk up to the tank he swims around like nothing is wrong. Nitrates were a little high but I got them to where they should be but it hasn't helped. Any suggestions? Thanks

[Rue]

...could be he`s just resting...

What are the other water parametres, and how high are the nitrates?

Also, what kind of filtration do you have on your tank?

[jaymcp]

The nitrates were kind of high but I did a filter change and a couple 30% water changes and got it down to around 40 ppm. The nitrites are 0 and the ammonia is low as well. I have a 60 gallon filter on a 29 gallon tank. I have just never noticed a fish rest on the bottom before. As soon as I walk up to the tank he gets up and swims around like nothings wrong. Overall he seems to act normally but he just sits on the bottom a lot. Do they really rest like that?

[VoidParadigm]

"Low ammonia" is still too much ammonia. It needs to be reading at 0. You may have never had an issue before, 'cause now the goldfish are older (and should be) bigger now.

Depending on the breed of goldfish three of them need 40-100 gallons. Do you know what specific breed you have?

While that is how they rest, they shouldn't be doing it so often.

[Lady Hobbs]

You changed all that water and still had nitrates at 40? Nitrates should never be higher than 20. Sounds to me as your water is not getting changed very much or the gravel vacuumed.

[Time-Out]

The tap water can have high nitrates. I know mine has nitrates of 50ppm, so no matter how many water changes I did, it was always high. Tetra AquaBalance has nitrate removing granules that actually work. I squeeze some into the the bucket before I tip it into the tank. Works wonders.

Maybe your filter needs an upgrade. What do you have? Could be the bacteria can't cope with the amounts produced by waste.

[jaymcp]

"Low ammonia" is still too much ammonia. It needs to be reading at 0. You may have never had an issue before, 'cause now the goldfish are older (and should be) bigger now.

Depending on the breed of goldfish three of them need 40-100 gallons. Do you know what specific breed you have?

While that is how they rest, they shouldn't be doing it so often.

I am upgrading to a 75 gallon or larger tank in a couple weeks. As far as the breed I would assume they are comets of commons. We have got all three of them at the fair (goldfish game) of all places and they have done well. The fish in question is much more active in the last 24 hours, so all seems well at this point. Like I said I'm fairly new to this but have got the aquarium bug now, so I am trying to learn on the fly. Thanks again to all of you for the input.

[jaymcp]

Here it is today looking fine

http://flic.kr/p/8v7RPa