Not Betta related, please help though >_<

[bahamut285]

Hey everybody, I know this isn't a goldfish help forum, but I trust you guys a lot more to care for fish than searching google blindly.

My goldfish, Nigel is suddenly very listless. He still comes up to eat, but then just slowly scoots around the tank, instead of wildly swimming around like he did pretty much yesterday.

I'm thinking he might have parasites of some sort because his stomach looks a little flatter than usual, but I'm not sure. I would also get a picture of him but he's always been absolutely frightened by cameras.

His tankmate, Dea, is fine.. she's still chubby and swimming around.

I recently did a fairly large water change because I was away (my boyfriend was feeding them), so I'm not sure if it is stress related or not.

Nigel and Dea are both 2 years old in an 8 Gallon. I know it's small for goldfish that need 20+, and they've lived happily in it for 2 years so please don't just disregard this as an "overstocked" case. I've had 4 very happy goldfish that have lived around 8 years in a 15 Gallon before, which is also overstocked. I didn't plan on buying Nigel and Dea for the point of torturing them in an 8 Gallon. It was the only tank I had, in my apartment with barely enough electrical plugs for basic needs, and I only adopted them because my biology lab was going to just flush them after our shoaling experiments. Ideally I would put them in an aquarium pond, but that of course is out of the question.

[turtle10]

I hate to say it but you need to get them a bigger tank. The symptoms they are showing could be a sign that the small size finally caught up to them. It could be a water quality issue too, since goldfish are very messy and that is a very small tank for two fish, especially goldfish.

I know you said they have lived happily for the past two years but they may not be as healthy as they could be. Goldfish live for much much longer than that so it is necessary for you to get them a bigger tank so they can grow and be as healthy as they can be.

[SaylorKennedy]

I agree with turtle. They're probably stunted from the small area and what happens is their organs still grow inside them pushing against eachother which leads to an early death.

But really I don't know much about goldfish so...yeah. It could be a parasite or something. Try a goldfish forum? Or ask Lupin, he's very informed on goldfish. You could probably try the tropical fishkeeping chat. I saw him there yesterday.

[bahamut285]

Thank you both for your reply, as I would desperately want to get them a larger tank, the conditions in my apartment would not be able to support it at all. I do understand stunting, as one of my old classmates took terrible care of her goldfish that she won at a fair (she kept 4 of them in a 3 gal tupperware box), and I ended up taking them into my care and they lived to 8 years in my parents' old 15 Gal.

Unfortunately that 15 gal is somewhere in storage (my family is moving around continents and such) so I can't use it, and even if I could there is no possible way of putting it anywhere in my apartment without either shorting out a fuse, getting physically in the way, or breaking a table I put it on.

I added half a dose of aquarium salt into the tank and hand fed him. He looks a little better but I'll keep you posted.

[turtle10]

Good luck, sending good vibes your way :)

[bahamut285]

Goodmorrning~

Good news, it seems that Nigel is okay now, his stomach looks better and he's swimming just as lively as usual again.

Maybe he was just shocked at the water change I did because I changed it slightly more than usual due to my holiday.

Thanks for all your help, guys @_@ sorry for panicking lol

[JKfish]

It's great that he's better, though you might want to go as Lupin about that, just to make sure it won't be something that will pop back up again :)

[dramaqueen]

Lupin is our goldfish and snail expert. You can't go wrong asking for Lupin's advice! :)

[bahamut285]

@JKfish and dramaqueen: Ohh okay thanks, I'll keep them in mind if anything goes wrong with my goldies again. They're both going about business as usual now :D!

The only bad news is that, my dad said that he sold our 15Gal at a garage sale a few years ago :(, looks like I'll have to start budgeting for a nice home for them >.<