help! asap .. pimple looking .. goldfish

[rreekers]

I went to my moms house to clean my sisters fish tank.
2 days ago I was there and noticed 3 of the 4 fancies have ich. (55g tank, 10x filtration) ... by instructions of other member on this site I prepared a salt treatment to be added every 12 hours (4 doses total)
I was about to add it and saw like blood spots on 1 fish's tail and on another ones side.. they turned around and all but one fish has at least 5-7 of these each . they literally look like pimples

here are some pictures.. I know they are really blurry and poor quality but if you have any ideas on treatment or diagnosis please let me know

 

[Mumma.of.two]

What are the water conditions like? It is possible where the ich has left the fishes body the wound has become infected. I can't really see much from the pictures.

 

[rreekers]

I don't know.. the white spot is protruding off of the goldfish and the red around the what spot looks like a blood blotch .. of that makes sense

fungal and bacterial infection maybe? I've been researching like crazy. looks like salt should be continued.. I'm thinking about doing a gram negative and gram positive treatment together. not sure what else to do :/

water condition ammonia .25
nitrites 0. nitrate around 30 ( before 60% water change I did today)

 

[jlk]

More likely bacterial than fungal especially with anything thats red or red blotches/bloody looking. I cant really tell much from the pics- it looks like in 1 or 2 of the pics, theres red blotching & streaking in the fins. Is this the case?

 

[rreekers]

I there's isn't red streaks through the fins. just blotches / spots of red... as of yesterday all but 2 of them had the white raised numb in the middle

 

[jlk]

Hmm...I dont know 100% if its a bacterial infection possibily caused by the ich & scratching or if its a parasite issue (and a possible bacterial infection as well). Because they guys are all fairly new & came from the lfs without being qt, they could have a host of issues beyond ich. Skin flukes would be my first guess with a bacterial infection on top of it because of the redness, blotching & streaking. I would feed them a course of antibiotic-medicated food (such as medi-gold from the Goldfish Connection) with prazipro to treat the water. Continue treating the ich with salt (neither med will help with ich). Alternately, you can continue with the salt & watch them closely to see if their condition gets better on its own but have meds on hand if it continues to get worse.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Hmm...I dont know 100% if its a bacterial infection possibily caused by the ich & scratching or if its a parasite issue (and a possible bacterial infection as well). Because they guys are all fairly new & came from the lfs without being qt, they could have a host of issues beyond ich. Skin flukes would be my first guess with a bacterial infection on top of it because of the redness, blotching & streaking. I would feed them a course of antibiotic-medicated food (such as medi-gold from the Goldfish Connection) with prazipro to treat the water. Continue treating the ich with salt (neither med will help with ich). Alternately, you can continue with the salt & watch them closely to see if their condition gets better on its own but have meds on hand if it continues to get worse.

It's a .3% salt concentration in the tank btw.

 

[rreekers]

yup so far 1/2 the salt is in. my mom will continue to add the rest.
** its so hard to help with a tank that's 45 mins away :/ **
I ordered the food and water treatment suggested above .. 3-5 days till it will be here , do you think they will be OK till then, and hold out for a few days, withonly the salt

 

[jlk]

Lets cross our fingers that they will manage with the salt. Good job getting the meds! Keep us posted!!

 

[rreekers]

definitively will keep you posted. thank for the help

i hope they make it :/

 

[rreekers]

things just seem to be getting worse..
-i still havent received the parizipro, but i got the medi-gold this afternoon, so will bring it to the fish in the morning.
-i was there 2 days ago and most the the pimple looking things had gone away BUT 1 fish had what almost appeared to be red fungus? growing behind one of his side fins.
- now today i talked to my sister and she said there was things growing off of them, she said it looked like fungus, so i went and purchased some maracyn and maracyn two - which i will start treating with tomorrow..
- in other bad news 3 of the 4 goldfish now will not eat when food is offered

i had her take a picture and they are white white bumbs with like a hair growing out of them .... and you can see one of the pimple looking things as well in the picture...

questions:
- should we continue using the salt
- is there any problem with me doing a HUGE water change tomorrow-- for the stress of the fish should i do 2x 50% or just 1 80% change?
- am i doing the right thing? im not sure what to do any more so we are trying anything

 

[rreekers]

picture of 1 gold fish with "pimple" and hairs

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Looks like anchor worms. I'm 99% sure the prazi will take care of them. You can remove them gently with tweezers once they are dead. Keep up the salt IMO. It will help ward off infection. I would do a 50% followed by another 50% half an hour later to let them get use to the water.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Anchor Worm
Pathogen/Cause: Lernea spp.
Physical Signs: Actually, lernea is a copepod (crustacean arthropod) rather than a true worm. It looks like a small whip (a few mm to under an inch long) attached to the fish at the mouth end and with a forked tail.
Behavioral Signs: Usually none noted unless very severe with secondary infections.
Potential Treatment: May be physically removed, but will cause great stress to the animal, and must be done carefully and with a dab of antibiotic over the wound afterwards. Brand name formulations like Jungle Parasite Guard and Aquarium Pharmaceuticals may also help.
Other Notes: Rarely seen in pet fish not kept outdoors (in ponds), and usually then only in ones that have been fed live foods.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/fish_palace/tropicalfish_disease_identification_1.html#Lernea

 

[rreekers]

ok, i will keep doing the salt, and will start the prazi when i get it...

is it okay to go ahead and do the maracyn and maracyn two, because there is obviously other this going on besides the anchor worms....

im so worried, im afraid that they might die, do you think they will make a recovery.. i know there is no real way of knowing for sure :/

 

[Mumma.of.two]

ok, i will keep doing the salt, and will start the prazi when i get it...

is it okay to go ahead and do the maracyn and maracyn two, because there is obviously other this going on besides the anchor worms....

im so worried, im afraid that they might die, do you think they will make a recovery.. i know there is no real way of knowing for sure :/

As far as I know it's fine to dose prazi and maracyn together but definitely double check that!
Anchor worms themselves aren't going to kill the fish but secondary infections could. Just keep the water clean and see how they go.
Hopefully jlk will chime in also. She has more experience with meds than me.

 

[rreekers]

ok, thank you so much for your help... you and JLK have helped me out alot with this tank and with these goldfish

 

[jlk]

These poor guys! Yes, I agree with Mumma- they look like worms & not a fungus. Def keep up with the salt because it will help limit infections. Your fine to do water changes as Mumma suggested but make sure you re-add the salt you remove (ie 50%wc, add back 1/2 original dose). Hopefully, the prazi will knock out the worms but be prepared to treat with a stronger product if it doesnt. Ill post a link below to site with stronger worm meds- look under their catalog under 'meds'/ 'parasites'. All of the meds listed except the Quick Cure have the same active ingredient (DHTP) but the prices vary. I would choose the Life Bearer product. Prazi can be safely mixed with other meds & salt but the DHTP products i would not mix with other meds. I am so sorry you are having such a hard time with these guys!! Lets get them treated & healed up!

Aquatic Creations Ltd - Marine / Freshwater Supplies & Pond Products Catalog

 

[rreekers]

what is dhtp?

 

[jlk]

Sorry, dyslexic typo (i need more coffee!)! DTHP also known as trichlorfon or dylox or dimilin or or fluke tabs or clout- all different names for the same thing. Its an organophosphate insecticide. Learned all about it with my leech nightmare. Its technical name is dimethyl trichloro hydroxyethyl phosphonate (dthp). Its commonly used for treating ponds but its pretty hard to find.