split tail on comet goldfish

[pixieil]

Can someone tell me about tail rot? i have a comet with a beautiful long tail. earlier today it looked like it had a little tear in it near the top of the fin. now it is split all the way to the body. It is still all there, just separated. fish is by itself in tank cept for 2 snails. Water readings are at ideal. should i worry? could it have torn it on something? the plants in the tank are plastic.

 

[dr_girlfriend]

Does it look ratty? Or is it a clean cut? It may have ripped its tail on your plastic plants, some of them can be quite sharp for long flowing finned fish. If he looks good otherwise and is eating, I would just do a waterchange and add 1tblsp salt per gallon of water to help him heal and prevent infection.
Tail rot usually makes the fin look kind of ratty, not a single long
cut.

http://www.aquariumpharmaceuticals.com/disease/finrot.html

 

[SteveM]

I've had similar tears on my goldfish from time to time, and had good luck with Melafix to promote healing. I'm not sure what the cause is though.

 

[pixieil]

Thanks. it is just a single clean tear and the fish seems undisturbed by it. should i uses melafix just in case, or is it better not to medicate until it needs it for sure.

 

[pixieil]

new developments. now one of its pectorals is split, , and it has a spot on its tail about 1/16" diameter that is kind of roundish and rather fuzzy looking. I rushed out to "thank-god-for-Wal-Mart" and bought melafix, and something called 'fungus clear" by 'tank buddies', and something called "quick cure" by 'Aquarium Products'. i put in the melafix. should I put in the other things? should I also treat the tank that my other fish is in? the 2 fish were together in the same tank for a few hours when i first got the comet.

 

[SteveM]

Melafix is pretty safe - on the bottle it even recommends using it every time you add fish to a tank. I think I might use it on the other fish just in case.
I'm not sure about the other meds though, they might have side effects that make them more trouble than they are worth if you aren't sure the other fish is sick.
And I really don't know which ones it's OK to mix - hopefully someone else can answer that better.

 

[dr_girlfriend]

ummm...salt. its cheap, has no side effects, and it works. don't go meds happy. that fungus clear is crap and whatever that other stuff is don't use it. try melafix and salt and it should be fine. And yes I would treat the whole tank.
Be sure to do a large water change prior to treating and keep your water params in check.

 

[pixieil]

Well I didnt get that last post till sunday, and was using the "quick cure" which claims to be for ich because of the white specks on the fins,(i dont see any white on the body, but its a white fish, so maybe i just dont see them.) the melafix for the tail rot and aquarium salt (2T total in 1 tsp increments) on general principles. the white spots have not gone away, but the poor fish looked like it was going to die, sitting sagging on the bottom of the tank, looking dazed and pathetic, so I popped the charcoal filter back in to take the meds out of the water. Fish perked up a bit and started eating, but still spends most of its time looking listless at the bottom of the tank. I will take the charcoal out again pretty soon and start over. Ok tell me about the salt routine. dr_girlfriend said 1 TABLESPOON per gallon? is that ok for Freshwater fish? here are my parameters: New tank last week. 10 gal. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrate 100ppm hardness,90alkalinity, 7.2ph. 1 gal water change yesterday with distilled water. single goldfish with 2 snails.

 

[Kari]

Hold yer horses, there, hon! I'm just an amateur, but you can't mix all those meds. Return the fungus clear, I've used it and it was more trouble than it was worth, and it didn't help one bit! In fact, I think that's what killed some of my fish.

I don't think you're supposed to use more than one tablespoon of salt per FIVE gallons, but if I'm wrong, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable here will correct me.

Also...unless you've seen some definate signs of ich, I wouldn't use quick cure. Quick Cure is a very strong med. And mixing it with any other meds would leave any fish woozy...I found out the hard way.

You sound like you love your fishes, just like I do, and are desperate to help them. I've found alot of helpful advice here, and not OVER medicating is one of those things I've taken to heart. I wouldn't use much more than the salt and melafix without a more definate answer from someone here who knows more about this stuff...just my opinion...and I say it because it's helped me save my own fishes. If it IS ich, ich is a parasite infection, not a fungus infection. It could be one of several parasites. I would do a water change, add the salt and melafix, and keep this forum posted as to how the fish are doing, or what signs they're showing, and go from there.

 

[Kari]

One more thing...there's a topic posted that's called 'If you think your fish have ich'...have you checked that out? And if so, does what your fish has look like what the pics of that show you?

 

[jsoong]

Salt is OK for goldies .... I prefer it to meds ... works better & less harsh.

To treat ick & other parasites, you need a salt concentration of 1.003 and that is 12g in one gal (pretty close to 1 tablespoon). You are about 8 tablespoons short or an effective dose. Generally, it is best to add salt slowly (say 1/3 of the dose every 12 hours).

Don't worry about that salt concentration ... goldfish will live in that without problems <if there are other occupants, or plants - check!>. If this is ich, you will need to treat for 2-4 weeks to get rid of the bugs, even after all the spots are gone. Increasing temperature (say to mid 70's) will speed things up, but I am not sure if a sick comet will stand the 88F that is need to kill ich with temp alone, so your best bet is salt & moderate high temp.

If there is heavy parasite infestation, a salt dip is an alternative. For this, you use a salt concentration of 3% (or 1.03 = 10 tablespoons per gal). You only put the fish in 3% salt for a few minutes & remove it to fresh water as soon as you see signs of distress. This will kill off a lot of surface parasites without stressing the fish (much). Although I've seen salt dips recommended for baby golds, it is generally better reserved for larger fish.

