Manny the Blackmoor GoldFish

[Lainey183]

Hello,

My Blackmoor GoldFish Manny has had quite the traumatic life, and just when I felt like I had it all under control he seems to be facing new issues.

He has white on the end of his fins. I will try to upload a picture in a second.

His water conditions are good.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20

 

[Lainey183]

Here is the picture:

 

[jlk]

Hi Lainey! A pic will def help. Is it fuzzy or like specs of sand or is his fin just changing color (looks white or translucent)?

 

[Lainey183]

Oh, I should also mention he has 4 nerite snails, 2 of which I added yesterday.

 

[Lainey183]

The fin is just changing color. It doesn't look sandy or fuzzy that I can see.

 

[jlk]

I highly doubt the snails had anything to do with it so dont worry. Is he acting like his usual self & eating normally? My best advice for right now is just to watch him & the spot. If you notice it getting fuzzy looking or it starts to spread or the fin starts to look ragged looking, let us know asap! Its possible he may have injured it & its just healing.

 

[Lainey183]

I will keep an eye on him. He ate normally this morning and was playing in his bubbles as he always does.

I think due to his hard life, until recently, he isn't a very active fish. He spends a couple hours in the morning playing in his bubbles and eating, and sometimes maybe 30min in the evening and other than that he usually hides in his little cave.

I also had a terrible diatom (Is that right? The brown algae...) outbreak, which I did my best to clean out, but some of it came back and I had very little luck getting it off of his plants.

 

[jlk]

He may perk up a bit when you get him a buddy. Goldies are very social creatures- I swear they get depressed when they are by themselves. Diatoms are pretty normal in a newly established tank- all you can do until they burn out is to do your best to clean them before doing a pwc. Wipe what you can & use a soft bistle toothbrush to gently remove them from plant leaves. As your tank becomes more established, they should become less of an issue. Lets wait a little bit to see how his fin does before considering a buddy though in case he needs to be treated.

 

[Lainey183]

I have been considering it everytime I go to the pet store, but I wanted to really make sure he was all settled and happy first. But, maybe he will never be happy with out a friend, so I will focus on healthy.

 

[jlk]

Dont worry Lainey! Just keep his water healthy & keep an eye on the spot. Keep us updated if anything changes.

 

[Lainey183]

It seems to now be happening on his other fins, I attempted to get a picture, but about as good as I could do was get a picture of his other back fin. He seems to be behaving normally though. It also looked like he may be missing a scale on his side. I am not sure though.

 

[jlk]

Poor Manny! The pic is very clear- i suspect he may be developing a bacterial infection. I would try treating with an antibiotic (kanamycin, minocycline or triple sulfa) & see how he does.

 

[Lainey183]

Ok. I have some of the medicated food I ordered previously. I will drop that in for him to eat for a couple of weeks......

 

[Lainey183]

Although the water levels were doing pretty well still, I decided to do a water change today. Everything I have read says that his condition sounds like its from poor water conditions.

Is it possible for the Master Water Test kit to go bad?

 

[jlk]

You can check the expiration dates on it & just as a back up (i know most use strips), you can take sample to your local lfs to be tested as well. I actually do big pwcs 2-3x a week with my guys even though everything is stable & cycled just because clean, healthy water is so important to keeping these guys in top shape. They are sensitive creatures! Doing some extra water changes can only help as well.

 

[Lainey183]

Your fish are very lucky! My back is too messed up to do more than like one water change a week at this point. When Manny was in the smaller tank my husband was yelling at me to stop doing the water changes because of my back. It probably helped me convince him Manny needed the bigger tank though... LOL

 

[jlk]

That means its time for some type of water changer (python/something similar)! I would have to give up my big tanks if i had to do wcs with a bucket...it really is so much easier!

 

[Jenn27]

Poor thing. I hope you can clear the little guy up. Definitely keep up with the water changes...keep the water pristine and hopefully this will clear up.

 

[Jenn27]

Although the water levels were doing pretty well still, I decided to do a water change today. Everything I have read says that his condition sounds like its from poor water conditions.

Is it possible for the Master Water Test kit to go bad?

Yes, I think after 2 years? I could be wrong, but, as stated, it should have an expiration date on the box. I use the API kit, as well.

 

[butterfly_koi]

Is it possible it could have fin rot?