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Full Version: Gold Fish Lethargic And Lying At The Botton (help)
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huangjunwen
Today woke up and found some of my goldfish lying lethargic at the bottom of the tank.

Are they suffering from some kind of illness? What medication do I need to save them?
namaste
I think your goldfish may be spiked with the poor water quality. Suggest 100%water change. Do not feed and observe their behaviour.
huangjunwen
its not due to bad water quality.

I found worms some a few cm long and some a few mm long in the filter. There are also greenish living organism sticking on the goldfish. anybody had any idea what they are? I suppose that these are the cause of their sickness.

I had no idea what they are and how they get into my tank. Anyway all my goldfish died after I scoop them out from the tank in an attempt to cure them.
bekko
Don't worry about the worms in the filter.

Are the greenish things sort of round and flat? If so, it's fish lice (Argulus). Pick them off with forceps or a cotton swab then treat the tank for a month with a lice medication to kill the small ones which you cannot see. If there are things that look like a 2-3 cm tan string stuck to the glass then scrape them off and remove them. They are lice eggs.

I don't know what kind of lice medication you can buy there. There are two basic types: chitin inhibitors and organophosphates. The chitin inhibitor is much safer. It prevents the formation of a new shell when the lice molt (they are crustaceans, you know). It has no effect on the fish. Here it is sold under the name of Dimlin. The organophosphates are pretty toxic. The difference in the dose required to kill the lice and the dose which will kill the fish is small. It used to be sold under the name Masoten but you will probably find it under another name now.

Since the fish is already lying on the bottom, the stress of having lice has probably resulted in an outbreak of flukes or another parasite as well. Without a skin scrape and a proper diagnosis it is impossible to say for sure. Prazi will kill the flukes and is compatable with lice medication. A formalin/malachite green medication (Quick Cure for example) will kill most of the other small parasites but is not compatable with lice medication. So you would have to treat with formalin/malachite, wait a day, change some water, and then start treating for the lice.

With the fish is lying on the bottom already it will be an up-hill battle.

-steve
huangjunwen
You mean the worm are harmless to the fishes and human?

The smaller one look like leeches to me, the way it move. Are they harmful to human?

bekko
Hard to say without actually seeing the worm. However, there are no common worm-like or leech-like creatures which you have to be concerned about in the home aquarium. They could be some small species of leech living off the debris in your filter, but still not cause for concern unless they are attached to you or your fish and actually sucking blood.

-steve
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