New and needing help!

[el chibcha]

I am new in this forum, and already enjoying reading everyone’s experiences and learning lots today.

I am in need of help, not sure if this is the right place to post for the problem I have right now, but I will let it out as I don’t have much time to do something about it.

I have a 5 year old, 6 inch. long comet, that found himself stuck in a decoration. I never thought anyone would fit or make their way in it; this tank holds lots of different medium to large goldfish, this decoration thing has worked for years, no one ever hurt or stuck in it until now.

Somehow, this young man got stuck as I left for the weekend, when I came back yesterday, I noticed he was trapped and thought he was dead already.
He worked his way in really hard, I still cannot make up my kind about how bad he ended up.
I took him out, the decoration’s bottom is wide open, he has no scrapes or open wounds, but he is BENT IN L SHAPE! (freaky animated L shape) and I don’t know what to do!!!!

I made a basket of plastic mesh inside the tank for him, hanged it on the side of the tank and left him there by himself, he swims erratically in short moves, he does not swim desperately, he is moving, he is breathing, ate what I gave him close to his mouth, he looks confused, and for sure he must be in pain.
I have search everywhere without luck. I found nothing about a bent fish, he is not bleeding or shaking.

My son told me to give him a chiropractor move to straighten him up… and not that I did not think about it, but I don’t want to kill him!

Please help me! I’ve had fish for years, but never had a situation like this and I feel awful!!
I don’t want to loose him

 

[Aiken Drum]

Can you post a photo of the fish?

Can you quarantine the fish? Being kept in a small basket with a lot of other heavy waste producing fish wont be the best place to recover.

It sounds very much like the fish has a broken back. In which case the fish isnt going to recover and euthanising the fish is the kindest option.

 

[el chibcha]

I tried to post the picture, but it’s not working.
I will put him in quarantine, he swims side ways in circles but his shape haven’t change.

I searched for images and found this place, the image of the comet is the same as mine:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Goldfish/comments/jgnupm/is_it_normal_for_my_fishs_tail_to_be_bent_like/

 

[Aiken Drum]

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f9/including-photos-in-your-posts-378679.html

I really cant see a fish recovering from that. If its able to swim, eat, and doesnt appear to be suffering then it might have some quality of life.

The problem with the fish in the reddit post would likely either be down to genetics or living in extremely cramped conditions. It was in a 1 gallon tank. While your fishes spine issue is almost certainly due to injury from getting stuck, you mention lots of medium to large goldfish. How big is the tank? How many fish are we talking about?

 

[el chibcha]

The tank is a 60 gallon long tank, he shared this tank with 3 long finned comets, 2 medium ranchus and 5 double tails.
I picked them up for free, over one year timeframe; they were no longer wanted by owners, started with two of the comets, and now I have all these different fish.

I did not want to buy new fish, and all these needed homes so I kept them. I had filters and stuff from previous setups.
I have in this tank a 300 gal aqua filter, and a 7in. tall sponge.
I feed every other day, frozen bloodworms and brineshrimp, and Hikari pellets, every now and then I give them whatever fresh veggies or fruit I have.
Now that I write about them, eleven is not too many, but in terms of waste, they are a lot.

This is not the kind of fish mix I would buy as stock, but they get along, everyone eats and after two years the tank runs well, no sickness or aggression issues.
I had a couple nitrate spikes in the past, and the foam filter seemed to work as extra filtration for the tank, I checked water readings everyday in the beginning until tank was balanced. Regular water changes are the routine.
I know comets are five (owner said they were 3 when picked up), but no exact information on the rest.
They are mostly bright gold colour.

About my new patient, he swims around, he eats w help, and I can see he moves his eyes and tries to move around, I will keep a close eye on him. No distress signs, it’s not the natural way to move but he moves anyway.