Goldfish, Ich, Etc.  10/06/2005 Hi <Hello.> Hope you'll be able to help. I live on a remote island so have no shop near where I can get information. Have lost 4 fish in the last 2 weeks. Two of my remaining fish I have had for 10 years but one of these has developed small white spots on tail and on one fin (nothing on body). Local vet told me she thought it was probably fin rot and to treat them for that. <Mm, actually, sounds like a parasite called "Ich" - Ichthyophthirius multifilius.... please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm .> I am concerned that in the last two days the 4 fish that I have left are all continually trailing waste behind them - some looks normal but on the one that has white spots the waste appears to be just a clear tube. Hope this makes sense to you and desperately hope you can offer me some advice? <The clear feces may be an indication of internal protozoan parasites.... in which case, food medicated with Metronidazole is the best bet. But, first and foremost, check and maintain water parameters at optimal conditions.... Ammonia and nitrite at ZERO, nitrate less than 20ppm; if it is anything other than this, do water changes to fix. The clear and trailing feces may possibly just be an indicator of stress and poor environmental conditions.> Thanks -Kate <Wishing you well, -Sabrina>

Poorly sick goldfish Hi we have 2 goldfish in a 40 gallon tank. One of the fish has become very bloated & his scales are sticking out, he also has a reddy bloom under his scales. He is still eating well & is very active. We have tried the Epsom/sea salt in the water but there seems to be little or no improvement What would be the best course of action?????? < Your fish has and internal bacterial blockage( Bloat-Dropsy) as well as an external bacterial attack too ( Reddish areas under the scales). Check the ammonia levels (should be zero) and the nitrite levels (should also be zero). The nitrates should be under 25 ppm. Clean the filter and do a 30% water change. These things are needed or no medication in the world will help. To treat the internal bacterial problem you need to treat with Metronidazole as per the directions on the package. For the external bacteria I would use Furanace. It will turn the water green. It is best to treat fish in a smaller isolation tank as well as much cheaper too. Check for ammonia spike because all medications affect the "good nitrifying " bacteria to some extant.-Chuck> Many Thanks

Heaven Bound Celestial Eye Hi!! Two weeks ago I got a new goldfish, those black ones that have big eyes. Since the beginning he is not eating well and today he is floating on one side and having trouble breathing. < If the water is cloudy then the ammonia from the waste is burning his gills and the filter needs to be cleaned and some of the water needs to be changed. Increase the aeration and do a 30% water change.> I placed him in a separate container with some Epsom salt but it seem that he is not improving. PLEASE help me!!! < You fish may have developed an internal infection that will require some Metronidazole to cure. Your LFS should have some in stock.-Chuck>
Heaven Bound Celestial Eye (continued) <Hi, MikeD filing in here> Thanks very much for your prompt reply Chuck...but the problems with my celestial have increased overnight. You can refer to my previous email, but here's an update of the last 24 hours: 1. his water temperature drops quite low during the cold nights - I'd say less than 18C (64F), so I have kept him in a slightly warmer room, and put towels around his bowl at night to keep heat in. I don't cover the top though - should I?<Although rapid drops and increases in temperature are taxing on many fish, less so with goldfish, actually a cooler water fish that is often stressed by higher temperatures> 2. His tail rot appears to have stabilized, BUT it is not any better, and the frayed edges have whitish spots on them.<This sounds like a secondary bacterial infection that's apparently resist to the Furnace> 3. I've noticed clustering of small white spots on his tail fins too (the spots appeared about 2 days ago, and have since dramatically multiplied in size and number). I'm guessing this is Ich?<I'd have to say this is a realistic assessment> I have bought some medication containing 37mg/ml formaldehyde + 0.32mg/ml malachite green, but am unsure whether to add it yet as it seems like quite an aggressive treatment, and I don't want to further compromise his immunity.<Ick won't compromise his immunity, but will rather just kill him. Ick's a protozoan parasite that often most severely infects a fish's gills and eyes, and unless treated promptly the die is likely cast> Last night, on the advice of a couple of aquarium stores, I put 2 tsp of rock salt into his bowl (which contains about 5L of water). He has perked up slightly, but still seems quite listless. My major quandary is that I am out of the country for the week from Thursday, and will not be able to constantly monitor him - as a treatment with malachite green/formaldehyde seems to require. Some websites and a vet I spoke to have suggested the increase in salt content to about 2g/L... is this a good idea, or will it mean that the Ich comes back?<The increased salt would be effective only against a fungus attack and will likely stress the goldfish as much as it does the Ick parasites, possibly more> Aalso, In cases like this, would you recommend treating with antibiotics first and then the Ich treatment, or the other way around?<Ick first, antibiotics second. Have you considered that a larger container with a more stable environment would likely eliminate most or all of your difficulties? A 10 liter container would cost less than what you've already spent in medications> Am suffering a bit of information overload here and am a little confused! Thanks heaps for the useful info on your website; you guys do a great job! I feel quite awful as I was given my fish as a gift, and don't want him to die through my inexperience.
<Unfortunately, that often happens. Keep in mind that it's much easier to prevent illness than to cure it> Che

