# My Goldfish got Stuck



## Rasca (Jun 20, 2015)

I woke up today to a horrible surprise. I check my goldfish tank when I wake up, and I found my goldfish was stuck inside a "rock tower" (it was plastic and upright and there were entrances to the inside). I don't know how long he was in there, but when I got him out some of his scales were scraped off, he's swimming very slowly and floating to the top of the tank. Please help!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Poor fishy  Fish can and do recover from this sort of thing, and there are steps you can take to help him.

Firstly, I know it sounds obvious, but remove the ornament, if you haven't already! If you have any other ornaments that could potentially cause a similar problem, remove them too.

Secondly, and very importantly, your fish's recovery will depend on you keeping the water quality perfect. If you have a test kit, please test right away for ammonia and nitrite - you need to keep these levels at 0. If you don't have a test kit, it's well worth getting one, as any number of aquarium problems can be caused or triggered by poor water quality, and it's the first thing to check if anything goes wrong. I recommend the API master test kit - it's around £20 online or a bit more in-store, but is far more accurate than the paper test strips and contains all the tests you will need for several years.

If you do a test and you have a positive result for ammonia and/or nitrite, immediately do a 50% water change and post here for further advice.

Thirdly, you can aid your fish's recovery by adding a product called Melafix, which is a mild, natural antiseptic. Unlike some other medications, it won't affect your filter, and is a very useful product for general "first aid".

Fourthly, it sounds bizarre, but try crushing a clove of garlic and adding it, together with its juices. (Leave it in for 24 hours or so, then remove it so that it doesn't start to rot and pollute the water.) Garlic is a great immunity booster, and even if your fish doesn't eat any of the actual clove, he will benefit from the juices in the water.

Keep a close eye on him, especially on the area where he scraped his scales off, and watch out for any cotton-wool-like fungus growth, which is a common secondary infection after a wound occurs. If you notice this at any point, you'll need to treat with an anti-fungus medication.

Good luck!


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