Injured goldfish

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ArsenicRedLace

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Jan 30, 2010
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Hi Everyone!

I don't come on the site much and haven't posted before really but I was really hoping for some advise for my goldfish...

I noticed that my comet had a red spot above his mouth... it seems to have gotten bigger/spread...

It looks like he may have some bleed below the surface or like a blister kind of injury.

I'm not sure exactly how he did it... he did dig through the gravel a lot so that's my guess. I haven't seen him digging in the gravel recently but I'm assuming because it hurts him to do so.

He's not as active as he used to be, had his dorsal fin down a bit the other day, but he does seem more alter/active than he was a day or so ago.

He still has an appetite but isn't as an aggressive eater as he was before his "injury"


I was able to get a pretty good picture of the redness/injury. Any ideas how i can make him a bit more comfortable? or help him heal faster?

I looked at him again since i took the photo and it looks like some of the redness has actually gone down or drained in some way.

any advice or tips would be great :) thank you so much!!

goldfish nose 1.JPG
 

KevG

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Jul 8, 2010
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Is he alone in the tank?
I have 3 red eye tetras that like to duke it out and end up looking like that.
They then heal up and start the battle royale all over again lol
 

ArsenicRedLace

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Jan 30, 2010
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He's in a 20 gal community.

He was originally bought to cycle a new tank (a year and a half ago)

he's never had issues with bullying in the past, as he's pretty much the biggest in the tank.

he's in with about 6 zebra danios, a mystery snail, a clawed frog (they don't bully or fight each other, but will startle each other at most, but quickly swim away from each other) and an algae eater.

He used to really like to dig in the gravel, picking up pieces and spitting them out. especially after feedings, going through after the food is gone and looking for fallen food i guess..

I feed a variety of food... and i'll put in smaller/broken pieces of reptile sticks for the frog and i have seen the goldfish each them in the past but they were roughly about the same size of the little goldfish pellets he's eaten at times.


i've been giving him flakes lately so it's easier for him to eat with a sore mouth... and then after they fish have eaten, i'll put in a couple of the pellets for the frog.

he does kind of seem on the mend since i took the picture i posted.

later that day actually, it looked like some of the blood had drained from the area... almost like it had "popped" and drained...

It looks like he now has an open sore...

look at the picture i originally posted, the red area is KIND of shaped like an "X"... now the bottom parts look like the open sores... the bottom right part of the "X" is actually right THROUGH his lip... like i can see right through it, it's a hole...

he was eating his flakes and flakes were actually coming THROUGH the hole, poor little guy :(

my filter has been acting up, so i'm going to change the filter, scrub down the glass and vacuum the gravel... just make sure it's clean so there's not too much bacteria etc that may lead to more of an infection.

he seems ok... like he's active, dorsal fin is up, eyes clear, shiny smooth scales, appetite and eating, etc...
 

excuzzzeme

Stroke Survivor '05
I wouldn't bother with Melafix as it might possibly be Hemorrhagic Septicemia or a type of pseudonoma bacterium. I would opt for something like Neomycin (sub: Kanamycin) or Oxytetracycline. This needs quality medicine and not what I would consider to be a snake oil.
 

ArsenicRedLace

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Jan 30, 2010
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I haven't heard of either of these medications...

I don't think this was initially caused by bacteria... it looked more like he bumped it and injured it... but i could be completely wrong and it's bacteria, or parasite or anything else...

he seems... sad :(

the redness is not spreading, but now he has a HOLE above his lip.

i can see into his mouth through the hole (it's not that big, but if i catch him swimming by at the right angle i can kind of see a little into his mouth)

His flakes actually come THROUGH the hole when he eats...

I feel so bad for him :(


For these two medications recommended...

Should I put him in a hospital tank to medicate him??? how long should he be in a separate tank for? a week?