Also, if possible, increase O2 content in tank - airstone, water movement, etc. In large golds, ich generally do not cause lethergy (like you are seeing), unless it is in the gills - in which case breathing is impaired & higher O2 will help.

 

[pixieil]

ok I read the post. should I start a new thread, since this is no longer just about tail rot? my poor goldfish has that definitely.Im still not sure about the ich because as i said, it is a white fish. i can see some little specks on a few places on its fins, but they dont really look as uniform in size as the ones in the ich pic.
I did a 1/5 water change and fired up both charcoal filters to rid the water of the quick cure. fish seems a fair bit perkier. How much salt can goldfish stand? can they stand the 2 -3 ppm necessary for salt treament? how do I figure that out without a hydrometer? goldies ,I hear are a cool water fish. can they stand 88 degree water? how will this treatment affect the tail rot?

 

[Kari]

pixieil,
I don't think you need to start a new topic, unless you WANT to. I have a male betta that went through fin rot. It was horrible, just overnight, without any warning, most of his tail fin was gone, and it was rapidly eating at his top and bottom fins, too.

What *I* did...At the time, he had been in my 10 gallon tank, with the tropicals. I took him out, put him in his own little 1 gallon tank, and added about a teaspoon of aquarium salt, and added about 3 or 4 drops of melafix per day. I also did complete water changes for him about every other day. He didn't start blossoming right back out, but it stopped the deterioration, which was my biggest concern. Once that was under control, I noticed that he also has black spot disease. I stopped the melafix, continued the salt, and started treating with tetracycline as well. I started doing almost daily complete water changes, now it's back to about every other day. The tetracycline has not only helped with the black spot disease, which is almost gone now, but it also seems to be promoting more rapid growth of his fins.

Also, you say that your fish is white, so it's hard to tell if he has ich for sure...

I also have a white male betta (the one I talked about previously is my red one) It IS more difficult to tell on the white fish, but try holding your fish (in a bowl or whatever) in front of the light. Watch for him to spread his fins out, and if there are tiny spots where light won't filter through on him, then that would probably be ich. That's been the best way for me to tell, holding the bowl up to the light, and waiting to see what it looks like when his fins are fanned out.

Best of luck, and let us know how he's doing

By the way, I'm trying out a new medication for external parasites right now. It's supposed to be a three dose thing, every other day, and they're not due for their second treatment until tomorrow. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[pixieil]

with reinstatement of the charcoal filters and a 1/4 water change, the fish has perked up a bit. tests this am. show a 40 nitrate level, and fish is still acting woozy, just not as bad. so i will go get more water and change the water some more . can gold fish stand salt as high as 3ppm and temps as high as 88?

 

[Kari]

I'm not sure on either of those questions, but I don't THINK they can take temps that high...

 

[pixieil]

ich on white fish

Ok well by your description, the fish has both ich and tail rot. the salt and temp Q was what was advocated by the person who who did the post "if you think you fish has ich". Maybe those are ok for saltwater tropicals and not gold fish. Looking forward to your new med results, cause i dont think my fish can handle the quick cure or the salt/temp routine. poor little fish.

 

[SteveM]

First, 1 tablespoon per gallon is about 3.75 ppt, not ppm. But that is about right (maybe a little on the high side) for treating ich and the goldfish should have no problems living with those concentrations.

As far as 88F goes, I've never taken my GF quite that high, but with good oxygenation of the water I think it would be OK. But it is very important to slowly raise the temperature to those levels - maybe a degree or two per day. If the fish starts showing signs of distress, then you can back the temperature down slowly to something where it seems comfortable. Be patient and don't change anything suddenly - fish can tolerate quite a bit if they are given time to acclimate.

Keep an eye on those nitrates - 40ppm is borderline stressful for the fish and in my experience can be a contributor to all kinds of disease, especially fin rot. Water changes are the only thing you can do to control this (short of planting the tank), but if you're using distilled water like you mentioned, you should be adding something like seachem equilibrium to put in the needed electrolytes. Fish in straight distilled water would not be happy.

Two diseases at once is a tough situation, since most any cure for one disease is going to stress the fish and make it that much more susceptible to the others. If you are still in the 2G tank, you may want to consider something larger - that is a bit small for a goldfish and I think you'll find everything gets quite a bit easier in a larger tank.

 

[pixieil]

Thanks that was very reassuring. The 'endangered fish" is in the new 10ga tank I just bought. My original fish, who was in the 2.5 ga. for a year with 2 other fish, got moved to a 6 ga tank which i had to rush out and buy when I discovered he was attacking the "friend" id bought him after his other "friends" died unexpectedly and i moved him to the new 10 ga.'Save the Goldfish" has become an expensive experience. I will take your advice. It sounds good, and it even sounds like something i could actually DO.
the original goldfish is in very robust health, apparently deliriously happy in his new 6 gallon tank.
I will keep you posted.

 

[SteveM]

'Save the Goldfish" has become an expensive experience.

Tell me about it - I started with a 1G tank that we ran out and bought because my daughter won a goldfish at her school fair. Now I have about $500 invested in a 75G tank to sustain 4 goldfish - 2 free, one $0.25, and one $8. Add in the cost of my other tanks once MTS took hold, and that was one expensive "free" fish

Good luck with the treatment - I think goldfish are among the toughest around, so just do your best to help them and hopefully they can pull through.

 

[Kari]

Congrats on your fishes new digs I started out with a couple goldfish, and now I've got so many, I'm aspiring to creating a pond for them once we move!