Fish Help Needed! - Paw Talk

kathydip · #1 05-24-2006, 07:25 PM

My fancy tailed goldfish is a mess! I had posted in the aquatic section how he got stuck in the return net of our pond the first night he was out in the fish summer home. I brought him right in and left him in the tank (we had not drained it). Well I found him Sunday morning. He is still hanging in there. His fins are a mess and his scales were sloughing off. I was worried but we had another fish jump from the tank and was out for who knows how long before I found her in the morning. She also got that "fuzzy" appearance and sloughed off a ton of scales. But she made is and is fine again. we named her Fuzzy. Well like I said I wasn't freaking out b/c I had seen the same thing with Fuzzy. But Little Guy seems worse! It looks like even more of his scales are falling off. More like the entire top layer of skin is peeling off. He stays in one spot and doesn't move around too much. His eyes are very alert. We were concerned that he wasn't eating and I saw something about feeding them peas so I tried that and he ate some! I just don't know what to do for him. I think he's going to make it as long as he doesn't get an infection. I am not sure if I should be treating the water with something other than stess coat. Any time I bought anything in the past from the pet store to add to water to try and save fish they always died. I just want him to get better. I do not want to loose him and I really am worried about my husband as he is very attached to Little Guy.

Please help!!!

**Sasami** · #2 05-24-2006, 07:57 PM

I don't know anything about pond fish, but I'll try to help. Are you currently medicating with anything? Could you maybe get a picture? I don't quite understand what happend (maybe I'm just tired) but is he just injured? Or is he ill too? You could add Melafix to the water to help him heal, for starters.

kathydip · #3 05-24-2006, 09:16 PM

I tried to get a picture but it's not coming out and I was upsetting him. We have only used stress coat so far. He's just injured right now but I am afraid because of the extent of his injury he will get an infection. He's a regular fancy tailed gold fish that we purchased last year and put in our pond. Over the winter we took them in so they didn't die. When we placed them back in the pond last Saturday they just sat there. Sunday morning I did my usual summer head count in the pond and realized that Little Guy was missing. I found him where I expected to in the returnbut her was in terrible shape. Occasionally the gold fish would go in the return and they typically waited until I came to get them out. I think Little guy panicked and hurt himself on the mesh insert in the return meant to collect debris. It actually looks like his skin is pulling up and falling off his side. It's awful! After taking a close look I am really surprised he managed to eat anything today. he has to feel really bad!

melafix? should that be available in most pet stores?

kathydip · #4 05-24-2006, 09:17 PM

oh and thank you!! I am really worried about him!!

**Sasami** · #5 05-24-2006, 11:26 PM

Ah, ok, I understand now. I'd seperate him from the other goldfish and make sure his water stays really, really clean. And yes, melafix is available at most petstores. It's not an actual medication but is actually melaleuca extract which helps the injuries heal faster and also helps prevent infection.

If you notice any signs of infection they sell meds for that, too. I have one that cures both fungal and bacterial infections...it's by Jungle and it works really fast.

Good luck

.

kathydip · #6 05-25-2006, 08:40 AM

He's already in the tank himself - the others are in the pond. Should we be doing partial water changes - and how often? I was afraid to stress him. Right now I would not dare to take him from the tank and put him in a bucket to clean the tank. The tank was pretty dirty on Sunday (after this all happened) so my husband did a major tank cleaning. And we did have Little Guy in the bucket for that. After we added stress coat and stress zyme. Right now the water appears a bit cloudy but it seems like that happens in our tank after water changes -- typically it settles in a few days. I will pick up Melafix on my way home today. Do you think I should just treat the water with the Jungle product now to try and prevent an infection? It looks so nasty I am very worried it will be come infected and we will loose him to that. With all he has been through that would be awful. He is such a brave little fish. He even ate more of his peas last night! I was relieve he was still alive this morning and delighted that he ate!
I have tried to have the "not attachment to fish" rule but it's so hard when you have them for so long. We are approaching a year with him. 2 with Momma and Poppa gold fish! You just cannot help to fall in love with them.

kathydip · #7 05-25-2006, 10:42 AM

oh and thanks so much again!!