I have a SMALL tank.... 2.5 gals. (like i mean SMALL) i use it to hold fish food and various supplies... i know it's WAY too small for him... i don't know if i have another tank around :( I may have a 10 gal... but i don't know where it is or if it's in good condition.

would he be ok in a 2.5 for medicating him?? and for how long?

If i kept him in the 20 gal community, would the medication be bad for the other fish??

I could take the snail and frog out maybe and put THEM in the smaller tank and leave the goldfish in the 20 gal.


Thank you so much everyone, I really appreciate everything...

I feel so bad for him :(
 

KevG

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Jul 8, 2010
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Just my opinion.
If it is an injury as it seems it is. Melafix would be good enough. It will protect the fish from getting an infection in its sore.
It is effective against minor fungal and bacterial infections.
It's like you putting polysporin on a cut. It won't heal it over night but will help it heal a little better and quicker.

He might be stuck with a holy lip if it has not started to close over. That will not be good for his over all survival but if you are like me you will enjoy your gimpy fish for the rest of his days regardless :)
I would leave him where he is and medicate the whole tank. I don't think melafix will affect the other fish negatively. You should test your water often and make sure your parameters are spot on
 

ArsenicRedLace

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Jan 30, 2010
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Thanks,

Yeah, my guess is it was caused by an injury... my hubby's made many comments about the fish being "loud"... digging in the gravel and stuff like that... yet the past couple of days, he hasn't been digging at all..

he and the frog leave each other alone, but if they DO cross paths they startle each other and quickly swim away.


I just changed about 1/3 of the water, cleaned the sides of the glass and vacuumed the gravel. just to get any extra gunk out of there... my filter's been acting strange and i think it needs to be replaced, i didn't realize how dirty the gravel had gotten.

right now the tank is bare, i took out the ornaments and am soaking them in diluted bleach, going to scrub them again, rinse and soak in clean water, then let them air dry for a couple of days before putting them back in the tank.

due to my filter not working properly the tank HAD gotten in some unfavorable conditions :(

I'm going to let it run tonight. and tomorrow look into getting some melafix.

the water conditioner that i use is Tetra Aquasafe. I know it's not a medication but it does say that it helps to promote a healthy slim coating etc. so i'm hoping that will at least help a LITTLE bit until i can get him something tomorrow.


and I'll love him gimp and all :)


Our son's changed his name a few times, but i believe as of now he's either Nimo or Ponyo... i'm not sure what his most recent decision on the name is. But either way, i hope he feels better!


Thanks again for the advise everyone =)
 

BettaFishMommy

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Mar 17, 2008
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sounds as if a small sore was made worse due to the dirty gravel (and any bad bacteria harbouring in it).

don't change your filter! that will take away all the beneficial bacteria that has built up in the filter media. i assume it is a cartridge style filter? just rinse the cartridge as best you can in a bucket of tank water and replace it back into the filter. if you only have this one filter running on the tank i would highly advise getting an additional filter. goldfish are messy and need ample filtration on their tanks. i would reccomend an Aquaclear hob, '50' size. it will be a strong flow coming from this filter, so put a sponge pre-filter on it and make a diverter for the waterfall area from a plastic drinking cup if the fish are being tossed around.

another recommendation would be to give this guy the 20 gallon to himself and move all the other fish, frog, and snail to another tank. the goldfish requires cooler water than the others, as well as a different diet.

hopefully the hole heals up. i'd try daily large water changes, keep the gravel vacuumed well, and monitor for a while to see if a pristine environment is all he needs to heal.
 

Lupin

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Sep 21, 2006
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I'm not a fan of Melafix personally. My own suggested fix would be to keep the fish isolated as much as possible. Start dosing a teaspoon per gallon of sodium chloride and add the next set in the next 12 hours. Add the third and last set in the next 24 hours. Once you dose a total of three teaspoons per gallon of salt, maintain it at least a week or until the sore completely heals. When you do water changes on daily basis, please be sure to redose salt per water volume changed.

The salt should be able to keep bacteria from latching on the wound.
 
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