Why is my goldfish lying at the bottom of the tank?

[Brickosaurus]

Just got him last night. He was in the fish bag for a couple hours in the car.

The tank is a 30g and is cycled. All parameters are stable. He started swimming around and eating when I fed him, but now he's back to sitting at the bottom. Any help would be appreciated

 

[SalviniCichlidFan]

Try checking water parameters + tank mates. Best case scenario is that he's just stressed/acclimating. Worst case scenario is that you got an already sick fish (which I've done before) and there's little you can do. I remember getting a pineapple swordtail from Petco, and it exhibited similar symptoms. I checked it around and noticed it had red gills, so I used salt treatments to help cure the gill infection. After a week, he swam like normal and everything was all good.

 

[Brickosaurus]

Try checking water parameters + tank mates. Best case scenario is that he's just stressed/acclimating. Worst case scenario is that you got an already sick fish (which I've done before) and there's little you can do. I remember getting a pineapple swordtail from Petco, and it exhibited similar symptoms. I checked it around and noticed it had red gills, so I used salt treatments to help cure the gill infection. After a week, he swam like normal and everything was all good.

I got this one from petco. And there were some other sick fish in the tank at the store so I guess he could be sick. I'm definitely going to pick up some aquarium salt asap just in case

 

[Sinister-Kisses]

...if there were noticeably sick fish in the tank, then there is no "could be sick" about it - of course he's sick too. Even when fish aren't super obviously sick at a glance in those kind of stores, always assume they ARE sick and be prepared to QT and treat as needed.

 

[JackEmerson]

might just be the shock of being in a new environment. Did you buy him out of the feeder tank? If so, he likely has lots of diseases. salt sounds like a good idea, and just allow him to rest for a few days. I find that fish often need a day or two of adjusting to the shock of a new tank.

 

[SalviniCichlidFan]

As a general rule of thumb, I avoid buying fish when the tank has other sick fish in it. In large chains stores like Petco, I sometimes might even avoid buying fish if I see a sick fish in any of the other tanks (Petco uses a central water processing system so diseases in one tank can spread to another tank across the store).

*of course sometimes I'm tempted to buy super special/rare fish regardless but I make the fish go through a lengthy quarantine process.

 

[Brickosaurus]

...if there were noticeably sick fish in the tank, then there is no "could be sick" about it - of course he's sick too. Even when fish aren't super obviously sick at a glance in those kind of stores, always assume they ARE sick and be prepared to QT and treat as needed.

Since he is currently the only fish in the tank I didn't quarantine. But I will definitely treat him

 

[Brickosaurus]

might just be the shock of being in a new environment. Did you buy him out of the feeder tank? If so, he likely has lots of diseases. salt sounds like a good idea, and just allow him to rest for a few days. I find that fish often need a day or two of adjusting to the shock of a new tank.

He didn't come from a feeder tank. But the other fish in the tank were sick. I'll definitely treat him with salt

 

[SalviniCichlidFan]

Since he is currently the only fish in the tank I didn't quarantine. But I will definitely treat him

yes, in the future definitely set up a quarantine tank. I learned this the hard way when I had to treat my 75 gallon for ich. I remember doing 50% water changes everyday for 2 weeks right during midterms. At least it was a nice arm workout.

 

[Brickosaurus]

Sadly the goldfish died last night. Thanks for all of your guys help, and I'll definitely have to make sure to get a healthier goldfish. Usually my Petco is pretty good when it comes to healthy fish but the manager there said that this most recent shipment had an unusually sick batch of fish. So I'll wait until the next shipment to get new fish, and hopefully those ones will be healthier.

I would go to a different pet store but the only one within an hour from me is this particular petco.