help my fish!

8 posts

Member introductions and random (non-aquarist) topics.


KrazyDaizy
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:46 pm

help my fish!

by KrazyDaizy

Hi there,
i could use some advice.
i work in an office, and we have one pom pon goldfish in a 33 gal tank, who is approx 6 or 7 years old.
he defenitly has fin rot, but on top of that, at the base of his tail is turning red, and has raised scales all around the affected area.
i have been treating him with melafix for the fin rot, but it does not seem to be helping. just this week i have cleaned the filters, and his water is changed (about 25-30%) atleast once a week, usually twice.....he's certainly clean!
does anyone have any advice for me? we all do not want to lose porr ol Brutus, I've grown very attached to him.
also per the advice of the local "fishguy" all plants, and decorations have been removed from the tank.

someone help!


KrazyDaizy
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:46 pm

Re: help my fish!

by KrazyDaizy

here's an update, today I noticed that the "rasied" scales on my fish are popping like blisters, and leaving no scale behind....thinking it's ulcer disease? however he melafix should be helping this shouldnt it?


Poetic_Irony2267
 
Posts: 297
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:42 pm

Re: help my fish!

by Poetic_Irony2267

Daizy, unfortunately with the amount of diseases that this poor guy seems to have it's quite a dyer situation, the scale pop and the fin rot coupled with the blistering effect and scales falling off, the fish is in need of some desperate medical attention, there are several questions i need to ask, first, what is the temperature of the water? is the water heated? or cooled? gold fish are generally colder water creatures, and when the temperature of the tank rises it can cause a multitude of symptoms. secondly where is the fish located in the office, is it in a corner that receives no direct sunlight, if that is the case that is perfect, however if the fish is in direct sunlight this can cause temperature fluctuations and could be the cause of the start of the disease. when doing your water changes, are you treating the water for the chlorine? tap water needs to be dechlorinated in order to keep a tank running at optimum efficiency, the reason being is that the chlorine acts as an antimicrobial and antibacterial compound which can throw the natural biological filtration system off in the tank which can cause an imbalance and spikes in the amounts of ammonia in the tank which could be the cause of the fin rot, also when medicating a fish it's wise to remove the charcoal filtration from the tank and just leave the filter empty and running with the sponges or fabric filters in order for the medication to actually stay in the water for periods greater than a few hours. thirdly the amount of water changes that you are doing could actually be doing more harm than good for the fish, the stress from water changes can greatly effect a fish and their ability to fight off and heal from diseases such as fin rot and pop scale. if you do a water change every other week instead of once or twice a week that could reduce the amount of stress the fish is going through and give it time to heal, the last thing i have to say and i hate to say it, is that fish can fight diseases up to a certain point, once the disease has reached a critical level it is hard and almost impossible to bring it back to 100%. having raised numerous amounts of gold fish, cichlids, community fish, salt water fish, and pond fish such as koi i have gone through my share of loss, and it's hard every time you lose a fish that you have had for many years, as it is with any pet. the key in the future is to learn the fishes behavior and watch for subtle changes and to catch the illness early on and get it treated the right way right away. the last thing i have for you is a link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_fish copy and paste that into a browser and read the articles there about gold fish, i have had some clients who have had certain types of goldfish and koi that have lived for fifteen + years however this article is completely correct is stating that most normal gold fish that are kept in aquariums live only about six to 8 years, the age of the fish in your situation could be a major factor in the onset of the disease and it's inability to heal fast enough to avoid further damage.

keep you're chin up and follow these instructions as best as possible, and if you could reply back with a few answers to the questions i asked we may be able to figure something out in order to keep Brutus alive and around for years to come!

Brandon


KrazyDaizy
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:46 pm

Re: help my fish!

by KrazyDaizy

thank you so much for your help. it's greatly appriciated:)

the water is not heated, and not in direct sunlight. i have not been treating the water for chlorine, but have just purchased something to help with that...hopefully it does help.
i did remove the charcoal from the filter.
i will do my best with this poor old guy, and hopefully we can save him:)

you have helped a lot, as this is my first fish EVER!! these duties were kind of thrown on me, but being the animal lover i am , i hate seeing him suffer.

thanks again:)


Poetic_Irony2267
 
Posts: 297
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:42 pm

Re: help my fish!

by Poetic_Irony2267

you are very welcome for the help, any time you have any questions feel free to post here or to my direct email fishart14411@hotmail.com. am always happy to meet a fellow animal lover, we have two ferrets, two cats, a puppy, a turtle, and two large tanks, a 125 gal cichlid tank, and a 55 gal tropical planted tank. i hope the fish pulls through and is able to bring you enjoyment for years to come!!!!

Brandon


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

Re: help my fish!

by Peterkarig3210

If you have been doing all those water changes without neutralizing the chlorines and chloralamines you have probably been poisoning your fish, especially sinse water loses most of the chlorine if you just let it be. Unless you are specifically medicating for parisites I would put back the charcoal. you can add a little melafix daily with the charcoal and yea, it will get absorbed after a few hours, but I'm thinking the charcoal is probably the best way to clean the water after the water conditioner. Sounds like your fish is pretty sick so I hope it's still alive at this point. One note. Municipal water suppliers that produce the water that comes out of your tap have, in the more recent years, been adding chloralamines to the water which don't evaporate like basic chlorine does, so that may explain the recent sickness if you've been using straight tap water before. Chloralamines are really bad for fish and you must get a water conditioner that neutralises them(yours probably does, check it), and another thing: Many water conditioners come with slime coat added, and I think your fish probably needs this as well. Melafix does benefitt the fishes slime coat, but I would be safer than not. Good luck! P


starbetta
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2007 5:02 am

by starbetta

Take him to a Vet, leave him there until he's curred. If suffering and can not recover take him out of his misery and buy another fish. A goldfish costs .26 Cents at Wal-Mart.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

I think the auther of this forum had this problem in early November. It's now December, so either the fish died or it got better. I wish krazydaisy would let us know what the outcome was.

help my fish!

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