Bent Comet

[gsparsan2]

I have a comet in a 6000L pond with koi and IR sharks. This particular fish has been in this pond for about 4 years and was otherwise doing fine. My first thought was Nitrate poisoning. The past few months have been particularly dry and the level of water in the pond has dropped by 10". So the nitrate level may well have increased. But a water test shows nitrate at about 10ppm. I have 3 other comets and they are doing fine. There has been no change in stock recently.

The fish has been like this for 2 weeks. It is still feeding and swimming around. I did not notice any slimming down or discoloring. The fins also look in good shape.

Any idea what may have caused it? And is there anything I can do about it? A quick video in the link below.

Bent comet

This is "Bent comet" by Ghunshyam Parsan on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

vimeo.com

 

[robert.mich]

If the fish is still active, eating well, and not showing signs of stress, it may just be a structural deformity rather than a serious health issue. I've seen goldfish with unusual body shapes live long, healthy lives when water quality is kept stable.

If it eventually moves to a larger outdoor setup, maintaining good circulation can be helpful. I was recently looking at different pond fountain options and found some useful information at https://www.protopond.com/collections/pond-fountains. Proper water movement and oxygenation can make a noticeable difference in overall pond conditions. I'd continue monitoring the fish, but it sounds like it's adapting quite well so far.