Goldfish: Shredded tailfin

[Tayeloquin]

About a month ago, I purchased a Shubunkin Goldfish from Walmart. Being impulsive, I managed to not have ANY information on fish before buying Myrrh. So...we're doing a fish-in cycle.

I have him in a 10gal tank (there is a pond in his future), and now knowing how dirty the little boogers can be, I am doing frequent water changes and keeping up with water parameters.

I believe I'm nearly cycled, and Myrrh seems rather healthy; swimming, eating, doing fishy things, it's his tail that is concerning me.

I do have a few fake plants in with him, and I'm wondering if it's the plants, stress, or maybe something else that's wrong with him. I don't believe it's fin rot, as the edges of his tail are clean. It's just disappearing.

Would too warm of water have this effect? The tank is usually at the high end around 73-75 degrees Fahrenheit.

What can I do about his tail?

 

[barterking85]

no i dont its the water temp i had two shubinkins and they did very well in warm water are you treating him with anything? can you get a picture?

 

[barterking85]

grab yourself some melafix it is a tremendous help with fin or tail damage imo and maybe a box of aquarium salt for stress melafix will help with the repair but not much for infection might be a good idea to get some fin rot medicine i can help you more once i see a picture

 

[barterking85]

hopefully a pond in the near future my shubunkins were almost 10"

 

[Tayeloquin]

I'll take your advice and buy some Melafix and salt. I searched all over for my memory card reader and I think the kids did something with it. No pics.

For now I'm going to remove the plants and I do have QuICK Cure, but I don't know if that will help him or not.

I really don't believe that it's fin rot. The ends are clean, if it weren't for the jagged edge I would say healthy. And it's the only fin being affected.

 

[barterking85]

ok if you use the aquarium salt only use it for a max of 10 days and do pwc and when treating with medicine be sure to take out your charcoal filter good luck and watch out for infection keep me posted

 

[Tayeloquin]

I sure will. And thank you!

 

[barterking85]

no problem feel free to add to my reputation

 

[Tayeloquin]

Melafix and salt purchased, I've added the Melafix, but I have not added the salt yet. I did a PWC earlier this morning, water is still stable.

I just hope this works. At least the blood streak I noticed this morning has reduced in length.

 

[Tayeloquin]

Oh..I didn't add the salt because I didn't know if I should use them both at the same time or not...

 

[barterking85]

give melafix a couple days then start salt as it mainly helps stress from frequent water changes and speeds recovery imo another thing does he have a tank mate that might bully him? or is there sharp decorations cause that might have caused it? when you buy decorations run a pair of pantyhose over them if it tears or runs then its prolly not a good idea

 

[Tayeloquin]

I took the decorations out last night. There are a couple of them that I was concerned about, the little fake branches looked rather sharp to me.

I'm going to get a lilly bulb from Walmart the next time that I go, will probably be within the next couple of days.

No tank mates other than a Rosy Red feeder, the hubby thought it would be a funny joke...lol. The little spaz jumps out every chance he gets (he's fine...I think), usually at feeding time.

I'll follow the advice and wait on the salt. How much should I use? On the box it has one amount. 1tbs per 5gal, and other places on the web say a smaller dosage...

 

[barterking85]

i would use two level tbs i used 6 level tbs in my 30 and it worked greatjust keep up you pwc and you should notice a big difference in a few more days

 

[Tayeloquin]

Update:

Things are looking wonderful. Myrrh's tail is healing, we lost a little bit more, but now it really looks like it's coming back. I really wish that I could show pics of him...but still have not found the memory card reader.

Thank you for the advice and your help. It's much appreciated!

 

[barterking85]

no problem at all