my goldfish is dying

[G.]

It's actually a beta.

Its bright red color has faded, it's kind of maroon. It seems to be trying to get air at the surface. There appears to be a mucus-like coating on its gills. lost weight (size). Ain't looking too good.

It lives in a fishbowl, no filter, etc. I change the water often.

Is this something that anyone has seen before? Is there an easy cure? I've heard of some fish diseases that are common and that have simple (?) cures (something called "ick", for example).

Anyone? I'd rather not have to do the ol' salute and a flush for the g's, even though it's a learning ritual. I also don't like seeing the little gy waste away.

Thanks.

(kind of amazing that I often get a lot of useful advice from a small racecar website...

And OC, I've made good chili since last years' disaster!)

[B3RACER1a]

ICK usually attacks the scales, not the gills. I'd go to the pet store and get some of the disease control stuff. Cant remember what it is called, but it comes in a really dark blue glass bottle and smells like eucalyptus. I know it helps with a lot of the gill problems some tropical fish tend to get.

Hopefully that helps, and keep those water changes coming....especially with medication in the water.

[Joelski]

Get medicine for "Ick".

[B3RACER1a]

I would try that. That stuff I talked about is Mela Fix. It doesnt help with ICK, so get some ICK treatment too. Aquarisol seems to be good stuff too, and it gets just about everything. Never tried it though, so far my tank has been very healthy.

[Joelski]

Smuggle in a new fish. Cheap and easy. :)

[B3RACER1a]

:laugh:

Yeah, these meds are more expensive than a beta.

:laugh:

[fourrunner]

Mouth to Mouth might work .... Just not to hard !!

[skaven]

kind of amazing that I often get a lot of useful advice from a small racecar website...

True that ! ! !

(best damn) small racecar website. :thumbup:

Good luck with the fish.

[vancouver]

Could this be a lack of nutrition?

My fish died due to a lack of food because the other greedy fish kept eating it all.

[rosawendel]

how old is it? the average lifespan for a male betta is 2-3 years.

[G.]

It's the only fish in the bowl (male betas don't play well with others, so I've been told). Food's not an issue.

It's about a year old.

Yeah, its easy to just replace, but I guess I feel bad since it is obviously diseased, not just old age/circle-of-life sort of thing. And his damn owner is too ignorant about fish to get the illness fixed. I mean, I have no qualms about going into the woods and blasting holes into food items, no issue with teasing a fish to bite a hook and get pulled by its mouth from its home, etc., etc.

What bugs me is that it's probably something easy to fix, and I am just an idiot, so Goldy suffers from terminal stupidity. I would rather it went quick, if it's inevitable.

If it can make it through tonight, I'll get some bugjuice to throw in the tank.

Thanks, all.

[tllips]

Does your tap water have chlorine added?

If so, you need to add a few drops of a chlorine remover like AmQuel or Novaqua (or a host of other products on the market). The chlorine may be stressing your betta.

A couple of days of the medicine referenced by other people above may be able to help him. Then change the water and use a de-chlorinator.

I like to use both AmQuel and Novaqua in my cichlid tank as the AmQuel reduces the ammonia level from fish waste/food decay and the Novaqua helps maintain a protective slime on the fish reducing stress levels. Both remove the chlorine.

Also, as far as I understand, male bettas only have problems with other male bettas. I would also probably avoid putting them in with fantail guppies or fancy goldfish as the similar fin types may set off the betta.

[TravelGal]

I'm glad to see that someone else uses both NovAqua and AmQuel. I guess I thought I was being over cautious.

I have only fancy goldfish (and a ranchu that better respond to anything the same way a goldfish would, if he knows what's good for him) so I won't comment on medicines.

Definitely try changing the water AND clean the rest of the stuff that's in there but be careful not to have anything that has dishwasher detergent on it. Then be sure to neutralize the chlorine in the replacement water.

Do your best to have what touches the tank water as clean as possible. If he lost his color, it's often too high pH. Slime is usually too much ammonia. He's obviously having trouble breathing and his gills are irritated. Chicken and the egg as to which came first. The hope is that if you clear the irritation the gills will calm down, the slime go away, and the breathing improve.

They are so small and they give so little indication until it's pretty far into the game. Good luck. We've lost a few and it's hard, even though it's "just a fish."

[G.]

