I just noticed that his wen is caved in. I don't know what to do!!! I've never had goldfish with wens. I'm thinking on doing a 50% water change and starting him on antibiotics!!! The tank has been running for a year.
Nitrates are less than 20 and no nitrites or ammonia, Ph is 7.
Weekly water changes are done.
2 baby red cap orandas in a twenty gallon tank.

Sorry I can't help Athena, I hope he's Ok. If there are any bits of loose wen sort of flowing maybe you should cut them off with a pair of sharp sterilized scizzors.

Athena can you describe it more or even better yet post a pic? I haven't heard of this. How is he acting?

I remember a while ago someone else went through this but I can't find it on the search engine here.
I've had him for about three months. He's never grown in that time yet the other goldie that I got was the same size as him and is now a half an inch bigger and his wen is bigger.
The one that has his wen caved in is still very active yet his top fin is down and I've noticed that his back fin is a little shredded.

Hmmm......Since I have not heard of this I am at a loss. You say all the water params are ok??? Yet he is clamping his fins. Has the PH stayed at 7 or have you had a fluctuation? When was the last tests and how long in between them?

Could it be a parasite???

I am hoping someone else will shed some light on this for you.

It's been a long time since I've done a water test. I think that he's sick because I hurt my back and I couldn't do a water change for two weeks. I should've asked someone to help me!!! I'm so mad at myself!
Now that I've examined even closer he has some blood in the base of his back fin. I just retested the Ph again and it's only about 7.5.

I'm thinking of starting an antibiotic treatment right away for the red streaks and shredded fins.
I don't think that it's a parasite.

So if I understand you right the Ph is hopping around from 7 to 7.5?? If this is correct, it could be your problem for the fins being clamped.

Well, I started him on Nitrofura-G so we'll have to see what happens. Like I said I haven't tested in a long time. Bad fish mommy :crp So I figure I'll try this and see what happens.

I think that this is the end. He's up at the top of the tank not swimming or anything.

I think that this is the end. He's up at the top of the tank not swimming or anything. Okay he's stuck there behind a plant. He's so weak he's getting pushed around when he's swimming by currents.

hi athena
i will try to find out what i can. is there a quarantine tank/tub you can put him in just now and use an aerator to keep the oxygen level going? maybe raising the temp to around 78 if it isnt already. will try to get back to you soon.

this i found in relation to his wen

Staph bacterial infection needs to be treated aggressively with peroxide on a Q-tip at least twice a day. Move the fish bucket to bucket to get them away from bacteria. Feed antibiotic food.

this is all i could find athena, dont know if its too late or not for your little guy but you should quarantine him as a precaution and treat the tank as a bacterial infection. good luck

I can't quarantine him because my quarantine tank was set up as an emergency tank for 4 rainbow sharks. I started him on a treatment for bacterial infections but I think it might be too late. The other small oranda in the tank is fine. He has no symptoms. I want to treat him too just as a precaution anyways because I don't know how long the sick oranda has been sick for. Oh, it's just so sad because the one who's well tries to swim beside the sick one. Gah! I hate watching him suffer! :crp

What does bucket to bucket mean? How do I do this?

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disease/tre....htm#TUB_TO_TUB

this explains it better than i could.

I can't get on that website for some reason. But, I did find it explained in the treatment section on Koko's. Thank you for the info Sandy. I really appreciate it.
I just got back from the store. I bought some salt. I decided to use sealed pots for plants because I didn't have anything else. So, I put 1.5 teaspoons of salt into 6 gallons of water, put dechlorinator in, and some Cycle to reduce the stress. I also put some peroxide on his little wen. He's still floating on his side at the top but his breathing isn't as laboured.
As for the other tank...The other oranda is still very active with no signs of illness. As a precaution, I'm still gonna finish the treatment for bacteria in the tank.
Hopefully my little guy pulls through. He's just so little and I've never had to treat such a little guy. He's only this big --------------------from head to tail.

well all you can do now athena is wait and pray the salt and other things you are trying help. he is such a little guy too. hope he makes it for you athena

keep us posted.

He's gone Oh, I'm so upset. I gave him a short salt dip and I think that he couldn't take it. Ugh I killed him! I hate myself right now! Oh I feel so bad.

oh athena im sorry he lost his battle. i know you tried your best for him,

Athena, this is not your fault. Don't be so hard on yourself babe!

I think you may have remembered an old post of mine about the wen caving in. I had 3 fish die over a course of time from a mysterious illness, possibly Hole-in-the-head. One of them was my favorite blue oranda, who's problem started out by a chunk of her wen caving in. I lost her as well, so I know how you feel.

*big hug*

I just can't believe how attached to him I was. I just keep thinking of how he loved to hide in the plants and then when he saw me he'd swim right up to the front of the tank getting all excited. I just feel awful. I know that I tried my best. You should have seen me driving like crazy on the slippery roads to get supplies and running around my house prepping up all this stuff to do treatment and then he died. I just never thought that I would feel this bad.

So sorry Athena that your fish didn't make it. Sometimes we just don't know enough to help them despite our best intentions.

It would make things a lot easier if more vets knew how to treat fish, no-one expects us to treat our own cats, dogs, horses, cattle, etc.

It wasn't your fault anyway. Don't feel bad about missing a couple of water changes, heck, everyone does that now and again. If our tanks are regularly maintained then they can handle these little lapses. It was just "one of those things".

I'm so sorry. Sounds as though you tried everything you could and you never gave up.

Sounds like great love and care to me.

Thanks guys. It does make me feel better knowing that you guys know that I really did try my best.