Goldfish help! My Goldfish for last few days has been sitting at the bottom of its tank.  It has not been eating because it finds it hard to swim to the top of the tank to feed and it has a white moldy bit near its rear end.  I have removed the log and one of the two plastic plants in the tank to give him/her more room.  I have also set up another tank full of clean water to transfer him/her into once the water has oxygenated.  The fish has also dug a small hole and the other fish seems to be protective of him/her.  I have two goldfish, the other seems perfectly healthy.    What could be causing this behaviour? and is there anything I can do to help my fish? < Sounds like you fish has an internal anaerobic infection. Try treating with Metronidazole and follow the directions on the package. It is caused by dirty water, too much food, too high a temperature or old food that has begun to rot and has been eaten.-Chuck> Thank you Jess

Re: Sick Goldfish Hi Gwen, thank you so much for your quick reply. I will get the test kits today. I try to do water changes, at least three gallons, once a month or so. I never had any problems before. I use the conditioner and stress chemicals, I check the temperature. Petco says I can't do much more for Treasure, but I don't give up that easy. I read the info. on gas bubble disease, I moved Treasure to a separate small tank with the aeration and Melafix, no filter. He is still breathing but he's upside down at the bottom of the tank. I will test today and get back to you. It is so sad to see him suffering :-)-Karla <<Dear Karla, Please do buy some test kits. Testing is really the ONLY way to know what is going on in your water. The once-a-month water changes were not nearly enough, and chances are good that the nitrates built up to toxic levels over time...test kits and more frequent water changes would have helped you prevent that. The best (only) way to save your goldfish now is to do many more partial water changes, keep using the Melafix, and cross your fingers. From now on, PLEASE use your test kits to determine how often to do your water changes. Feel free to ask if you have more questions on anything. Good luck, Treasure! -Gwen>>
Fantail Help II Thanks for your reply, Gwen (sorry for the Mike thing :)).  Yes he is still eating, very well mind you, my little girl had it to, but she only did it once 2 days ago and she was a sinker not a floater.  My two other ones are constipated once and a while but the peas seem to help them well.  I need to know if this medicated flake food can be fed to my other fishies to (if I can find some), even if they have no signs of the swim bladder problem.  Do I have to separate them.  I have no other tank except for a fish bowl. Thanks again, W. Leger <<Wanda, no, you don't need to separate them. The medicated flake won't hurt the other fish. Make sure your water quality is good! If you cannot find medicated flake, you should be able to order Metronidazole online at any fish store (e.g. www.bigalsonline.com) and mix the metro into your fishes food yourself. If you wish, I can tell you how to go about doing so. Let me know which medication you find, and I will help you dose it. -Gwen>>

