UV Filter in goldfish tank

My large oranda came up with some red spots on her wen cap a week ago. someone suggested i add a uv sterlizer. it showed up in the mail saturday so yesterday when i did my weekly water change i added the new uv sterilizer. everything was good......till today. now my large oranda just wants to sit at the bottom of the tank. this is sssssoooooo not like her (or him not sure which). usually she is all over the tank. my husband, god love him, even though he doesn't care for my new fish hobby, sent me a message that she wasn't moving. could it be from the sterlizier since she was fine before? i have tried to figure it out all afternoon and am stumped. all the other goldfish in the tank are fine.

awwww. I hope someone can help! It's possible that whatever the red spots are, it could have escalated before the uv filter could help(therefore the uv filter isn't the cause of the listlessness, I hope)

the red spots disappeared on their own. that had happened before and she was fine. it now looks like there is blood running all through the fins and some on the scales. i don't know what to do for her.

what is the ammonia level in the tank? is it a new setup? I thought I'd do some reading.

is it possible that the tank has not cycled yet?

i came across this, and I think it kinda sorta show the progression of the symptoms....

http://goldfish-emergency.com/viewpage.php?page_id=174

or this one, which also points to water quality: http://thegab.org/Illness-and-Treatment/what-is-wrong-with-my-fish.html#Streaks

both articles also point to a possible bacterial infection if the water parameters are fine.

It looks like amonia reaction to me as well. When was the last 50% water change and when was the tank set up?

25% water changes daily. I have never used a UV cleaner with fish tanks. I used to sell them to people who bought hot tubs periodically as an upsell. The UV only touches part of the water (understand it can not possibly keep up with the waste because all of the water cannot move through the UV 100% of the time).

It is designed to help with tank maintenence not as a replacenement to maintence. I would turn it off and do the 25% daily changes, give her a chance to feel better. Are you using room temp water for the water changes? Make sure it is not too cold-and that you are using a little aquarium salt. Once she starts feeling better you can try it again. Do you have an airstone? I want to be certain the water is well oxygenated.

Feed her something special tonight- something that really turns her on.

Good luck,

Julie

i just tested the water and these are the measures:

nitrate = 20 ppm
nitrite = 0 ppm
ph = 7.2
ammonia = 0 ppm

i always use my thermometer to test the water temp before i do my water changes. make sure it is as close as i can get it. i set this tank up about a month ago but i switched from an established 20 to a 42 but used the filter from the 20 and the gravel when i switched. i also put in a 14" airstone. she is the only one not acting right. the others are swimming around like they always do even the one that usually likes to hide in the back. i really have no idea how old this fish is anyways. i got it long with the 20 gallon when i bought it earlier in the winter and they got the whole set up with the fish from a friend of theirs several months before i bought it.

if you see on the first link, it looks as if the ammonia cycle is winding down? from the symptoms described, it does coincide with the high nitrate level. I would do small and frequent water changes to help lower the nitrate level, maybe even get some duckweed to sop up the nitrate(and goldfish eats duckweed)? all are suggestions; i haven't had goldfish in a long time so I may be rusty, but from what I've been reading it's the nitrates causing your one sensitive goldfishy to be sad.

well i asked the people on goldfish 911 what was going on and took their advice but she wasn't getting any better. I purchased some anti-bacterial fish food and within 24 hours she is back! i'm going to keep feeding it to her for the recommended 5 days to make sure that she continues the uphill battle. i've also been giving it to my other goldies just incase what she had was contagious.

Yea for big momma! (that's her name) lol.

AHA!, so it was in fact a bacterial thing, not water quality(though it doesn't hurt to have super clean water in a goldfish tank-the nitrates was borderline high) I'm glad you got a handle on it!

i do believe so since the meds are working. me too! i was afraid i was gonna lose her. i read that those little folds in the cap can get bacteria in them and cause infection.

fishface30 wrote:

(though it doesn't hurt to have super clean water in a goldfish tank-the nitrates was borderline high) I'm glad you got a handle on it!

so glad she's better.

Something that doesn't seem like it was addressed here(and might be irrelevant) is that oranda's often develop these "bumps" on their wen when they're shedding off old cells or when their is new growth. Sometimes it can look like a sore, other times like a pimpled (gross, i know) but it often goes away within a day or so. =) if not, THEN you have something to worry about.

Good luck with your fish keeping experience! It's my experience that non-fishy lovers often warm to tanks after awhile, something about fish is just too captivating to hate for long.