Goldfish has a black tail

[aliology]

Hi, can anyone please help. My goldfish jumped out of her tank 7 days ago. She had been on the floor for a few hours but has amazingly survied! Her tail looked discoloured and had some damage to it, her body was quite grey.

The next day I bought some melafix and added it to the tank, within hours her tail and body returned to normal colour and she was much more her usual self. I continued to use melafix for 3 days with daily part water changes to keep the water clean for her.

The only problem is that her tail was discoloured again this morning, I added melafix to the water and once again within an hour her tail returned to its normal colour. (There is still damage to her tail as she had lost a little chunk when she jumped out of the tank.)

Can anyone please help me and shed some light on why this is happening to her tail? She's a lovely little fish and seems her normal self and is eating her food, its just the tail that seems to be the problem. Also I have another healthy goldfish in the tank, is it ok to use melafix on him?

Many thanks.

 

[jlk]

Hi! Welcome to AA!!! Can you provide some more info? What size is the tank/filtration? What are your exact numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & ph? What is your normal water change schedule? Its a bit unusual for a goldie to jump out of a tank unless theres a water quality issue that he is trying to escape. Some more info will help!

 

[aliology]

Hi, thank you for your reply.

Both goldfish are still quite small and I'm ashamed to say they're in a Fluval Chi 25 litre aquarium, which I know is much to small. When my fish jumped out of the tank I started reading this site and very quickly found out the tank was much too small!

I've now bought a Fluval Edge 46 litre and I'm waiting for it to cycle. (I realise in a years time I'll need to look at larger accommodation for them and have a feeling I'm going to end up with a pond in my garden! )

Again after reading this site I'm also ashamed to say that I dont use a testing kit to test the water. I've always just changed 50% of the tank water once a week. I also add half a teaspoon of aquarium salt to the water.

I thought my fish had jumped out of the tank due to the water getting too warm, as it was a very hot day. Her tail was perfectly fine until she jumped out of the water and when I put her back in the tank it looked a bit bloody.

I hadn't considered water quality, I'll buy a water testing kit tomorrow and post the results.
Once again thank you for your reply, I really do appreciate your help.

 

[jlk]

Ok, we can help get you you on track! A liquid test kit (API is recommended) as well as a good water conditioner such as Prime is a must. I honestly would return/exchange the 48l for 120+l (30g) tank. Going from a 6g tank to a 12g isnt going to be a big improvement unfortunately. In a year, your goldies will be suffering the effects of being in such a small tank & likely will be stunted. I honestly would change atleast 50% of their water daily until you can figure out your tank situation. The daily water changes will also help your injured goldie heal. Let us know how your test results look & we can further advise! Please dont hesitate to ask any questions!!!

 

[aliology]

Hello!

Thanks for your reply. I've carried out a 50% water change today and bought a testing kit. Here are the results...

Nitrate - had a slight pink tint to it but did not register on the chart making it less than 5.

Nitrite - had no colour change at all. making it less than 0.1.

Ammonia - was 0. Again the colour of the water did not change.

PH - 7.0

When carrying out the water change I added Tetra Aqua Safe, Melafix and half a teaspoon of aquarium salt.

I hope this information is enough. The fish's tail is black on the tips today but she's swimming around very happily and eating her food.

Thank you once again

 

[jlk]

I am glad shes feeling better! An appetite is a very good sign! She will heal just fine as long as you keep the water healthy. It wont happen overnight & can take anywhere from a few wks to a few mths. Keep up the good work!

 

[Sssea]

Can you post a picture? I'm curious to see what this looks like.

 

[aliology]

My word trying to take that photo was fun! found it very hard to get a decent picture. This is the best I could do, she's quite camera shy

You can just see the black on the very tip of her tail which is still damaged and missing a bit. Looking at this there is also a tiny bit of black on the bottom of her body, the part that connects to the tail.

 

[aliology]

Thanks for your time Jlk! Very much appreciated

 

[Sssea]

She's looking great! On the road to recovery, for sure. What a trooper!

 

[aeruelas]

Wow never seen a Goldie that looks exactly like mine