Bubble eyed goldfish deflate I am new to this whole fish tank stuff. I got a set for x-mas and I got a bubble eyed gold fish. I know nothing about them but noticed one of its eye is deflated! is that normal? <It's not normal per se.  It either happens if the fish has bumped into something and punctured it, or it had poor genetic and the one bubble is smaller than the other one.> or is something wrong with it. <If it looks as though the bubble is torn then you will have to be careful to not let it get infections or have other fish pick at the tear.  I'm not a big fan of the bubble eyes for just that reason.  They need special caution and handling as to not damage their "bubbles". If the bubble is just smaller with no visible damage then it's most likely genetic.  Either it will grow to match the other one in time or it will always have a smaller water sac under one eye.>    I have 5 different fish in the tank with it, do you think he got attacked? <when you say "Different Fish" do you mean different variety of goldfish or different species of fish? Goldfish really shouldn't be mixed with to many different species of fish.  They are quite messy/dirty and need colder water to thrive. It's best when asking for help to give all the info you have, for instance the different fish in the tank so I can gain a better understanding of what the situation is.  If it is other goldfish then they don't normally attack other goldfish, they may pick at other goldfish during breeding season or when the tank provided is to small, and they are competing for food.  I suggest you learn all that you can on these fish, they aren't as simple as many people make them out to be.  WetWebMedia has a good bit of info on the care of goldfish.  Try to read up there and you will hopefully find all the answers without needing to wait for emails. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/goldfish.htm  > please e-mail me back. I am so scared to have him die. Jordan <Hope that helps, and hope the fish does okay. -Magnus>
Re: bubble eyed goldfish deflate when I got the fish his eye was not deflated and the next day it was. something happened when I was not around him. also I have 2 other species <<varieties>> of gold fish and the rest are just different kinds of fish. <You really need to be more specific when you say "different kinds of fish".  They could be aggressive fish.  And bubbles can't be with anything that is even remotely aggressive!  Their bubble is a very thin layer of skin and even slight pestering can damage them.  Do you have an idea what the other tank mates are? Deflating in one day is probably a sign that someone is bothering the goldfish. Or another thing it could be cause by the fish being severely stressed, was your tank cycled when you placed the goldfish in there?  If any of the levels are really high then it might be effecting the fish.  Also goldfish are pretty messy and require a fairly large tank.  Hope your tank isn't too small to handle all the fish.> I just went to check on him and his other eye is deflating too!! is this really bad? <I suggest you set up a Quarantine tank to move this fish out of the tank and separate it from the other fish.  I'm starting to think that something in the tank is bothering this bubble eye.  Both bubbles shouldn't start deflating all of a sudden.  I would suggest setting up a tank to handle him immediately.  Once he is separated you can add a few medicines to the tank that should help prevent him from getting any infections in his bubbles.  Also, you might want to look at goldfish sites to see if they have any instances of this happening.  I suggest: http://www.goldfishconnection.com/ as a good place to start. -Magnus> Jordan
Re: bubble eyed goldfish deflate I have him in with a black moor, a marble goldfish, a fish that sucks the glass, a fast little yellow one with black on his fins, and a fast little blue one with black on his fins. <not sure what type of this they would be.  They sound either like livebearers like platies or a bit like African Cichlids... if it is cichlids then they are the ones bothering your bubble eye.  My rule of thumb is that you should only other fish you should have with goldfish are Plecos and/or Cori Catfish. Other fish are either to aggressive or need heated water... which goldfish need to be kept in colder water (more oxygenated), a tank with no heater.   I have a 10 gallon tank. I have nothing to put bubbles in for a "hospital" tank.  I have a little bucket. will this work? My mom and me were going to put him in it, but she said that is awful to put him in it, because it is so little.  <Your mom is right. A bucket will only separate them, which doesn't take in to account that there will be toxin build up from the fishes waste.  And such a small area for him will not be good for him.  It's unfair to put the poor thing in a bucket. You really should probably think about setting up another tank to separate these fish, if not then perhaps the local pet shop will give you store credit for some of the other fish.  I suggest that the next time you and your mom are at the fish store look at some of the goldfish books.  You will really learn a great deal and know how to keep you new pets happy and healthy.> What kind of medicines can I put in the tank for him? thank you. Look at medicines from the Mardel company.  Like Maracide, Maracyn and two-two.  Also you should look at the goldfish medicine called "MelaFix" it works pretty good... is a bit smelly but works great on my goldfish.  Make sure to read the packages and treat the tank exactly as it says on the package. -Magnus>

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