Swollen Fantail and wound :(

[Tilnoom]

Meet Rocky, just your average 3 inch fantail with a wonky mouth (hence being called Rocky ). Approx 6 months ago he had a raised bump on his side that literally appeared overnight. Within a few days it disappeared by itself and left a more pinkish tinge behind. We thought nothing more of it.

Last night he developed another one lower down (it wasn't there the morning prior) and the old 'scar' has pinked up again. The entire side of him is visably swollen and the scales are seperating - hes puffed up much, much more this time. This morning one scale has come away leaving what looks like a fleshy wound underneath. I've tried to capture it in the photo but its difficult when hes moving around so much and I have a cheapy camera.

Hes eating and swimming normally and seems his normal self, but obviously this needs urgent attention. Water tests came up normal (although I am addressing a water cloud at the moment) and the two other fish in the tank are fine.

Any help/advice appreciated.

Tils.

[white-worms]

looks like he's got a serious case of constipation there

[Zagz]

Could be constipation might be dropsy. How often do you do water changes? I would start with a 50% water change and feed some frozen peas to help if it is constipation. Nuke peas for a few seconds and peel the skin off and feed.

Then I would add some epsom salts for the bloating. What are the other tank mates and what size tank? For the sore you can add some melafix to the water. Goldfish are prone to swim bladder and constipation issues due to their aggressive eating. One way to help this in the future is to put their food below the water line when feeding to reduce the air they injest.

[jsoong]

Although this might be constipation, the presence of sores and asymmetric & rapid bloating is worrisome. I rather suspect that this is an early sign of dropsy.

It cause no harm to treat for constipation, so I'd give it a try. Feeding blanched shelled peas is good. If you see no effect, you might try inserting one grain of Epsom salt into the pea & feed that.

However, I think there might be something more sinister going on. Can you see into the gills? If it is pale, then chances are the fish is suffering organ failure. This is most likely caused by some form of internal bacteria infection, perhaps secondary to a parasite infection like flukes. The appearance of bumps & sores also points to an infectious cause as well (unless there had been some recent injury).

Adding epsom salt to the tank might help with the symptom of bloat, but I'd rather treat the root cause as well. Of all forms of dropsy, that caused by water quality issues is likeliest to be treatable. So make sure you maintain pristine water conditions. As stated, a large pwc is always wise.

A bacterial infection causing dropsy may be reversible if treated early. I would give the constipation cure 24-48 hours. If there is no improvement, I'd try treating with antibiotic food. Try to find food with kanamycin, as the bugs are reported to be mostly resistent to tetracycline or erythromycin (Melafix). This is a recipe for making your own antibiotic food:
Goldfish and Aquarium Board Article-Medicated Gel Food

Soem people also thinks that goldies get bacterial infections secondary to a parasitic infestation & would treat for that at the same time .

[Tilnoom]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I should have stated my water conditions for you. Silly me.

62L tank (2ft x 1ft) shared with 4 inch fantail and 3 inch shububkin. Both other fish fine and are their normal selves. I normally do a 5-10L water change weekly (8-16%).

Did a master test last night and came back with:
pH 7.8 - 8
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

I am trying to address a white cloud that I've been stuck with for ages and have another thread going trying to resolve it. In light of the above results, would you still consider a large pwc?

He has deflated somewhat overnight (my husband reports he saw him poo last night!) and after staring at him for 10 minutes earlier I finally got a peek in his gills and they were pink. I will start with the peas today and buy some antibiotic food just in case. Typically, we're off on holiday on Friday but my brother is on fish watch duty, so I know they'll be in safe hands

Tils.

[jsoong]

Bright pink gills are good, so is the fact that he is less bloated.

I read your other post on the white water. I think that it is likely a bacterial bloom. So even though your water parameters are excellent, I would still do a large water change. Goldies are waste machines and in a small tank, things build up quickly. There are dissolved organic wastes that are not measured by the usual tests (you see signs of this as an oily sheen or foam on top of the water). It may be the DOC's that is feeding your bacterial bloom. So do the water change & see if things improves. It does no harm anyhow.

[Tilnoom]

Well hes now on a course of Melafix, he had peas for breakfast so I'll keep an eye on him. The other fish quite liked the peas too so I'm expecting a poo explosion soon.