Mrs. G. got some tablets of trisulfate (or some such thing). Each tablet treats 10 gallons, a wee bit too much for the 2 gallon bowl. Broke some off last night, new water with chlorine treatment (I usually just leave the water out for 2 days to breathe off the gas, but I need to try more frequent h2o changes to see if I can cure this little guy).

We will see.

He has trouble staying afloat (where he wants to be - needs air). He kinda swims up and rests against the side of the bowl to help him stay afloat.

I'm prolly too late, but we'll give it a few days.

[TravelGal]

Good for you. And thanks for the update. This was the first thread I checked this morning. :shrug: I'm a fish fan, what can I say?

[Ankf00]

I'm a fish fan, what can I say?

:saywhat:

dunno what's stranger, y'all or cat people... :p

[pchall]

Small sushi snack and a beer?

[Andrew Longman]

Get a ph tester and ammonia tester and some stuff to raise and lower both ph and ammonia.

Goldfish are especially likely to throw off ammonia. Being in only 2 gallons makes it critical to monitor this.

Better to test regularly and adjust than to keep changing the water because wide, sudden changes (of especially ph) are rough on the critters.

Good luck.

[G.]

Small sushi snack and a beer?What kind of beer would you recommend to go with a small, raw, diseased fish? Schlitz? Blatz? Fosters?

(I actually like Fosters... in the minority, I know.)

[TrueBrit]

Bettas typically need very little water to survive in, but the water has to be of the non-toxic-tap-type stuff. There is so much cr@p in tap water that is poisonous to fish you simply MUST use something to clean it up...any decent pet store should be able to help you out.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 6784&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030151&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1139516352186

Try that stuff out...works very well for my fishy friends...

[G.]

Little ****** is still holding on, but it doesn't look good (but I've said that from the beginning). The gills look clear now, but the guy just isn't eating. He's a skull and a spine. He swims a bit more, but, for example, last night I fed him, he shot up to the surface, took a bite, then sank to the bottom, like that burst of energy wiped him out.

Mrs. G. is wondering if she may have hurt him when she cleaned (and proceeded to break) his fishbowl a couple of weeks ago. I'm wondering if she's right. She had a hard time trying to get him out with water pouring out of the cracked bowl. When she told me about the adventure, she expressed concern that she may have hurt him. Would 'splain things...

Brokeback Beta?

A couple more days and I may have to assist him into the next realm. :(

[TravelGal]

Oh dear. I doubt the breaking bowl adventure would cause all the things you've seen but major trauma does seem to wreak havoc. I think you'd know if his back was broken though. If the bowl cracked, it means you had to put in water without letting it sit first the way you said you usually do. It may all stem from water quality problems. Most things do.

On the bright side, the gills are now clear and he still has the desire to eat; he not just listless.

You're right that it make a few more days. As we often say when our fish are sick, it will sort itself out--one way or the other. Keep us updated.

[CARTNUT]

Just get the Aquarium Screensaver. (http://www.screensavers.com/Home/3-D/Animals/Ocean+Life/Salt+Water+Fishtank/index.html?SS_ID=12013_14337_14343_98542)

You never have to feed them or clean the tank!

[G.]

RIP, Goldy. :cry:

Learning time when school gets out.

[tllips]

:(

[TravelGal]

AWWW. :( It's amazing how much we get attached to them.

I keep reading they have a 3 second memory and brains the size of a pinhead. Nevertheless, we feed at the same time every day and if we don't, the guys in our tank are swimming the entire perimeter so fast you'd think they'd get out, just trying to get our attention. They have much more personality and connection to us than they usually get credit for.

[Andrew Longman]

:(

[TrueBrit]

AWWW. :( It's amazing how much we get attached to them.

I keep reading they have a 3 second memory and brains the size of a pinhead. Nevertheless, we feed at the same time every day and if we don't, the guys in our tank are swimming the entire perimeter so fast you'd think they'd get out, just trying to get our attention. They have much more personality and connection to us than they usually get credit for.

"they have a 3 second memory and brains the size of a pinhead"

Sounds JUST like my ex---- :D :rofl:

Sorry, couldn't resist....

Shame about your fish though...

[TrueBrit]

RIP, Goldy. :cry:

Learning time when school gets out.

:(

Sorry to hear that..

[Ferdman]

I keep reading they have a 3 second memory and brains the size of a pinhead.

How did this thread get derailed from fish to Tony George?

Sorry about your fish.

[Anteater]

Sorry about your fish, G. As George Carlin once said about pet ownership, "You know this is going to end badly." :(