Oranda help

ImThatGuy

Hi all,

I'm new here and new to having fish as pets.

We recently bought a new tank and 2 oranda, unfortunately one of them got stuck behind the filter and died, the other is thriving, getting more active every day and seems to be enjoying the tank.

We decided keeping one first on his own was unfair so we bought another oranda. When I introduced him to the tank (sealed bag in water) I noticed he was floating sideways in the bag, once in the tank he never recovered and got worse and then died.

We got another oranda over the weekend, this time I watched them in the fish shop, this one was lively and not floating sideways, got him home, introduced him to the tank, all OK however when we got was let out he seemed to be swelled looking and had difficulty in swimming down, 2 days later he's now beginning to float on his side with difficulty still diving.

A lot of websites say these are symptoms of SBS but can that suddenly occur when introduced to a new tank after being fine hours earlier? Any help would be great as I hate seeing it suffer.

Thanks in advanced for the help.

Sleepy

How big is the tank? Odds are that your tank is way too small for 2 Oranda (they need *very* large tanks, circa 250 litres for one, 400 litres for 2).

Did you cycle the tank before introducing the fish? (see sticky at the top of the forum for details on cycling). An uncycled tank is going to kill fish via ammonia / nitrite poisoning.

What kind of water is in the tank? Are you using a tap water conditioner? Are you testing for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and PH?

Bloating like you describe could also be a result of over-feeding (it's a very common beginner mistake) but it's far more likely that it's the water that's the problem in a new setup. There's a oft-referred to quote about fish-keeping that "you don't keep fish, you keep water".

Try not to beat yourself up over it, most of us here made similar mistakes when first getting into the hobby and the level of "advice" you get in most pet-shops ranges from well-meaningly under-informed to wilfully wrong (healthy fish don't sell medication and water treatments).

ImThatGuy

Sleepy wrote: »

How big is the tank? Odds are that your tank is way too small for 2 Oranda (they need *very* large tanks, circa 250 litres for one, 400 litres for 2).

Did you cycle the tank before introducing the fish? (see sticky at the top of the forum for details on cycling). An uncycled tank is going to kill fish via ammonia / nitrite poisoning.

What kind of water is in the tank? Are you using a tap water conditioner? Are you testing for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and PH?

Bloating like you describe could also be a result of over-feeding (it's a very common beginner mistake) but it's far more likely that it's the water that's the problem in a new setup. There's a oft-referred to quote about fish-keeping that "you don't keep fish, you keep water".

Try not to beat yourself up over it, most of us here made similar mistakes when first getting into the hobby and the level of "advice" you get in most pet-shops ranges from well-meaningly under-informed to wilfully wrong (healthy fish don't sell medication and water treatments).

Thanks for the reply, the tank is 23 litres, so that's a waste of €120!

These are quite young fish I'd imagine their bodies are maybe just over an inch.

I didn't cycle the tank, but I am using conditioner and following the dosages of that, it's tap water. I've not been testing for any of the above but will get some kits now.

This fish was never fed in our tank, he was in the 24 hours don't feed period when this happened, it was literally as soon as he swam out of the bag and into the tank.

Anyway, unfortunately the fish died last night, I tried some swim bladder medication but he got gradually worse showing the same symptoms as the previous one. The other fish is now on his own again but still seems to be very well.

I'm going to get a test kit and then address any issues with the water so the other one continues to survive. Is it unfair to just have one fish in a tank, I understand they're quite sociable so not sure if that's a bad idea.

I'll have to look into upgrading the tank when funds allow.

Thanks again

Sleepy

Who sold you a 23 litre tank for Goldfish?! :eek:

A tank that size is really only good for keeping shrimp, though many successfully keep Bettas (or Siamese Fighter Fish as they're more commonly called) in them by doing more frequent than normal water changes.

Bring the surviving fish back to the shop you bought it in and, if they were the ones who told you your tank was suitable for an Oranda, I'd be asking for a refund for the fish they sold you. They couldn't possibly have survived in such a small tank, particularly when it hadn't been cycled.

Next, read the sticky on cycling your tank and follow it. Once you've that done, you could look into getting shrimp or, even though it wouldn't be "ideal", a 23l tank would give a betta a better life than many get.