goldfish deteriorate fast!

[goldie88]

my pearlscale was all fine yesterday, eating normally and swims normally. last night it was acting kind of strange, taking rapid breaths. he also have a pretty big ucler like wound on it's right side tummy which I suspect is from my aquarium deco. then this morning he was laying in the bottom of the tank and is not interest about food anymore. I added some metronidazole tablet into the tank since its not eating because I'm afraid it might be some kind of bacterial or parasite infection. and then just now I find it just let the current in the tank takes it up and down, sometimes flip it over but he won't tries to swim at all. He now hardly takes a breath with the mouth a little bit open. I just don't know what could of possible caused it to deteriorate this fast...

water parameters are
nitrite 0ppm
ammonia 0ppm
nitrate 0.25ppm
pH 7.0
temperature 20C

 

[shellieca]

my pearlscale was all fine yesterday, eating normally and swims normally. last night it was acting kind of strange, taking rapid breaths. he also have a pretty big ucler like wound on it's right side tummy which I suspect is from my aquarium deco. then this morning he was laying in the bottom of the tank and is not interest about food anymore. I added some metronidazole tablet into the tank since its not eating because I'm afraid it might be some kind of bacterial or parasite infection. and then just now I find it just let the current in the tank takes it up and down, sometimes flip it over but he won't tries to swim at all. He now hardly takes a breath with the mouth a little bit open. I just don't know what could of possible caused it to deteriorate this fast...

water parameters are
nitrite 0ppm
ammonia 0ppm
nitrate 0.25ppm
pH 7.0
temperature 20C

Poor little guy. How big of an aquarium do you have & is he the only fish? Can you slow the current of the filter while he's sick/stressed? Have there been any changes to his environment? How long have you had him? It is possible he injured himself, are your plant decorations plastic, silk or real? If they're plastic he could have injured himself on it because they can have sharp edges. I have a female Betta who developed some kind of "ulcer" on her back/side, she was in a 1g tank, I promptly purchased a 10g & moved her into it, now it's a week later & she's doing great. She needed a bigger home with water circulation, her wound is healing up & will be completely gone before too long. I hope you can save him.

 

[goldie88]

I have moved it to a bucket with airstone because I reckon the current isn't good for him. But he had sinked sideways to the bottom without moving, sometimes takes a little breath, almost like every breath could be his last I just don't think he is going to make it through :<

And yes the deco is plastic, I've already taken it out after I found out about the wound. The tank is 40g and there used to be 3 goldies, now only 2 left because the other one died of dropsy had tried everything I could to save him (antibiotics and epsom salt)..
I've had him for about a month and he had always been very healthy and u can even say he is kind of "bossy" as he always nips at others.
I'm just pretty shocked that he can deteriorate this fast... even my previous dropsy fish lived pineconing for like 5 weeks before he died...

Is there a possibility that it's the wound that caused all these to happen? could he somehow squashed one of his internal organ with the wound or something? because the belly where the wound is is a little sinked in...

p.s there isn't any change in the environment since I bought it

 

[shellieca]

I wish I had an answer that would work to save him. If he's that bad & you don't think he'll make it you may want to euthanize him so he doesn't suffer. I know in my case Violet wasn't injured & her wound was getting worse rapidly. How old is your tank & how often do you do water changes? Hopefully others will chime in & can at least help prevent it from happening again.

 

[jlk]

I am very sorry about your little guy . It sounds like the injury/ulcer became infected & he now has an internal infection as the result. You can try kanamycin but it does not sound like he is going to make it. If he is suffering, euthanasia should be considered. I am very sorry.

 

[goldie88]

the tank is about 2 months old. I do 30-40% water change every week. Now he only takes a breath when I touch him

Thanks for replying me though, makes me feel better that I have someone to talk to about such event !

Edit: jlk I think that's a high possibility! He has had that injury for about a week but it used to be just a small wound, now it had become quite a big one. I thought the aquarium salt in the tank will help to heal the wound as one of my other fish also had a severe broken scale and it healed itself...

