Hi all,

I'm having a problem with a goldfish I hope you can help me with.
First off, it's a very small, 5'x7'x2" deep backyard pond with a liner.
I've
had it about 5 years.
The fish in it are all garden variety goldfish, ranging in size between
1.5"
up to this one, who's about 6". The pond is a little overcrowded, but the
water chemistry checks out, I'm using a bio-filter with charcoal, in
addition to a watefall whcih helps keep things aerated.
All the other fish seem fine and happy.
The water is dropping to around 50F, so I've tapered off the feedings,
which
have been fall and winter food for about the last month.
There have been no signs of parasites; but I did treat a week ago with
permanganate. I usually do that at least in early spring and late fall,
just
as a precaution.
Now to my troubled fish.
He's a goldfish, about 6" or 8" long.
I would guess he's about 3 years old, born in the pond.
For the last few weeks, he's seemed very sluggish, not swimming or eating
much, hanging out at the plant shelf, which is about 10" deep. As I said,
the other fish seem happy and frisky.
Today, I changed the charcoal filter in the bio filter, and he actually
seemed to perk up, and was swimming about a bit. Problem is, he seems to
be
having "attitude" control problems. As in, he was nearly vertical at one
point, then leveled out, swam some more, and then drifted back to nearly
vertical. Then he swam away, and acted as if nothing was wrong.
The only thing I can physically see on him is that his scales look maybe,
for want of a better word, unkempt. A little rought and un-lustrous,
maybe.

Any ideas? Do these guys just not live any longer, or is there something
else wrong? As I said, I've seen no other sigsn of anything wring in any
of
the other fish.
The nitrites, Ph, and Ammonia levels in the pond all look good.

Thanks,

Sean

Mid posted.


"Sean Kerns" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm having a problem with a goldfish I hope you can help me with.
First off, it's a very small, 5'x7'x2" deep backyard pond with a liner.
I've
had it about 5 years.
The fish in it are all garden variety goldfish, ranging in size between
1.5"
up to this one, who's about 6". The pond is a little overcrowded, but the
water chemistry checks out, I'm using a bio-filter with charcoal, in
addition to a watefall whcih helps keep things aerated.
All the other fish seem fine and happy.
The water is dropping to around 50F, so I've tapered off the feedings,
which
have been fall and winter food for about the last month.
There have been no signs of parasites; but I did treat a week ago with
permanganate. I usually do that at least in early spring and late fall,
just
as a precaution.
Now to my troubled fish.
He's a goldfish, about 6" or 8" long.
I would guess he's about 3 years old, born in the pond.
For the last few weeks, he's seemed very sluggish, not swimming or eating
much, hanging out at the plant shelf, which is about 10" deep. As I said,
the other fish seem happy and frisky.
Today, I changed the charcoal filter in the bio filter, and he actually
seemed to perk up, and was swimming about a bit. Problem is, he seems to
be
having "attitude" control problems. As in, he was nearly vertical at one
point, then leveled out, swam some more, and then drifted back to nearly
vertical. Then he swam away, and acted as if nothing was wrong.
The only thing I can physically see on him is that his scales look maybe,
for want of a better word, unkempt. A little rought and un-lustrous,
maybe.

Any ideas? Do these guys just not live any longer, or is there something
else wrong?

Goldfish can live up to 50 years if no disease kills them first. Sounds like
swim bladder disease. Read about it on the net or ask here for someone else
(I never read any more about swim bladder disease yet) to explain it for
you. I am not sure about fancy goldfish though as far as how long they live.
Sorry I couldn't have been more help, good luck and later!

As I said, I've seen no other sigsn of anything wring in any
of
the other fish.
The nitrites, Ph, and Ammonia levels in the pond all look good.

Thanks,

Sean

"Sean Kerns" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm having a problem with a goldfish I hope you can help me with.
First off, it's a very small, 5'x7'x2" deep backyard pond with a liner.
I've
had it about 5 years.
The fish in it are all garden variety goldfish, ranging in size between
1.5"
up to this one, who's about 6". The pond is a little overcrowded, but the
water chemistry checks out, I'm using a bio-filter with charcoal, in
addition to a watefall whcih helps keep things aerated.
All the other fish seem fine and happy.
The water is dropping to around 50F, so I've tapered off the feedings,
which
have been fall and winter food for about the last month.
There have been no signs of parasites; but I did treat a week ago with
permanganate. I usually do that at least in early spring and late fall,
just
as a precaution.
Now to my troubled fish.
He's a goldfish, about 6" or 8" long.
I would guess he's about 3 years old, born in the pond.
For the last few weeks, he's seemed very sluggish, not swimming or eating
much, hanging out at the plant shelf, which is about 10" deep. As I said,
the other fish seem happy and frisky.
Today, I changed the charcoal filter in the bio filter, and he actually
seemed to perk up, and was swimming about a bit. Problem is, he seems to
be
having "attitude" control problems. As in, he was nearly vertical at one
point, then leveled out, swam some more, and then drifted back to nearly
vertical. Then he swam away, and acted as if nothing was wrong.
The only thing I can physically see on him is that his scales look maybe,
for want of a better word, unkempt. A little rought and un-lustrous,
maybe.

Any ideas? Do these guys just not live any longer, or is there something
else wrong? As I said, I've seen no other sigsn of anything wring in any
of
the other fish.
The nitrites, Ph, and Ammonia levels in the pond all look good.
============================
I've read that goldfish can live anywhere from 10 to 20 years in captivity.
Maybe longer baring disease or predators. Perhaps it's time you did a
partial water change and removed the excess fish. When was your last
partial water change and how many goldfish are in you pond? Overcrowding
stress can't be cured or prevented with charcoal. Remember, each goldfish
needs 10 to 15 gallons of well filtered water - and partial water changes.
I keep no more than 8 to 10 adults in 150 gallons pools. Good luck!
--
Reel McKoi.... frugal ponding since 1995...
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

On Sat, 05 Nov 2005 22:11:57 GMT, "Sean Kerns" wrote:

5'x7'x2" deep backyard pond with a liner.
I've had it about 5 years.
fish are garden variety goldfish, 1.5" to 6".
50F, I've tapered off the feedings
I did treat a week ago with permanganate.

Now to my troubled fish.
He's a goldfish, about 6" or 8" long.
I would guess he's about 3 years old, born in the pond.
For the last few weeks, he's seemed very sluggish, not swimming or eating
much, hanging out at the plant shelf, which is about 10" deep.
he was nearly vertical at one point, then leveled out, swam some more,
and then drifted back to nearly vertical.
The only thing I can physically see on him is that his scales look maybe,
for want of a better word, unkempt. A little rought and un-lustrous,
maybe.

Any ideas? Do these guys just not live any longer, or is there something
else wrong? As I said, I've seen no other sigsn of anything wring in any
of the other fish. The nitrites, Ph, and Ammonia levels in the pond all look good.
Sean

Sounds like his swim bladder is going and dropsy might be setting in. These
things happen most often when the temps are changing in fall & spring. To
save this one you would need to bring it inside for the winter and keep it
warm, and that's no guarantee. See:
http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/home.html Diseases and Treatments.

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ ~ jan

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website