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HELP! Obama isn't doing very well!

jennjoslin Jan 11, 2009 12:28 AM

I'm new here. I hope you can help. I have a 48 gallon bowfront with 3 goldfish (1.5" long at the biggest) in it. It is uber established (5 years) I'm obsessive about cleaning/water changes (every 1-2 weeks, charcoal change every 3 weeks). I have well water but it sits overnight (at least)and I use salt and Aqua Safe in all water changes. I don't test the water much anymore since I did tons of testing originally.

Anyway! I just lost a small comet on New Years Day and two days later my white Ryunkin, Achilles. Achilles developed dropsy immediately after a large water change in which I discovered a small difference in water temp. The comet (Charlotte) died with almost no symptoms. So I brought the water in to be tested, but it was fine. Everything within ranges.

So, I bought two new fish. A big healthy ryunkin (Obama!). I acclimated him to the tank (in the bag for 20 min)(which now only held my lasting Ryunkin, Pirate) he seemed fine but within three hours he was in the plants hiding and in the morning, hiding on the bottom in the corner. I put him in a hospital tank and added maracyn two. The fish got worse, shuddering and laying sideways. I added some maracyn in case it was a gram positive not negative bacteria. No symptoms of anything else. No fungus, nothing. After the addition of Maracyn, he righted. but stayed on the bottom. Three days now. Hes still breathing, but increased respiration and he's sitting on the bottom of the hospital tank, everything else on him seems fine. No red streaks, no rough scales, no fungus. He's a big ryunkin and was the healthiest of the bunch. Anyway, I am most concerned that by naming him Obama, and he instantly got sick, am I dooming the incoming administration? Help, any ideas!

Replies (1)

phishie Jan 12, 2009 05:44 AM

That's odd. It could just be stress of coming into a new habitat. He's aclimated, so it couldn't be from a change in anything as he should be used to your parameters now. I really don't know why your fish would just drop off like that unless they are old, and died of natural causes. One good question is how much salt are you using? This could be a problem if you are using too much. Also what is the temperature of your tank?

You should never treat for things that are not occuring. The only treatment that is safe to use on possibly ill fish would be mela or pima fix and stress coat or zyme. Others could do more damage than good.

He should start to come around. I don't see any problems from your first post that would indicate a disease/illness. Let me know about the salt, and temperature, and we'll go from there.
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Phishie
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"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

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