 

[goldie88]

There's one more thing I want to ask. If the pearlscale's wound might be infected that caused all this, does this mean there might be bacteria in my tank water? Do you think I should do something to the main tank water to prevent such thing from happening again? (because I think the dropsy fish also has internal infection of some sort...)

 

[shellieca]

the tank is about 2 months old. I do 30-40% water change every week. Now he only takes a breath when I touch him

Thanks for replying me though, makes me feel better that I have someone to talk to about such event !

Edit: jlk I think that's a high possibility! He has had that injury for about a week but it used to be just a small wound, now it had become quite a big one. I thought the aquarium salt in the tank will help to heal the wound as one of my other fish also had a severe broken scale and it healed itself...

I know how you feel, it's so hard doing everything you can possibly think of to save them & all your efforts fail. I've lost a few due to my ignorance so I have done everything I can to educate myself & be more diligent to hopefully prevent repeats or to at least be able to better deal with a repeat.

 

[shellieca]

There's one more thing I want to ask. If the pearlscale's wound might be infected that caused all this, does this mean there might be bacteria in my tank water? Do you think I should do something to the main tank water to prevent such thing from happening again? (because I think the dropsy fish also has internal infection of some sort...)

I'm not an expert but I would think if he had an infection & it got into the water it is a possibility it could infect the other fish. I was told to do water changes, water changes and more water changes. Someone more knowledgable will hopefully advise you better.

 

[goldie88]

I know how you feel, it's so hard doing everything you can possibly think of to save them & all your efforts fail. I've lost a few due to my ignorance so I have done everything I can to educate myself & be more diligent to hopefully prevent repeats or to at least be able to better deal with a repeat.

Yah I know. These are my first batch of goldfish I ever personally owned. I used to have a parrot fish(tropical) and it lived for more than 5 years under my care! But then I had to give him away because we are moving oversea and can't bring him with us. But I heard he is still strong and healthy until now! (which is 3 years later!!) so he is about 8-9 years old now miss him so much !

So these two goldfish are actually the first 2 petfish of mine that actually died pretty disappointed at myself for not taking a closer eye and treat immediately...

 

[jlk]

There's one more thing I want to ask. If the pearlscale's wound might be infected that caused all this, does this mean there might be bacteria in my tank water? Do you think I should do something to the main tank water to prevent such thing from happening again? (because I think the dropsy fish also has internal infection of some sort...)

There is bacteria in your tank but there's also bacteria on everything we touch, see, breath, etc Healthy people & healthy fish naturally combat bad bacteria with a strong healthy immune system. Anything that weakens the immune system or allows bad bacteria to enter the blood stream such as an open wound will allow the opportunity for an infection. The best prevention is a healthy tank, lots of water changes & good diet. Purchasing healthy fish & qt will also prevent disease from being introduced into your main tank. If you have any questions, please ask!

 

[RussellC]

There is bacteria in your tank but there's also bacteria on everything we touch, see, breath, etc Healthy people & healthy fish naturally combat bad bacteria with a strong healthy immune system. Anything that weakens the immune system or allows bad bacteria to enter the blood stream such as an open wound will allow the opportunity for an infection. The best prevention is a healthy tank, lots of water changes & good diet. Purchasing healthy fish & qt will also prevent disease from being introduced into your main tank. If you have any questions, please ask!

+1

In addition, I personally wouldn't treat an entire tank unless the entire tank (or close to it) were showing signs of illness.

If the illness is an infection, and it sounds like it is, the most effective treatment would be, in my opinion, an antibiotic. The problem here is that antibiotics don't discriminate, and will harm the beneficial nitrifying bacteria that maintain your tank's cycle -- which in turn could lead toward harmful levels of ammonia and/or nitrite.

I'm really sorry your fish isn't well and I hope for the best!

But were it me, I wouldn't treat the whole tank unless signs of illness began spreading to the other fish.

Good luck!

 

[goldie88]

Thanks everyone for the reply. Unfortunately the pearlscale passed away this morning

Will keep on monitoring the other fish to prevent such thing from happening again!