Black Moor with fungal or bacterial infection.

[natleh]

I have one Black Moor who is not responding to treatment (Pimafix and Melafix because I cannot determine whether this is fungus or bacterial. Could be columnaris?). He has one straight line of white grown on tail, a little bit splotchy in some areas across that line. Not affecting any other parts of his body. Not showing any signs of illness at this point except that he is not growing like his brother (seems stunted), but otherwise his appetite and activity is normal.

The ammonia is now balanced through water changes but was high (over 0.25ppm)

The tank is a 30 gallon with two black moors, double filtration.
(Aquatech 20-40 and Aquatech 5-15 running together)

There are two black moors only. Still young (6 months).

Doing constant water changes at 25% currently to bring down ammonia level. Have not vaccumed gravel, and will not right now while removing water.

Fish were purchased in September. This problem started in December. Tank was not cycled properly (I was not informed and regretfully did not do my research beforehand)

Nothing new has been added to the tank

I feed them sinking pellets by Hikari. No diet changes.

[dkpate]

Welcome to AA!
It might have to do with ammonia, since you have been doing water changes to get it down. Can you get a pic of the little guy?

[jsoong]

A picture definitely will help. This may well be a viral infection (eg lymphocystis).

It is prob not an ammonia burn, although the ammonia might have stress him enough to bring on some other illness.

[natleh]

I can't seem to take a good, clear photo but here is what I did capture.

The first photo shows the two growing specs and the white line down the tail. The second photo is a zoom-in of this blurry photo. The last photo captures the tail from behind, showing how it is a strip of white down the fin.


two growing specs and white line on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

again, closer on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

left hand side, strip of white on tail on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Let me know if you can't see the photos. Thanks for your help. I greatly appreciate it, and so will Humdinger (fish)

[jsoong]

It is rather difficult to see from the pics, but that does not look like lymphocystis.

We need a really sharp pic to give a definitive answer. My guess at this point would be bacterial if the fin appears shredded, and fungal infection secondary to a parasite if the white appears to be threads on top of the fin. I think columnaris is less likely since it is confined to a local area, and had not spread for a couple months.

[natleh]

Hi, I've finally managed to take a clearer photo: 019 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

There are now two more greyish whiteish spots. They do not protrude. Can someone recommend a treatment. He did not reply to Pimafix or Melafix. His brother also has one tear in his fin, and when it grows back it tears again in the same spot over and over. It is not fin rot because it is a precise line that tears. There is no aggression in the tank. They are best mates, and never fight.

Thank you so much in advance.

[dkpate]

Ah, I see what you are talking about. I hope JSoong sees this later, because he knows MUCH more about goldfish than I do!
One of my bettas had the same sort of stuff on him, and I tried everything to get rid of it, ended up just keeping the water really clean, and it went away.
I wish you luck though!

[jsoong]

This is one that I have no idea about!!

There had been threads on goldfish forums about mysterious white spots like these, and I've had them on a few of my fish before. These are flat white areas that comes & goes & does not appear to affect the fish. People have done scrapes & microscopic exams & had not found any parasites. The spots don't seem to respond to anti-biotics.

The current hypothesis is that this is a viral thing, prob related to lymphosistis. Some have observed that the spots recede in summer & with salt bath. I have tried increasing tank temp & salt in the past, but the results are not permanent.

The pic in this thread:
The Goldfish and Aquarium Board • View topic - Dexter with frayed fins and tail
looks just like the spots in your fish.

They suggest that this is keratosis - which is basically a non-specific term describing heaped up skin cells. The condition appears not to affect the goldfish. If you fish appears to be healthy otherwise - activity, appetite, growth, etc. - I think clean water & observation is all that is needed. You can try higher temp (78-80) & salt (0.1-0.2%) treatment .... but in my experience, the spots simply comes back when the treatment is stopped. <The spots also tend to come & go on its own, so no real evidence that the treatment is actually helpful.,>

[natleh]

Well I guess that's the best possible news I could hope for in this situation. He does seem to have some stunted growth (compared to his brother who is growing daily(!) but he is eating normally and swimming fine.

That picture of the other goldfish is precisely what's happening here. Thank you so much for your guidance. I have been trying to treat this for months now! I have been using salt, and I will continue to keep a close watch on the little guy.

Thanks again.