gold fish with hole in the head

[tmkx3]

30g, whisper filter, 3 orandas
0 ammonia, O nitrite, 20 nitr

did a 10g water change. 10% water changes usually once a month

I have an oranda that from the things I have seen and read in this forum has hole in the head. The oranda in question is pretty large and all I have is a 10g qt. The other 2 tank mates don't seem to be effected. All three fish are eating and acting normal. Can I treat the 30g tank or should I move the ill fish to the 10g?

 

[Zagz]

Is there any other fish with the goldies? As a side not a 30 gal is really too small for 3 oranda's. You can treat for HITH with the other fish if you want. What I would recommend is more water changes. With your tank size and water change schedule, I'd be wondering if my test kit was accurate. Goldfish are messy. What are you using for a test kit?

 

[jsoong]

How big are the orandas? A 30 gal is crowded for 3 big golds (like 6+"), although they should be OK when small.

However, keeping golds in small tanks requires a lot of work, principally lots of filtration and pwc. 10% once a month is really inadaquate IMO. I do 25% weekly at a minimum, regardless of your NO3 levels (test kits are not terribly accurate in NO3, plus you need to get rid of other stuff ... organics, etc.)

HITH is basically a problem with poor water or poor nutrition. I would fix that first befroe anything else. <ie make sure you have a lot of water movement, lots of pwc, and a bigger tank/filter if possible.> Secondary treatment is antibiotics - feed antibiotic containing food, don't bother with anything in the water. Metronidazole is recommended, and you can find antibiotic food in the pond fish section. However, fixing the water often will solve the problem, so I would use antibiotics only when the case is bad & not improving.