Would really appreciate some advice

[crystalbettas]

My goldfish is sick. His mouth is red and swollen and now he's just been sitting at the bottom of the tank. I've had him quarantined to a 10 gallon tank for probably about two weeks now. maybe more. i had some fungus cure in the house so i tried that. the treatment ended with no results. so i got some melafix (bacterial infection treatment).

my question here is, these things kill bacteria, right? if so, that means it'll kill my good bacteria and screw up the nitrogen cycle in the tank. being that he's not a tiny goldfish anymore (about 3 or 4 inches now) and in a smallish tank, how do i go about keeping him from dying from ammonia overdose?

the bottle of melafix says to add the stuff every day for 7 days and remove the carbon filter cartridge during treatment. i'm going to save the cartridge in a bucket of water to keep those bacteria alive. is that a good idea, or am i going to just reintroduce the bad bacteria to the tank? should i do water changes to keep the ammonia levels low? should i add bacteria supplements during the treatment? should i just leave it alone? am i being paranoid?

someone please answer some of these questions, i'm losing my mind over this.

 

[UntimelyLord]

If you can remove the carbon from the cartridge that would probably be best, if it is the kind with the carbon built in you may have to cut it open. Then you can keep the felt-like part in the tank and not lose that good bacteria. Some bacteria may survive in a bucket of water but if it is not heated I'm thinking that a lot will die off. I don't know about the fungus treatment you used but Melafix did not hurt my beneficial bacteria. It also didn't help my problem at the time much either; I've read that Melafix is effective in some cases and in other cases it just doesn't help. Every case is different, though.
On the other hand, many people don't have cycled hospital tanks and just use lots of water changes to keep up with ammonia. I'd do lots of water changes to keep the ammonia low, plus lots of fresh water can help with healing; change once a day at least, 50% or more. You'll have to replace the removed medicine.

 

[nirbhao]

Don't worry about the cycle. For a sick fish, water changes are often the best medicine. You may also consider methylene blue. Not only does it treat fungal infections and external parasites, but it protects the gills from ammonia damage. You definitely have to remove the carbon, because carbon will take the medicine out of the water.

 

[coralbandit]

Saying melafix treats bacterial infections is like saying Bactene will heal your your infected injury..Not a bacterial infection like um ,...lets just say COLUMNARIS...But your average scrape or 'boo boo'......
Sounds like you have multiple threads on several sick fish that you are having trouble curing ?
Might be time to try real meds and daily water changes?
I did post a link on columnaris in your sick betta thread...
Sounds like many of your tanks are infected with this..
Make no mistake it will not go away on its own and could wipe out every fish you have given just enough time without proper intervention.
Just my thoughts on your ISSUES....

 

[crystalbettas]

Saying melafix treats bacterial infections is like saying Bactene will heal your your infected injury..Not a bacterial infection like um ,...lets just say COLUMNARIS...But your average scrape or 'boo boo'......
Sounds like you have multiple threads on several sick fish that you are having trouble curing ?
Might be time to try real meds and daily water changes?
I did post a link on columnaris in your sick betta thread...
Sounds like many of your tanks are infected with this..
Make no mistake it will not go away on its own and could wipe out every fish you have given just enough time without proper intervention.
Just my thoughts on your ISSUES....

i just read that link and i don't think that sounds like what's happening to my fish. not to mention my two sick fish are having very different issues. i have high hopes for my sick betta, he's been doing better and is active and acting normally my goldfish doesn't seem as lucky... he just sits at the bottom of the tank.

the betta has been sick for several weeks and is finally responding to treatment. the goldfish started showing his symptoms less than three weeks ago and is just not getting any better. i'm not really sure what you're expecting me to do here.

 

[UntimelyLord]

I was loaded with strong flu medications when I made my comment last night, and re-reading it now it's a little confusing! Whoops, no more internet while loopy for me!

