Goldfish keeps injuring himself - help please!

[Rosenweiss]

Ohhh, that's understandable, I'm sure the frequent water changes will help. Whenever you get 35$, I recommend just popping on an AC50. =]

[fis]

Thanks - I definitely will

Another question - I took out the carbon and put it in a bowl of his water because I wasn't sure what to do with it...should I save it until the round of melafix is done and then put it back in? Is it ok to use fresh carbon? It's a Fluval U3 filter, so the media can stay in separately from the carbon, without any fuss...

Sorry if this is a silly question! Thanks

[Rosenweiss]

You can use fresh carbon if you want, or you don't have to use carbon at all. Many of us don't ever use carbon unless we need to fix a water color or smell issue, and we just load up the extra space with more biomax media or filter floss.

[fis]

I didn't know that! I thought it was a must to use carbon, and without it the filter wouldn't filter properly...

Thank you!

[Rosenweiss]

You're welcome! Good luck!

[fis]

Luck indeed...

Question - the water in the tank is becoming exceptionally murkey. The fish seems to be acting ok. But the water looks awful and I'm worried about the next 5 days without the carbon. And I'm concerned that once the 5 days are up it's going to be really difficult to clean up the water...
What to do? I understand I shouldn't do a water change in the remaining 5 days of the melafix - but I'm worried! And this is what happened the last time I did melafix many years ago - except of course I had a crappy filtration system then, so maybe that's why?
I really just want the fish to have a better quality of life and not be in pain! But getting there seems to be challenging...
We are heading into day 3 of the melafix...
And so the saga continues...any thoughts greatly appreciated!

[Homedog98]

Keep going. It should work. Just put the carbon back in, and do a BIG water change when you're done.

[fis]

Thanks for responding!
I did it - kept going went through the entire 7 days. Then did a 25% water change and put one carbon back in - I have to buy more. The water looks much better.

His mouth is much less red, and the twitching seems to have improved - but on the other hand his mouth is still a bit deformed on one side - I don't think the cut is ever going to heal the two sides back together - but at least if it's not painful, that's all I'd like for him.
I'm concerned about the twitching returning - I'm not sure if the melafix helped that or if he's just been better for whatever reason. I spoke with a friend who works at a veterinary practice, and the vet suggested a round of antibiotics - but I don't want to put him through all that. We tried it a few years back and it was just torment for nothing.
And so here we are...hoping..

[fis]

An update-

Overall behavior has improved - he's more social, and does appear to be injuring himself less when he twitches/flashes. (I'm not sure why - I think the episodes are shorter).
But the twitching/flashing continues...less some days, more others...
I'm at a loss at this point.
The water tests come out ok. I'm doing water changes at least 3x per week with vacueming (that seems to be helping significantly).
I'm not sure the melafix did much - though his mouth does look better as far as redness. The deformity is still there - much of his bottom lip seems to be missing, and though he doesn't appear in pain and he is eating regularly, I'm concerned that the more this goes on the worse it's going to get.

I don't want to consider euthanasia, unless it's absolutely necessary - when he's not twitching he's friendly, generally interactive, and swims well.

I should add I haven't yet been able to find a larger tank that's used, so perhaps that's an issue...but otherwise..any additional ideas?

Thanks-