black moor pellets in gills

[goldfishfanatic]

:help: for the past 3 days now i have noticed my black moor has 3-4 pellets stuck inside his gills, only on 1 side, he is still eating and is active,his behaviour hasnt changed, but its been a while and i havent seen any change in their position so im unsure what to do. he is around 2-3 inches,and they are mini sinking pellets, but im thinking i will damage his gills if i try to remove them, and i dont want to stress him by handling him anyway what with him being happy in himself. i can see the pellets clearly as he opens and shuts his gills, as they are a pinky colour and very obvious. will they eventually work their own way out?

[reptileguy2727]

All the pellets I have seen would have dissolved by now. Is it possible that it is really a growth on the gills?

[Fishy_Fun]

i would suspect something physically wrong with him/Most pellets wouldn't be pink anyways

[goldfishfanatic]

hmmm,well they are a pinky/orangey colour,same as in the pot, and about the same size too. ive only noticed them over the past 3 days, and i noticed them when i was feeding hence me thinking they were pellets stuck there. i have however just tried to get a look at him from different angles, and i cant see them now, im not sure,i will just have to keep tabs on him and if he shows signs of distress or anything,il fish him out and take a peek. im wondering whether its new pellets each time he eats and i just see them through his gills as he eats,hes just learnt how to catch the pellets as they sink,so hes gettign more than usual and he does pig out.

[Blueiz]

Have you noticed the pellets beign there any other time than when hes eating? If not, then most likely you are seeing the new food, not old that is stuck there.

I agree with above that if the pellets have been stuck there for several days they would have dissolved by now..

[Flaringshutter]

I agree with Blue, it is most likely pellets you are seeing him crunch in his mouth, through his gills, while he eats. If you are unsure, net him and gently lift his gill covers for a peek. Be very, very, very gentle.

[goldfishfanatic]

well i netted him last night, and sure enough there are 5-6 pellets in there, none in the other side. i tried kinda dunking him in and out of the water a few times to see if they would move but they just wiggled a bit and he was getting very stressed,so i returned him to the tank. i was so worried about damaging his eyes i didnt want to hold him at all, they look like they can pop at any second,im new to the big eye fishies! hes still eating well though, and is showing no signs of any head shakes (except while he eats) so im guessing they arent bothering him. the pellets i have dont seem to disintegrate particularly quickly,ive noticed them before when one gets stuck in the tank and it can and will sit there for a few days until a dojo finds it. maybe i shoul duse different pellets, at the moment im using TetraFin Gold Japan premium food for fancy goldfish sinking mini-sticks. when dry they are a deep orange colour an dthey get a bit lighter in the water. i hope i can get this guy sorted out, hes ym fave fishy, oh an di had great trouble trying ot open his gills,what would you recommend to do this without harming him? thanks for all replies so far x

[goldfishfanatic]

i take everything back, i have just managed to have a good long look in there,and sure enough it is 5 growths, each one is a pinky orangey colour with red veins going through it, they do look remarkably like my pellets though after a while soaking!!! im guessing its all down hill for this guy, he has none in the other side, 4 are on the entrance to his gills attatched to his body and the 5th is right at the front where his gill cover joins his body,and they are bigger than i thought. should i just euthanize him now? i think its due to the shock of being netted again but he hasnt eaten this morning. im so unhappy :-(

[goldfishfanatic]

well,no need to worry anymore,ive just found him near dead on the gravel, he was gasping and laying on his side, i figured it was best for him to euthanize, im so bummed out,he was my fave fishy :-( at least he isnt in any pain any more.

[Blueiz]

So sorry to hear about your loss. *huggs*

[goldfishfanatic]

thanks blue, my tank looks so empty,but i suppose a nearly 50 gallon tank was over stocked with 4 fancy goldies and 2 dojos so i cant add anymore :-( just have to hope my remaining 3 fancies grow a bit bigger to fill the space, they are only small at the moment, around 3 inches each.

[Flaringshutter]

i'm so sorry GF, that's awful. hopefully your 3 remaining babies will stay healthy. :)

[msjinkzd]

Sorry to hear of your loss :(

[goldfishfanatic]

hmm OH has decided to cheer me up and has come home with 2 new babies, i came in to find 5 little goldies swimming round in my tank, instead of the 3 i had, well ive swapped my weather loaches into the other cold water tank, so now its just the 5 goldies in the 50 gallon, there is 1 red cap oranda, 1 orange and white fantail, and 3 calico fantails,all around 3 inches long. will they be ok if i start to do twice weekly 50% water changes instead of the 1? im hoping to find a bigger tank sooner rather than later but we are in no way able to buy one even 2nd hand for quite some time yet.

[Flaringshutter]

Sure, as long as they are small and you keep up with the water changes, they should be fine. I'd recommend feeding twice a day, and watch how much they eat so you won't overfeed and have food rotting in the tank. You may want to put up a post in the classifieds here and over at MFK explaining your situation. Our members are pretty generous and you may find that someone in your area has an old tank sitting around that they won't mind selling on the cheap. :) Definitely post in the MFK classifieds, as they deal in larger tanks.

[goldfishfanatic]

thanks for that flaringshutter, i will check it out, i always feed them 1 pellet at a time anyway,and i feed once first thing in the morning and than again late afternoon. i like to make sure they each get how many they want, and once full they just swim off to the other side of the tank and i continue to feed 1 at a time until they have all wandered off. have to convince OH i need a bigger tank!