Don't worry about the cycle in the hospital tank, just do lots of big water changes. Do take out the carbon. It's so hard to diagnose fish illnesses, but if it is a bacterial problem I've heard good things about Kanaplex, though I haven't used it personally.
What I said about the Melafix was a reference to this post http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/...ix-pimafix-why-they-work-and-dont-work.36483/
Also because I know you have bettas, don't try to use the Melafix on them, for future reference. It coats their labyrinth organ so it makes it hard for them to breathe. It's weird that there is no warning about this on the bottle.

 

[crystalbettas]

I was loaded with strong flu medications when I made my comment last night, and re-reading it now it's a little confusing! Whoops, no more internet while loopy for me!

Don't worry about the cycle in the hospital tank, just do lots of big water changes. Do take out the carbon. It's so hard to diagnose fish illnesses, but if it is a bacterial problem I've heard good things about Kanaplex, though I haven't used it personally.
What I said about the Melafix was a reference to this post http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/...ix-pimafix-why-they-work-and-dont-work.36483/
Also because I know you have bettas, don't try to use the Melafix on them, for future reference. It coats their labyrinth organ so it makes it hard for them to breathe. It's weird that there is no warning about this on the bottle.

thanks so much for the betta warning, i had no idea about that! i was going to use it for my sick betta's fin rot after the velvet was gone. do you know if tetracycline is a good alternative?

i'll have to look up kanaplex, i've never heard of it before. but if it has good reviews i'll probably try it out. i'll definitely keep doing water changes on the quarantine tank, i did a 50% change yesterday so i'll probably do another 50% today.

i just hate to see my fish suffer. thankfully none of the fish in my larger tank have shown any signs of being sick, and my other three bettas are doing fine. (i just feel bad that i had to move one of them from a 10 gallon to a 5 gallon so i could use the 10 gallon as a sick tank! he seems annoyed with me for downsizing his space.)

 

[UntimelyLord]

Oh I see, that's why you wanted to save the beneficial bacteria, because you'll want to move the betta back to this tank eventually. Because we don't know if what the goldfish has is contagious, you probably shouldn't move the media to other tanks so you'll probably have to re-cycle this tank, sorry. But if you have media from other cycled tanks you can move some into the 10 gallon once everything is back to normal and you should have a very fast cycle.
Tetracycline can be used for fin rot and is safe for bettas, but Kanaplex can also be used for fin rot in bettas so if you get the Kanaplex you could just use that.

 

[crystalbettas]

Oh I see, that's why you wanted to save the beneficial bacteria, because you'll want to move the betta back to this tank eventually. Because we don't know if what the goldfish has is contagious, you probably shouldn't move the media to other tanks so you'll probably have to re-cycle this tank, sorry. But if you have media from other cycled tanks you can move some into the 10 gallon once everything is back to normal and you should have a very fast cycle.
Tetracycline can be used for fin rot and is safe for bettas, but Kanaplex can also be used for fin rot in bettas so if you get the Kanaplex you could just use that.

okay thank you! i'm glad i have this sort of figured out now. i'm sorry that i'm awful at wording my questions haha. i'm thinking now that i could probably just dump some of the water from the 5 gallon that my betta is in now back into the 10 gallon tank once he's ready to go back. i'll be sure to clean it out though, i don't want him to get sick too. having sick fish is almost like having sick kids, it just worries me and stresses me out! i just can't stand having sick animals and not being sure what to do. thank you for all your help though!

 

[crystalbettas]

as an update, i started the melafix yesterday (it says on the bottle to use every day for at least 7 days or until the fish starts to improve) and i'm doing 50% water changes daily.

after today's dose and water change, he seems so much more active now! not sure if it's the melafix or the water changes that's doing it but i feel great seeing him act like his old self. for a while now he's just been sitting on the bottom of the tank doing nothing. now he's active, swimming, fins moving like they should be, etc. he seems much more alert. hoping his mouth stars to look better within the next few days too!

 

[UntimelyLord]

Yay! Good news!