My daughter came home with a 'prize' Goldfish in August this year after winning her on a fairground game. She told me that she saved her, so I am pleased with her but not with the fair.

Anyway, all has been well till now. Fishy has not been eating, has a few cotton wool like growths on her head, clamped gills and floating at an angle at the top of her bowl. She doesn't have a filter, just a tap water treatment every week.

I have given her two doses now of an antibiotic treatment for fin rot/fungus but it seemed to make her feel a bit better after the initial few days. After that she goes back to not moving at all.

I have just this minute dropped in a defrosted pea but it has sunk to the bottom on top of the gravel. I really don't know if she will go and retrieve it?

Am I right in thinking that she has swim bladder? But what about the cotton wool growths too?

Her fins are ok, no signs of fin rot, red streaks or rotting. No protruding eyes, no raised scales, no lice, not swimming on her side, no slime.... Just stuck at an angle near the top of the bowl and looking very sorry for herself.

Help please

Is it possible to get a pic of her on here so we can see her symptoms. just It might help us to help you to help her. I think the cotton wool like growths can be fungus can't remember though. I have had fish of a fairground called Escort sadly 3 days later he died.

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Diesel curtesy of Tashi.

My babies.

6 tank fish. Dylan, Monty, Shadow, Ghost, Phantom, Sidney aka Sid for short

23 pond fish. Zoomie, Cash, Tod, Murphy, Bingo, Kovu, Rufus, Wilbur, Miles, Mitzy, Ralph, Stan, Archie, Marley, Megan, Tommy, Ike, Twix, Rio, Keesha, Oz, George, Bruce.

Hello

Thanks for your reply, I will take some photo's later on today as I have to go to an interview in a while. I think that's a great idea

Keep up the fungus treatment and go and buy some aquarium salt, there will be instructions on the packet but prob best making it up to 0.3%.

Do a big water change first but dont wash the gravel. What size tank is this goldie in?? I wonder if its struggling without the filter now its got bigger??

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Doglets: Teal, Dylan and Buster

Ponies: Toffee, Samba and Jake

Guinea wiggles: Hector, Herbert and Humphrey

Fishes: Bess, Gerald, Barney and Claus

Since all the rubbish that is going to cause water quality problems is going to be in the gravel why not wash it?

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If there is no filter in this tank then surely getting rid of the small bioload in the tank is going to cause more harm then good??

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Doglets: Teal, Dylan and Buster

Ponies: Toffee, Samba and Jake

Guinea wiggles: Hector, Herbert and Humphrey

Fishes: Bess, Gerald, Barney and Claus

With no water movement from a filter moving oxygenated water over and though the gravel I would of thought the negative effect of the rubbish in the gravel would outweigh any positive effects of what little aerobic bacteria are in there. If it's washed in the old water there won't be that much bacteria lost anyway

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The best thing you can possibly do for this fish is to get it out of that bowl and into a large, filtered tank (at least 50-80 litres as a temporary measure, preferably more). In an unfiltered bowl it is likely that the water quality is very poor, which will be the cause of your fishes illness. There is little point adding medications at this point without first correcting the living conditions, as the fish will never get better without good water quality.

If you can't afford a new tank, then a large, water-tight storage box will do for now, but you absolutely need a filter. You also need to get hold of a liquid drop test kit (like the API master kit) so you can check your water quality regularly. It sounds like frequent, if not daily, water changes are in order if you want to improve your fishes situation.

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