A little better?

A few people did reply to my post, and gave me the advice to try bloodworms on him, since he might be sick of the flakes (which don't seem to be very good anyway).  I tried it, and he ate them!  He's eating to this day, so I'm very happy.  He's still looking miserable, but for now, I'm happy he's eating again.

Also what was recommended was using Prazi [$19.99 for 10 grams] to get rid of some possible gill flukes.  From what I've been told and researched, Prazi is very gentle, very effective, and very economic (for my needs, at least) as far as dosages go. (a 10 gram bottle treats 1,000 gallons)  It can be a bit expensive, but www.goldfishconnection.com has the cheapest price that I can find and is in the list of recommended stores on kokosgoldfish.com.

In addition to the suggestion of Prazi, I've taken up doing daily 25% water changes to keep the ammonia down as the tank cycles.  He enjoys the water changes, and perks up whenever it's time to clean.  From what I can tell on my test strips, the ammonia is going down little by little.  (Meaning that the light-green color is getting more and more yellowish)

Next on my list of "To-buy"s is some drop-test kits.  I've heard good things about Aquarium pharmaceuticals, but they are, also, expensive.  In my personal local Petsmart, the kit goes for about $32.  On Amazon, it goes for $19.90.  Which is a price I'd MUCH prefer.

So yeah, probably a good amount of spending ahead.  Kids, this is why you CYCLE YOUR TANK, and QUARANTINE YOUR NEW FISH.

Mr. SadRyukinMan Doesn't like eating now :C

This goldfish is just worrying me to death.  Now he's not eating!  I've decided to do the unthinkable and... POST IN A GOLDFISH FORUM OMGOMGOMG.

Not just any forum, though... but kokosgoldfish.com's forum.  Those people seem to really know what their talking about, and I hope they'll help a pathetic n00bie-b00bie like me. D:

I'll see what happens, or if I get any replies.  If nothing happens, I guess I'll just move him in with the fantail, switch filters, and hope and hope and hope that this solves the problem.

There are not very many things more frustrating than an animal that won't eat. D:

Mr. SadRyukinMan :C

The Ryukin has been favoring the bottom of the tank for the last two days.  My hypothesis is that the ammonia and the ich are starting to wear on him.  He had a SUPER long thin translucent string of poo.  Which could mean stress, parasites, or constipation (but it's most likely stress/parasites).  I'm very hesitant on feeding him antibiotics... I don't want to stress him out even further.

Ryukin with translucent poo.  And it got LONGER!
(Fullview for extra pooey details)  

I did a 50% water change today (to mainly make myself feel better) but he's acting the same way.  Of course the tank is only in its first month of usage and is far from being completely cycled.  I shouldn't have added fish so early... but then again, I probably wouldn't have gotten this guy if I hadn't been careless.  Live and learn. :(

I'm debating on whether to temporarily put the Ryukin in the 26 gallon (fully cycled).  However, I don't want to introduce ich to this tank as well.  I dunno, really.

Speaking of the 26 gallon, Mr. Red Cap (almost named "Nisshoki"... if I can ever remember that.) is doing very well!  (The 0.5 ammonia reading I had last post has gone back down to 0.  Not sure what happened...)  He ate a good 1/4th of jumbo brine shrimp today.  He's about a little over an inch right now, not counting the tail.  Cuteness!

Camouflage, ENGAGE!

New Baby Red Cap Oranda

Last night I moved the comet out and bought a "Red Cap Oranda" to put in my 26 gallon tank. Yay!

This guy was one of the last two red-capped ANYTHING in the store, and as a family was getting their 6 comets to put in two bowls, (which made me a little sad.  Learning so much about goldfish is opening my eyes to just how much abuse they get just because of how cheap they are) I stood next to the red caps, quickly "gauging" their health.  (Basically whether they had ich or not and if they're swimming right)  I eventually got my fish, talked to it, headed home, and put it in my tank.

Water Parameters:

50 Gallon
Nitrates:  0-20
Nitrites:  0
Hardness: 150-300
Chlorine:  0
Alkalinity:  40
pH:  7.2-7.8
Ammonia:  0.5


26 Gallon
Nitrates: 0-20
Nitrites: 0
Hardness: 150
Chlorine: 0
Alkalinity: 40
pH: 7.2
Ammonia: 0.5 <--huh?

Battling the Ich Monster

I'll start off with a couple of shots of my Ryukin in the 50 gallon. :D

I think it's shrugging at me. D:

Sadly, the black moor is no more. :(  His death was very very sudden, but in retrospect, probably not totally unexpected.  Cause of Death?  Probably a mixture of the stress of medication, the stress of the .5 ppm ammonia, and the stress of those white-dotted bastards.

R.I.P, Cool lil' Dude :C

My local PetSmart currently has an ich infestation on their hands.  After arriving at the store, I began my bolting to the fish section, throwing helpless women and children left and right while maintaining my usual dramatic slow-mo. After a good while, I picked out my two favorite goldfish that seemed disease-free.  Of course, just because you can't see the ich on them that day doesn't mean they're not infected.  So unsurprisingly, this past week's project was to get rid of the ich on my new fish.

I started medication with Jungle Labs' Ick Guard, I believe.  (The bottle itself states that it clears ich.)  Using the reccomended dosage, I treated for a couple of days until I ran out.  During the actual medication, I'd read how medications can be stressful to fish, and I decided to use this opportunity of running out of meds to try to research another route to go.  Yes, yes, a rabidly panicking fish owner constantly changing her mind. D:

On August 10th I switched from medication to treatment with un-(or is it non?)iodized salt and heat.  I turned up the temperature (slowly) to 82 degrees and added 50 teapoons for 50 gallons (which equals to about 1 cup) 3 times within the first 24 hours.  And... the white spots have cleared after about 4 days of maintaining the temperature and adding in lost salt after water changes!  The Ryukin seems to be doing well, but is rubbing up against the plants erratically once in a while.  So I guess this is when the ich is at it's most annoying.  I'll keep this up for the lifespan of the ich (which from what I understand is about 2 weeks).

Updates to come!  Wish me luck! D:

This Week's Water Parameters

50 gallon

Nitrates - 0
Nitrites - .5-1.0
Hardness 300
Chlorine - 0
Alkalinity - 40-80
Ph - 7.2
Ammonia - .5

26 gallon

Nitrates - 0-20
Nitirites - 0
Hardness 150
Chl 0
Alk 40
Ph 7.2-7.8
Ammonia-0

The 50 gallon needs some work.  Ammonia is up, as well as nitrites.  For some reason Hardness is off the charts.

The 26 gallon's pH is the only concern.

WOO!