Young Goldfish with ammonia burn

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beabroca

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Feb 25, 2009
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My Mother in Laws cousin had a fish that she raved about.
We went to see her new home and it was a tiny 1 inch fancy tailed goldfish in a 1 gallon bowl.

I was disgusted. And then she pointed out how he was changing colors and didnt know why, he had all black gills and black tipped fins. and black spot on the top of his head.

I didn't know what it was so when i got home i looked it up...i was so hurt when i seen that her fish had ammonia burn. I still am hurt looking at her.
Anyways i called her and told her she was hurting the fish and if she didnt mind i would take it for her. She was hurt by that too so i took the fish. Until [so she says] she gets a bigger tank. [not that i believe it]

Anyways, shes not acting so much in Pain now, like rubbing against things and swimming very quickly and rubbing against things.
I put her in with my other goldfish and she is tiny compared to them. They are all 4 1/2 inches and shes a mere 1. But they are not mean to her at all.

My question is , will this 'burn' go away? and how long will it bother her? I am worried because now shes in this bigger tank , and the water is clear, i can see her better and it looks very bad.

she likes to keep to herself. im sure its because shes used to 1 gallon of acid in a unfiltered bowl.

Hopefully you guys say she'll be alright...hope i saved a fishy life today.
 
She should be fine. Just make sure you check the ammonia levels in your tank periodically. Go to your LFS and get "melafix" and apply proper dosage
 
i need to treat the entire tank then?
 
Keep a watch on your water parameters. What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate right now with the additional fish?

That is indeed ammonia burn. All you need is water changes. Don't waste your time on dosing Melafix.
 
beabroca said:
i need to treat the entire tank then?
Click to expand...


No, you wouldn't treat the whole tank, you would quarantine the fish. You could treat the whole tank, but I wouldn't. Melafix is mostly just a way to speed up the process of healing so listen to Lupin as he is a goldfish master anyway =).
 
UPDATE: the little fish has gills sticking out all over him and swimming fast and they fall off. he looks terrible.

parems.

ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates between 0 and 5 not quite as dark as 5.
ph 7.4


im using a liquid test. but she seems to only be getting worse.
shes still very active and eating well.

is this a hopeless case?
 
I had an injured one a while back, and it does look nasty when the dead bits turn colors and start to fall off, especially when they are hanging there like zombie wrappings, but it means the fish is healing. I hope this is what is happening with your little one.

Jen
 
Bea- don't give up. I had a fish named "Burnie" (can you guess why?) before I knew any better, and he got very severe ammonia burn ( as in an orange Ryukin turned 1/4 black.) I am ashamed of this story, but it had a happy ending. Burnie recovered completely, grew back beautiful, glossy orange scales and lived for a long time. All I did was keep the params stable and keep the water spotless.
 
ammonia burn goes away with just good water parameters. using melafix is unnecessary. My Mom's fish before we knew about fish had severe ammonia burn and all she did was keep the water pristine and he lived for years
 
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