First off, this site is great!! I've been plunkering around for a while gathering what knowledge I could, but the time has come to ask for some help.

Approx. 5 days ago I noticed that one of my fish wasn't looking too good. I'd awoke to find his dorsal fin gone, as well as most of his tail. The remaining tail as well as half of the body was black. A few scales were missing as well.

Now, I'll admit that I was uninformed before I came to this site. I've been reading what I can trying to figure out what's wrong with him. I've just learned about cycling ( ), but as I read about it, I figured that poor little Fishy (yes, it's his name) was suffering from ammonia burns.

But I've tested my water, and it all seems fine. My other fish don't seem any different in the least. I figured it must have been an ammonia spike, and close monitoring along with the necessary water changes would help him. He wasn't moving very much and the other fish had started to nibble on him, so I moved him and some tank water into a smaller tank.... didn't want him to get eaten before he recovered!

BUT!! Today when I got home from work, I found poor Fishy in bad shape indeed. He no longer 'swims'... it's more of a pathetic flop around the tank in every which direction.... up, down, sideways, upside-down. He can no longer control how or where he's swimming and has a very hard time getting to the food.

I don't think Fishy is going to make it, but I'm hoping maybe some of you experts had two cents to throw in. He's only a rescued feeder, but I've had him for quite some time and have grown quite attached. No one seems to understand why I'm going through all this trouble for a 30 cent fish, so this I figured this site was the place to ask for REAL help from people who actually care about fish.

Here's the questions to the best of my knowledge:

Ammonia: 0.25ppm
NitrIte: 0.25ppm
NitrAte: 40ppm
ph (tank): 7.2
ph (tap): 7.2
Tank size: 25 gal
Fish in tank: Fishy (rescued feeder, 3"), a fantail (2", not including tail), 2 common plecos (I know, I know. They're only in there temporarily, and don't bother my fish. One is 2.5", the other 4"), 2 bala sharks (both 2". I don't know if these guys are okay with my goldies. The petstore said they'd be fine, and they seem to be)

Fishy has been around for about a year. I then aquired my current 25 gal tank and moved him into there and added the other fish about 2 months ago.
Everything seemed fine until 5 days ago. And now this. I'm hoping someone can help me, and if not.... well, at least I've gathered enough info from the site to insure similar problems don't happen!

Thanks!!

My guess would be that your common plecos are indeed bothering your other fish and chewed him up real good. Ammonia burns don't do that overnight unless you have just an ungodly amount in there. And I don't know about the bala sharks but maybe some one else can fill in there. I'd say you need to get the plecos out immediately before they attack your other fish. And the injured one, a more experienced person will be along shortly but I would guess you'd at least need some salt to 0.3% to start off with in the tank the injured fish is now in. Its one teaspoon per gallon of water, every twelve hours, three times. Probably some melafix too but I'm not sure on that.

Oh and I forgot to mention to make sure the salt doesn't have any anticaking agents in it. I use aquarium salt cause i know its safe. But you can use like table salt, just make sure theres no anticaking agents in it. And I don't think you can use epsom salt, either. Cant.. remember. And I would look in the treatment section of the board, and look up bodily injuries and see what it says about that.

I feel bad cause I don't know how long its going to be until one of the experienced peoples gets here. Here I looked up the link to the wounds section. Go here.

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=12724

Thanks for your help!!

I have indeed already skimmed through that post and started administering salt yesterday. Not quite that much though, so I'll up my amount.

I'm just waiting on a friend's tank to be set up and then the plecos are OUTTA there. I was another victim of uniformed LFS employees who told me they'd be "just fine" with my goldies. 'course I know I only have myself to blame for not researching better beforehand.

I really didn't think that the plecos were bothering the fish. I know that the plecos are nocturnal, but so am I I've watched them at all hours of the day (I find it very relaxing to do before bed) and rarely do the plecos come near the goldies.
But I'm trusting the advice of someone who knows better than me

I've even got my eye on some cute little albino bristlenosed plecos down at the LFS!

I just thought it odd that all the other fish were fine, and then suddenly the biggest is sick... and the rest are okay. Unless my plecos just have a hidden agenda against poor Fishy!

I think he'll make it through the night... I'll check back here before I go to work tomorrow (I work nights) and we'll see where the thread's gone from there.

Thanks again for the help!! I'll start pressuring my friend with his tank set-up....

Yessssssh.. I believe the bristlenose plecos are fine. I've never tried one though cause I'm too paranoid. But everyone else seems to have good luck with those. The commons get too big and they have a taste for the slime coat of the goldfish. They usually attack the bigger, flatter ones I believe. And I think the melafix will help prevent any secondary infections he's susceptible too now. Is he eating okay and everything? I hope he pulls through.

