There's a hole in my fishy...

[halluciphy]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a bit of a problem with my black moor. I've had it (and his three tank-mates) for over a year now, and although all the others seem perfectly healthy I haven't succeeded in treating whatever is wrong with him.

It started about five weeks ago as a tiny bit of white-spot on his side and a fin, which I promptly treated with appropriate medication and it went way, but leaving a small pinkish mark on his side. While I was in the process of moving house a couple of weeks after the initial problem started I had to leave them alone in the new flat for a couple of days and when I came back he had quite a large red sore on his side.

His body is about 5cm long from nose to base of tail, and despite me treating the open sore with Melafix and doing regular water changes the sore is now about 5mm x 8mm wide, taking up most of one of his sides.

Thing is, if he seemed 'unhappy' I'd have put him out of his misery sooner, but he's still as lively as ever and eating well. The hole is right the way through the scales, and is currently a light pink colour with raggedy, slightly lifted up black scales around the edges.

So... any ideas? I'd be really grateful if anyone can give me any clues about what to do!

Sorry about the length of this!

 

[halluciphy]

Ah crap I just saw the post on Ich / White Spot and now understand why there's a massive hole in his side I'm setting up a little hospital tank for him tonight so I can (a) separate him from the others and (b) treat it as quickly as possible (I have a loach in the main tank so had to do a longer course of half doses last time).

 

[jsoong]

Sores are usually bacterial infections, although it can also be secondary to a parasitic infestation that caused an open wound (most common in goldies - flukes).

Ich & or skin infections usu. indicates poor water condition stressing the fish. In addition to treating the bugs, you need to check & correct any underlying water quality issues. Big, frequent water changes are always helpful.

I would suggest treating the ich with salt - info here: Goldfish and Aquarium Board Article-Treating Ich with Salt - as salt is also pretty good for surface bacterial infection. However, with a good size ulcer, you might want to feed an anti-biotic food as well.

 

[halluciphy]

Hi

Thanks for replying

I imagine it's a combination of parasites and a bacterial infection. I've always been really careful about water quality (weekly changes and checking levels every two weeks), but I doubt that having to move house did much for his stress levels - none of them were very impressed about having to live in a bucket for over an hour and go on a car journey...! The others handled it pretty well compared to him, although that doesn't surprise me because he's always been a bit weak / 'sickly'.

I'm keeping the half-dose treatment (loach tankmate) going in the normal tank to make sure that the infestation is completely gone, and I'm doing the full-blown treatment and salting the water in the little 'hospital tank' I set up last night. Hopefully there'll be an improvement in the next few days.

Thanks for all the advice!