Ok, i'm fairly new to keeping fish, i had a few when i was younger, but they lived in a bowl so ive never had anything on this scale before.
I've set up a 120 litre aquarium in my dining room, I've an autistic son and apparently an aquarium can relax them. I've slowly added fish to it over the last 5 weeks, but one of my fish (Patch) appears bloated on the left hand side (assuming the fish is facing you). I know its not constipated because ive seen it go to the toilet several times, this fish is about 2" long, and has always been a little chubbier than the others, although the fish is [feeding and swimming fine, im worried that the bloating has caused its tail to go at a slight angle (away from the bloating), is it pregnant or something? it doesnt appear unhappy or in pain, and none of the fish are ignoring it, its still got the same fish playing with it, as it did when i first had it, but im still worried for it =(.

I feed the Goldfish once in the mornings, 2 pinches, and once every other evening, this seems the best way of keeping them happy, though they also can eat the plantsin the aquarium, though to say ive had differing advice on feeding my fish would be a massive understatement!

Quote:
120 Litres (uk)

Quote:
The one that came with the tank, sorry i dont have more info. It keep the water clean, so its coping with the fishes waste.

Quote:
About 6 weeks

Quote:
None yet, im not sure how to do them, im learning as i go :). All the fish appear be swimming well, i watch them for hours and none appear unhappy, their fins are all extended, and i've read up on the basics of the most common diseases and how to look for ill fish.

Quote:
I change about 1/4 of the water every weekend, and clean the filter then too.

Quote:
LOL, ok you asked for it =p

1 Adult gold fish called Hoover, ive never seen a fish that wants to eat all the time!

1 Adult Shubunkin (called Ghost)

9 Goldfish all about 2" long (Pretty, Flutter, Stripe, Tiny, Iffy, Patch, Naughty, Chief and Tiger)

7 Baby Goldfish (4 Yellow [all named Nugget cause we cant tell them apart =p], 2 black fish (Black, and sooty), 1 black and gold [my 2 year old daughter named him Pinky!])

1 Sucker fish (ugly but he does a good job!)

1 Baby Black Moor(Called Puffer)

2 Fan tail (Wiggle and Sinker)

I think that all of them, lol

I gather its probabily now about as full as it should get, in terms of population.

Quote:
I Only add plants when the fish have eaten all the old ones, i tend to keep 6 in the tank for them to eat, and play around.

Added some fish last weekend, 3 baby yellow fish and a baby Black Fish.

Quote:
When i initially bought the fish one of them had whitespot, i didnt know what it was due to my inexperiance, and another had damage to its dorsal fin, it was split in two, however it appears to be healing now. I treated the one with White Spot with Disease Safe (Gold / Interpret) though i didnt add the max quantity it told me to, just a few full caps, and its now gone, ive also added Tap Safe (Gold/ Interpet) and Fish Safe (Gold/ Interpet) just to try and keep the water clean and safe. I've also added Ammonia Detox (Kent/ Fresh Marine) to it.

Welcome to the forums. I can't help with the bloating problem but I have to say that there are far too many fish in the tank. The first two (adult goldfish) need 45 litres each I think as you need to base the stocking levels on the size of the adult when fully grown, not the size they are now. Hopefully someone will be along soon to help you with your immediate problem.

Thanks, for replying, i was under the impression, that the fish wouldnt grow if there wasnt room for them? Dont they give off hormones to prevent growth in the other fish?

Hello alyndavies,

Welcome to our forum!

I'm afraid you are indeed overstocked. The general rule of thumb is 40L per goldfish. It is a common myth that the fish will just stay small when they are placed in a overstocked tank. They are actually stressed out and usually nature will depopulate the tank for you.

With the bloating on one side, can you be a bit more specific? Are any of the scales sticking out? Any sign of sore or ulcer around that area? If you can net the fish, you might want to gently feel that area and see if it is squashy or firm like there is a lump undernearth.

You need to get a master test kit that will test for ammonia, nitrIte and pH. 6 weeks should place you at the tail end of the cycle but it doesn't mean that everything is safe and sound so you need to get some test readings for the three things I mentioned above. Even take a sample of water to be test in a petshop would help.

right where to start

your tank is around 26 gallons - we normally say as a rule to have 8 gallons per fancy goldfish and 10/12 gal for single tail fish - as most are only small at the moment you may be alright for a month or two but your really going to have to take a lot back to the fish shop or give them away goldfish are real poo factories and it's a common myth that they grow to the size of your tank

Goldy has some great pics of her fish and it really shows how big fish can get - it may surprise you

the next worrying thing is that the fish may be being poisioned by ammonia and nitrites which is why it is so important to check your water

here is a link to help you understand the process - it's not as complicated as it may seem

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules/ ... php?topic_id=559&forum=14

any questions on that one and we can help

most fish problems are caused by bad water so if you can test your water and see the results we can really help from there

with the bloated fish have you noticed if any of the other fish have been chasing it??

also how do you clean the filter?? and do the water changes?

sorry for so many questions

Just to explain what happened to me. I have one shubunkin (Chico ) who spent his first 8 months after purchase in a 19 litre tank (duff advice from a well-known lfs). After a few months he spent a lot of time in a top corner of his tank, not swimming for much of the day at all. He has now moved into a 63 litre tank on his own and he has literally not stopped swimming since he moved in there. I can only imagine that he felt cramped in the smaller tank and it was affecting his growth and well-being.

You really have done extremely well to get this far with all those fish. Don't let this put you off - you'll get there



Edit: This isn't your fault, the lfs should have asked where all those fish were going and what size your tank was.

Thanks for replying so fast guys.

To Home and Aways question, no its scales are not sticking out, there are no sores or ulcers, this fish does have one friend who called naughty its about the same siz, though slightly longer, with less of a stomach! They do chase each other sometimes, but ive never noticed any nipping or anything like that.

To Ami, i change 1/4 of the water every weekend, and clean the filter every week too. Though i've always done it in the bathroom sink, so from what ive read here, i'll do it in the old water when i change it next time.

I think i'll take some of the "addition" out of the tank, like their sunken ship, i got a skull in there that's conneceted to a Tetra Tec 120-300 Aquarium Air Pump, so i cant really lose that cause it'll take the oxygen out of the water :(. i also got a barrell, so i think I'll have to compromise somewhere :(. I dont want my fish to suffer unecceserily, i guess i wont be buying any more fish for a while, and there was this loverly silver one in the pet shop too .

It sounds as though multi tank syndrome is starting to set in already!

Hmmm think it has all been said ie, too many fish, tank is likely still cycling, as for the swelling, is this a single tail goldfish or a fancy as it may be internal although the fish will still eat and swim ok, if it turns out to be a female then you can tell the sex by its rear although doesn't sound like it is down to this, any chance of a photo

I dont know if you'll be able to see anything from these pics, but there you go, ive taken some accessories out of the tank, so at least they got a little more room to swim round in.

To answer the post above, its a single fin gold fish, you also say look at the rear of the fish to tell its sex, where do i look, i havent seen anything obvious to tell the difference between my fish.

[img=http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/971/patch1bx7.th.jpg]

[img=http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3183/patch2ry2.th.jpg]

[img=http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/9052/patch3jv3.th.jpg]

[img=http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/1907/patch4pa7.th.jpg]