**Sasami** · #8 05-25-2006, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kathydip


	He's already in the tank himself - the others are in the pond. Should we be doing partial water changes - and how often? I was afraid to stress him. Right now I would not dare to take him from the tank and put him in a bucket to clean the tank. The tank was pretty dirty on Sunday (after this all happened) so my husband did a major tank cleaning. And we did have Little Guy in the bucket for that. After we added stress coat and stress zyme. Right now the water appears a bit cloudy but it seems like that happens in our tank after water changes -- typically it settles in a few days. I will pick up Melafix on my way home today. Do you think I should just treat the water with the Jungle product now to try and prevent an infection? It looks so nasty I am very worried it will be come infected and we will loose him to that. With all he has been through that would be awful. He is such a brave little fish. He even ate more of his peas last night! I was relieve he was still alive this morning and delighted that he ate! I have tried to have the "not attachment to fish" rule but it's so hard when you have them for so long. We are approaching a year with him. 2 with Momma and Poppa gold fish! You just cannot help to fall in love with them.

Yup, I'd do partial water changes because if the water is dirty then he almost definatly will end up with an infection.

I would maybe get the Jungle medication now but I wouldn't use it until he's actually showing signs of infection. I personally don't like medicating if there's nothing wrong.

kathydip · #9 05-25-2006, 03:31 PM

I cannot thank you enough! I plan on stopping at PetSmart on the way home (one more hour!) and picking up both products. I will only use the Jungle product if I have to. But at least I will have it on hand for the first sign.
And I will have my husband do a partial water change tonight. Do you have a recommendation on how often we should be doing the partial water changes? once a week? twice a week?
I was used to doing them every other day for a while when Fuzzy was bad b/c we overcleaned the tank and caused a inbalance of the good anf bad bacteria. It STUNK! Once someone told us to get the stress zyme everything was fine again.
Here we thought it was poor Fuzzy messing everything - but it was really mom's overcleaning that did it! I warned my husband I am really bad with fish!

**Sasami** · #10 05-25-2006, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kathydip


	I cannot thank you enough! I plan on stopping at PetSmart on the way home (one more hour!) and picking up both products. I will only use the Jungle product if I have to. But at least I will have it on hand for the first sign. And I will have my husband do a partial water change tonight. Do you have a recommendation on how often we should be doing the partial water changes? once a week? twice a week? I was used to doing them every other day for a while when Fuzzy was bad b/c we overcleaned the tank and caused a inbalance of the good anf bad bacteria. It STUNK! Once someone told us to get the stress zyme everything was fine again. Here we thought it was poor Fuzzy messing everything - but it was really mom's overcleaning that did it! I warned my husband I am really bad with fish!

Is the tank cycled? Do you have a water testing kit to see if there's ammonia?

If not then I'd do a big partial water change at least once a week and clean the gravel. If the tank isn't cycled then it doesn't matter if you get rid of the bad bacteria.

kathydip · #11 05-25-2006, 04:15 PM

What does cycled mean? We have a filter. I have strips but I am not sure that ammonia is one of the things on it. I will check when I get to the store and pick them up if it's not on there.

**Sasami** · #12 05-25-2006, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kathydip


	What does cycled mean? We have a filter. I have strips but I am not sure that ammonia is one of the things on it. I will check when I get to the store and pick them up if it's not on there.

Chances are if you don't know what it means then you're tank isn't cycled and it isn't anything to worry about right now

. Just test for ammonia and do regular water changes.

I found this article about cycling if you're interested but since you have pond fish it's not a huge deal: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

kathydip · #13 05-25-2006, 09:17 PM

I will check it out - thanks! He's still holding his own. I added the melafix and purchased the anitbiotics (just in case). How will I know if it's infected? I feel bad for him. The whole piece is lifting up. I have never cleaned a fish but that is what it reminded me of. His skin is actually coming off. It's really gross - but I didn't tell him that. I don't want him to realize how bad he looks. We just keep telling him he will feel better soon.

**Sasami** · #14 05-25-2006, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kathydip


	I will check it out - thanks! He's still holding his own. I added the melafix and purchased the anitbiotics (just in case). How will I know if it's infected? I feel bad for him. The whole piece is lifting up. I have never cleaned a fish but that is what it reminded me of. His skin is actually coming off. It's really gross - but I didn't tell him that. I don't want him to realize how bad he looks. We just keep telling him he will feel better soon.

If it gets infected it'll usually look white and either slimy or cottony. You should be able to tell. Good luck

.

kathydip · #15 05-26-2006, 08:49 AM

He looked cottony and white but now that part is falling off. I picked it out of the water. What is underneath has a couple of red spots but looks pretty good. It really reminds me of when someone gets a blister that peals off and the fresh skin is left. He ate more peas last night and this morning. I even saw him swim when he didn't realize I was there. He sits in one spot a lot but I think that rest is what he really needs now.
I tested the water and it all looked good. I am hoping because it's just him it will stay cleaner.