Tail loss from jumping out?

[Nancylm]

Long story short - I moved my goldfish to a new tank (emergency - no time to cycle). I've been doing my best to do the daily water changes (75%) and using plethora of Cycle but the levels keep spiking.

(Side note: does cycle actually do ANYTHING?? I am using plenty and it doesn't seem to help at all. So much for immediate safe water)

Anyway one of the Goldie's made a jump for it. He was out for a long time and seemed dead. His tail was dried out. I put him in the water and he is doing ok now but his tail is disappearing. I am not sure if the tail had died when it dried out or if I should start treating for fin rot. The poor fish has been through a lot so I don't want to add meds if he doesn't need them.

I have also added pimafix, melafix, and a bit of aquarium salt most days along with the cycle and water conditioner. But as I am changing most of the water most days, I'm not sure that's doing much good.

 

[jlk]

Can you please post your parameters, tank size & number/type of goldfish? It's bit unusual for a goldie to jump out of a tank. I know you mentioned it's an emergency situation and your doing lots of water changes. For now, stop adding all the extra stuff (cycle, melafix, salt etc) and just stick to water changes. I have yet to see anyone have positive results using cycle and with the water changes, it's kinda pointless anyway. I would suggest using Prime or Amquel Plus as water conditioner to help detox amm/nitrite.

In respect to the injured fish, can you post a pic so we can see what's going on? Thanks

 

[Fishanatic]

Long story short - I moved my goldfish to a new tank (emergency - no time to cycle). I've been doing my best to do the daily water changes (75%) and using plethora of Cycle but the levels keep spiking.

(Side note: does cycle actually do ANYTHING?? I am using plenty and it doesn't seem to help at all. So much for immediate safe water)

Anyway one of the Goldie's made a jump for it. He was out for a long time and seemed dead. His tail was dried out. I put him in the water and he is doing ok now but his tail is disappearing. I am not sure if the tail had died when it dried out or if I should start treating for fin rot. The poor fish has been through a lot so I don't want to add meds if he doesn't need them.

I have also added pimafix, melafix, and a bit of aquarium salt most days along with the cycle and water conditioner. But as I am changing most of the water most days, I'm not sure that's doing much good.

Not sure, but i have heard that pimafix and melafix aren't antibiotics.

 

[Nancylm]

Yeah I didn't think they were antibiotics, just that they helped fish stay healthy sometimes. Or at least some people think so. I figured they were worth a try.

I don't have the exact numbers now but the tank is cycling. The ammonia was spiking first and now it's the nitrites(?? - or nitrates. I can never remember which comes next.)

Each day they go up at least a colour or two on the API test kit. I change the water twice a day when I can. Or more once a day. If I miss a day it goes up more. I don't doubt that the water quality is an issue, It's a new tank. Or actually I am going back to an old one. That's probably why the fish jumped. I think I am just going to treat for tail rot but the problem is that the meds I have say not to change the water for 4 days. With the water quality I can't exactly do that... Not sure what I can do.

Oh, it's a 10 gal with 2 goldfish. I know that is smaller than most people think they should have. But it's what they've got. Best I can do for them. I'm trying to make them as comfortable and happy as possible in their current situation.

 

[jlk]

For right now, you need to work on keeping their water quality reasonable with water changes. Meds are ineffective if the water is unhealthy. Antibiotics needed for true fin rot vs damage from exposure will also likely harm any good bacteria you have developed so caution would need to be taken with this as well as exposure to toxins from not changing the water. I would opt for healthy water for right now.

 

[Nancylm]

So no meds for fin rot at all?

 

[jlk]

What exactly are you considering here? I can offer some advice on how to do this with water changes.

 

[Nancylm]

I have fungus guard and maracyn. The fungus guard says its good for fin rot so that's what I was considering. The tail looks worse today so I think I need to do something.

 

[Nancylm]

Sorry I don't know how to post a pic. I am on an ipad.

 

[Nancylm]

I was thinking about just changing all the water every day and using a new tab each time.

 

[jlk]

The fungus guard has some antibiotics in it so give this a try. Yes, you are correct, change the water daily around the same time every day. Treat for atleast 7 days. Keep us posted!

 

[Nancylm]

I have a 7.5 gal new tank I got to use as a quarantine next time so I won't run into these problems again.

Since 1) I am going to be changing the water every day
And 2) the meds will kill all the good bacteria in my current tank and then I'll have to start again (again!)

Would it be ok to put the 2 goldfish in the 7.5 for a week? I figure its best to treat both as they are both having issues and I don't want to kill all the good bacteria I am finally getting.

 

[jlk]

You will need to feed the other tank daily with an ammonia to keep the cycle going. As long as you stay on top of the water changes, you should be ok.

 

[Nancylm]

Ooh, I can do one better than ammonia - a spare heater and a Pleco!

 

[jlk]

That will work too but you will be doing water changes on two tanks daily, so just keep this in mind.

 

[Nancylm]

I am not sure if anyone is still reading this, but I have treated with fungus guard for 8 days. I still see a couple small white spots on the fins. It doesn't look like ick to me but I'm not sure how long the fungus meds take to work. I have them in clean water with aquarium salt for now. Should I keep treating for fungus?

 

[jlk]

Can you post a pic of what you are seeing? Do the spots look like grains of salt sprinkled on the fish or are they much larger and fuzzy or stringy?

 

[Nancylm]

I can't post a pic (I only have an iPhone/iPad). I will try downloading the app

 

[jlk]

Its pretty easy to post a pic from an iphone. If you download the app, click on the arrow in the top right corner to reply to a thread. A new screen should come up for typing a reply. At the top of the screen theres a '+' sign. If you click on the '+', you can download pics from your cell's library. I am guessing the ipad is pretty much the same process but I do not own one so I can not say absolutely.

 

[Nancylm]

Got it, thanks!