split tail on comet goldfish

[jsoong]

Salt is OK for goldies .... I prefer it to meds ... works better & less harsh.

To treat ick & other parasites, you need a salt concentration of 1.003 and that is 12g in one [acronym:520085e5a2="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:520085e5a2] (pretty close to 1 tablespoon). You are about 8 tablespoons short or an effective dose. Generally, it is best to add salt slowly (say 1/3 of the dose every 12 hours).

Don't worry about that salt concentration ... goldfish will live in that without problems <if there are other occupants, or plants - check!>. If this is ich, you will need to treat for 2-4 weeks to get rid of the bugs, even after all the spots are gone. Increasing temperature (say to mid 70's) will speed things up, but I am not sure if a sick comet will stand the 88F that is need to kill ich with temp alone, so your best bet is salt & moderate high temp.

If there is heavy parasite infestation, a salt dip is an alternative. For this, you use a salt concentration of 3% (or 1.[acronym:520085e5a2="Actinic lighting"]03[/acronym:520085e5a2] = 10 tablespoons per [acronym:520085e5a2="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:520085e5a2]). You only put the fish in 3% salt for a few minutes & remove it to fresh water as soon as you see signs of distress. This will kill off a lot of surface parasites without stressing the fish (much). Although I've seen salt dips recommended for baby golds, it is generally better reserved for larger fish.

Also, if possible, increase [acronym:520085e5a2="Oxygen"]O2[/acronym:520085e5a2] content in tank - airstone, water movement, etc. In large golds, ich generally do not cause lethergy (like you are seeing), unless it is in the gills - in which case breathing is impaired & higher [acronym:520085e5a2="Oxygen"]O2[/acronym:520085e5a2] will help.

[pixieil]

ok I read the post. should I start a new thread, since this is no longer just about tail rot? my poor goldfish has that definitely.Im still not sure about the ich because as i said, it is a white fish. i can see some little specks on a few places on its fins, but they dont really look as uniform in size as the ones in the ich pic.
I did a 1/5 water change and fired up both charcoal filters to rid the water of the quick cure. fish seems a fair bit perkier. How much salt can goldfish stand? can they stand the 2 -3 [acronym:feb35cd8fc="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:feb35cd8fc] necessary for salt treament? how do I figure that out without a hydrometer? goldies ,I hear are a cool water fish. can they stand 88 degree water? how will this treatment affect the tail rot?

[Kari]

pixieil,
I don't think you need to start a new topic, unless you WANT to. I have a male betta that went through fin rot. It was horrible, just overnight, without any warning, most of his tail fin was gone, and it was rapidly eating at his top and bottom fins, too.

What *I* did...At the time, he had been in my 10 gallon tank, with the tropicals. I took him out, put him in his own little 1 gallon tank, and added about a teaspoon of aquarium salt, and added about 3 or 4 drops of melafix per day. I also did complete water changes for him about every other day. He didn't start blossoming right back out, but it stopped the deterioration, which was my biggest concern. Once that was under control, I noticed that he also has black spot disease. I stopped the melafix, continued the salt, and started treating with tetracycline as well. I started doing almost daily complete water changes, now it's back to about every other day. The tetracycline has not only helped with the black spot disease, which is almost gone now, but it also seems to be promoting more rapid growth of his fins.

Also, you say that your fish is white, so it's hard to tell if he has ich for sure...

I also have a white male betta (the one I talked about previously is my red one) It IS more difficult to tell on the white fish, but try holding your fish (in a bowl or whatever) in front of the light. Watch for him to spread his fins out, and if there are tiny spots where light won't filter through on him, then that would probably be ich. That's been the best way for me to tell, holding the bowl up to the light, and waiting to see what it looks like when his fins are fanned out.

Best of luck, and let us know how he's doing

By the way, I'm trying out a new medication for external parasites right now. It's supposed to be a three dose thing, every other day, and they're not due for their second treatment until tomorrow. I'll let you know how it works out.

[pixieil]

with reinstatement of the charcoal filters and a 1/4 water change, the fish has perked up a bit. tests this am. show a 40 nitrate level, and fish is still acting woozy, just not as bad. so i will go get more water and change the water some more . can gold fish stand salt as high as 3ppm and temps as high as 88?

[Kari]

I'm not sure on either of those questions, but I don't THINK they can take temps that high...

[pixieil]

Ok well by your description, the fish has both ich and tail rot. the salt and temp Q was what was advocated by the person who who did the post "if you think you fish has ich". Maybe those are ok for saltwater tropicals and not gold fish. Looking forward to your new med results, cause i dont think my fish can handle the quick cure or the salt/temp routine. poor little fish.

[SteveM]

First, 1 tablespoon per gallon is about 3.75 [acronym:7fe2225e3b="Parts per Thousand"]ppt[/acronym:7fe2225e3b], not [acronym:7fe2225e3b="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:7fe2225e3b]. But that is about right (maybe a little on the high side) for treating ich and the goldfish should have no problems living with those concentrations.

As far as 88F goes, I've never taken my GF quite that high, but with good oxygenation of the water I think it would be OK. But it is very important to slowly raise the temperature to those levels - maybe a degree or two per day. If the fish starts showing signs of distress, then you can back the temperature down slowly to something where it seems comfortable. Be patient and don't change anything suddenly - fish can tolerate quite a bit if they are given time to acclimate.

Keep an eye on those nitrates - 40ppm is borderline stressful for the fish and in my experience can be a contributor to all kinds of disease, especially fin rot. Water changes are the only thing you can do to control this (short of planting the tank), but if you're using distilled water like you mentioned, you should be adding something like seachem equilibrium to put in the needed electrolytes. Fish in straight distilled water would not be happy.

Two diseases at once is a tough situation, since most any cure for one disease is going to stress the fish and make it that much more susceptible to the others. If you are still in the 2G tank, you may want to consider something larger - that is a bit small for a goldfish and I think you'll find everything gets quite a bit easier in a larger tank.

[pixieil]

Thanks that was very reassuring. The 'endangered fish" is in the new 10ga tank I just bought. My original fish, who was in the 2.5 ga. for a year with 2 other fish, got moved to a 6 ga tank which i had to rush out and buy when I discovered he was attacking the "friend" id bought him after his other "friends" died unexpectedly and i moved him to the new 10 ga.'Save the Goldfish" has become an expensive experience. I will take your advice. It sounds good, and it even sounds like something i could actually DO.
the original goldfish is in very robust health, apparently deliriously happy in his new 6 gallon tank.
I will keep you posted.

[SteveM]

Originally Posted by pixieil

'Save the Goldfish" has become an expensive experience.

Tell me about it - I started with a 1G tank that we ran out and bought because my daughter won a goldfish at her school fair. Now I have about $500 invested in a 75G tank to sustain 4 goldfish - 2 free, one $0.25, and one $8. Add in the cost of my other tanks once [acronym:0fc08e6661="Malaysian Trumpet Snails or Multiple Tank Syndrome, depending on context"]MTS[/acronym:0fc08e6661] took hold, and that was one expensive "free" fish

Good luck with the treatment - I think goldfish are among the toughest around, so just do your best to help them and hopefully they can pull through.

[Kari]

Congrats on your fishes new digs I started out with a couple goldfish, and now I've got so many, I'm aspiring to creating a pond for them once we move!