Hi Vexy and welcome to the forum
Sounds like your fish is in a bad way. I wouldnt neccessarily say it was the plecs fault but they will easily latch on to a sick fish and make life harder for the fish, so finding a new home for them is the best option.
The only fish you can get into a 25 without having problems are the goldfish and fantail. Bala sharks grow to around a foot in length and are needing lots of swimming space. I did have once upon a time have a common goldfish and two bala sharks with a common plec but they were in a 4 foot tank.
As to your sick fish then isolating him is good but you need to do water changes each day of around 30% to keep his water clean. Adding salt too will help him heal but the rot seems to be bad and the black is indeed from an ammonia spike which is now healing.
All that you can do is keep him in really clean water and hope he can recover on his own.
Which country are you in?

So as far as dealing with Fishy, I've done the rights things so far???

I'm glad that my estimate of the problem turned out correct (the ammonia spike). I've been closely monitoring the water in my tank with the rest of the fishes to make sure it doesn't occur again.

I don't know if he will survive though..... he no longer eats because he can't swim. He floats around the tank like a dead fish... but he's still alive. Watching him float around upside and sideways is breaking my heart!! He must be in so much pain!!

I'm in Canada.

I'm sorry about Fishy
I dont really know so much about diseases
Right now one og my gf's is really sick and it makes feel sad :/
So I hope you little guy gets much better.

Have you tried to hand feed him? sometimes they may take some peas. Try boiling a couple of frozen ones for a few minutes then cool, shell and squash between your fingers. You may have to persevere if he keeps swimming away.
I cant say he will recover as that is giving false hope and usually when fish start to lay over it isnt looking good, but as long as you try your best then thats what matters.
Can you get maracyn2? I think that helps too with bacterial problems.

Have you noticed any reddening around the fins ? Or anything else that doesnt look *normal*.

Nothing else is different about his body except for the black colouration that's been there from the start.... although I"m happy to report that there is WAY less black on him today when I got home from work.

So maybe there is hope! Unfortunatly, he's still swimming everywhich way, but I'll try handfeeding him. I just so happen to have a bag of frozen peas that I was wondering what to do with (I'm allergic to them).

What is the maracyn2? I'll head up to the LFS and ask for some anyways.

Thanks again for all your support and suggestions!



(p.s. 0.3% is the level of salt I should be giving him, right?)

Aw, sorry to hear that one of your babies is sick too!!

Hopefully they'll both pull through!

Maracyn2 is for bacterial infection and i think salting to .2% will be enough for your fish.

Need someone from the states or canada to help with medicating and i dont know if salt and maracyn can be used together.

Well thanks anyways guys.

Fishy passed away during the night

I suppose it's a valuable learning experiece, but one I wish I hadn't needed to endure.

On the plus side, at least I now have this site which is an amazing resourse of information. I'm sure this isn't the last you guys hear from me

I'm really sorry fishy died vexy, how sad.

As long as you dont leave then thats something positive, we like you already!!
Introduce us to your next fish when you feel ready

Sorry about Fishy.
My fish,Aqua,is still pulling through.

oh, i'm sorry about Fishy (cute name). it's hard when we lose one, but sometimes things happen that are out of our control. you really did all you could have and i am sure Fiahy knows that and is smiling down at you from Fishy Heaven.
Well at least you get to take away the experience and what you learned through this. Hope you feel better soon.

So sorry to read this Vexy!

Sandy did well with the salt & Maracyn combo. There tends to be a bit of confusion or we just don't know what country's have what medications available!

I hope you do stick round, and welcome to Koko's!

Sandy, that was a good call really! Yes, salt and maracyn can go together, what we worry about is formalin and malachite green, formalin and salt can burn. There's another few that are not great combo's in that dept also.

I'm glad to hear that

Thanks for all the kind words, everybody. This has definitly proved to be a valubale learning process!

The things I've learned from this site already is amazing. With the amount of knowledge and kindness I've found here, I'd be crazy not to stick around!!

thanks for that Tamianth, it is really difficult trying to get the right combos, especially when people live in other parts of the world.
Is there a sticky anywhere that lists what can be used with what?

You know, I really couldn't tell you Sandy! I'm not as familiar with some of the meds/names/combinations as I'd like to be either. So there's a good paper to put together I'm betting.

IMHO, it would be nice to have a semi cheat sheet or chart for reference as I see meds listed for other country's I have never heard of and I see its the same for you. I do keep a notepad by the desk, but sometimes I just flat forget to write things down and get busy and then it slips my mind. The main thing thats important is the ingredients listed in the given med, a cross reference chart for compatibility purposes would be awesome.....

I so have to work from memory, learning and hands on and its hard to remember every med ingrediant.....

Vexy, I hate to tell you this, but you got it....... you got it bad!

Its very contagious and the worst of it is......... There's no cure!

Yup, buy two goldfish and call me in the morning.......