I have noticed that one of my goldfish(7") has a scale bubbled out on it's side near it's tail and
a long (1/2" or so) thin white bubble on the top of it's head. I usually dont use salt, but i began treatment tonight by adding a cup of salt to my 55 gallon tank. Any sugestions would be greatly appriciated.
How much salt should I add and how fast?
Thanks
Dave

Dave we really need some more information before advising anything.
Could you answer the questions at the top of the page? Thanks.

Salt dosing is 1tsp per gallon of water for a concentration of 0.1%. Fish can handle up to 0.3%, but getting to that calculation and concentration is done over the period of 36 hours.
If you can calculate the amount of salt you have already put in the tank.
Over dosing can be deadly.
Post back soon.

LaurieP
Thanks for fast reply. Sorry for the lack of info. I dont now any of my water levels.
I know that sounds horrible, but I try to practice good tank cleaning instead of constantly
montering water levels. Ill try to get some readings. My guess is a parasite. I checked that
salt conversion and 1 cup is approx 1 tsp. per gal.
PS I do 20% water changes monthly
Gravel vac each time
Running two fluval 404 canister filters
Clean one filter everyother month
Tank is ultra clean
Bearly get much dirt when gravel vac
Have 6 average size goldfish
Tank in ballance for years
This sick fish is my biggest and oldest

I see some major problems with the tank.
ONce a month water changes are not enough, fish need fresh water/nutrients on a weekly basis.
Monitoring the levels are as important weekly, water can be at toxic levels and look crystal clean.
So this is the first place to start. It is highly likely that water is an issue.
Since you have a 55 gal tank you are slightly overstocked with fish, provided they are all fancys. So with that info again I would bet you have water issues.
Are the gf fancy ones or single tails?

I must ask how do you know that your tank is in balance if you don't test it? Honestly, testing is a necessary thing to do weekly.

Post back with some more information and in the meantime do a water change, I think you'll see a difference.

Sounds like dropsy, which can be seen with bubbles appearing along the lateral line.
I would up your water changes to 40% each day with a gravel vac and start dosing with epsom rather than normal aquarium salt.
Epsom can be added at 1\8th of a teaspoon per 5 gallons i think, though ive seen it used at a higher doseage

How are things going?

Thanks for all your concern.
My water levels are as follows:
PH 6.6
AMMONIA 0
NITRITES 0
NITRATES 40
The nitrate chart is very hard to read.
It could be 40 or it could be 80.
I am due for a water change.
Ive got 3 Single tail goldfish 4" long
1 Single tail goldfish 5" long
2 SIngle tail goldfish 6" long
I've added salt approx. .1 level
Planning to go to .3 over the next couple of days
Will do a 40% water change tonight

Laurie,
I saw your post after I posted.
Thanks for your support.
Fish still the same.
Bubbles the same
Fish acts fine.
Happy and eating.
If salt doesn't work, thinking myricine two.
Would like to treat whole tank
Host. tank a pain
What do you think?
Thanks
Dave

40 on the nitrates are a bit high. Personally I find that anything above 20 starts problems. So this is where I would start.
I would recommend doing a 30-40% water change each week, you'll be amazed at what a bit of fresh water will do for the fish.

IT could be as Sandy said the beginings of dropsy, but I haven't had experience with that type. My fish was full pineconed and dying.

You will be the best person to decide whether or not the fish is in peril or ???????

For dropsy the epsom salt is the way to go, but aquarium salt and epsom salts cannot be used together................it is very dangerous. So you'll have to decide which treatment you want and go from there.
But start with water changes.

By the way what is your tap water's ph?

Thanks again Laurie
I think the tap PH is 6.8
I will retest it.
I'll give the salt a week
Weekly water changes may be hard
Have two young children and time is tight
I'll try to do as many as possible
I'll keep you posted
Thanks again
Dave

You are welcome Dave, let us know how things are going.
Since the fish is doing a bit better I will move your thread out of the 911 section. Good luck.

Laurie,
Last night I graval vacced and drained half of the tank.
I retested PH and found tank around 6.2
Tap is 6.8
I didn't want to shock fish so I only added 10 gallons last night
Tonight I added 10 more.
Last night I tested the tank after filling and found the nitrates nearing 20. I dont believe I can do a whole lot better because tap tests are around 20.
I believe that tonight I will be reaching .3 salt level.
I hope this does something for the fish
No change to the bubble or redish raised back scale.
Any further suggestions?

Thanks
Dave

Sorry I can't think of anything else to add. Those nitrates in the tap will cause a bit of a problem for you. You may need to be changing a bit of water every couple days because of it. Keeping them at 20 is the best, but since you start out there, well keeping them there will be a challenge but I think every other day changes may help.
It may also help with the tap ph issue.
A 0.4 is a bit much for a drop, but if you are doing every other day small changes, that may work to help smooth that out as well.

Good luck with them.

Laurie
If salt were the answer, how long should I wait before expecting some positive results? Don't want to waist to much time going in a wrong direction. So far no change. Please let me know what you think.
Dave

What salt are you using again? Are you treating with epsom for dropsy or reg salt.
I seem to be a bit confused on which treatment you went with.

How are the params today?

Sorry Laurie
I'm using DOC WELLFISHE'S aquarium salt.
I would have used epson but I did not know and started with this salt. I could do enough water changes to eventually eleminate the aquarium salt and then try epson.

Water params excellent
Nitrates 20
Ph 6.8
Nitrites 0
Amonia 0
Thats all I test for
Hope this all you need
I see that you post to many people each day
That's alot of devotion to fish.
We and our fish thank you
Dave

One week with salt and no change.
Any suggestions?

Ok, since it has been a week and no change..........hmmm.
Let's get real specific with the fish's symptoms, please post exactly what the fish is exhibiting.
And also how the fish is acting.

You are welcome for the help, yes I do try and help as many as I can. I spend as much time as I can on Koko's helping members and their fish.
I found that there really isn't a place to take your sick fish and many vets don't have a clue. So being a veterinary technician it is my life'f passion to help all animals. And I feel our little scaley friends go without a spoke's person.

Oh, what % concentration is the salt at as well?

hi dave,
Six goldfish in 55-gallon tank are a lot (overstock). Your tank can fit 4 fancy goldfish. People mostly put single tail goldfish in their ponds because they can grow up to 12 inches or more.

To look for dropsy:
First, you need to check for popeyes. If your fish has popeyes, it usually turn to dropsy.

Couple weeks ago, one of my red cap oranda (small one)'s eyes were swollen. Its face was also swollen as well. It was not very active as usual. Normally, it can get two pellets very easily. Since its eyes and face were swollen, it could not get more than one pellet. It took more time for her/him to chew the pellet. Sometimes, it spitted the food out. The fish could not poop.

I immediately moved the fish to 10-gallon tank (my hospital tank). I also put a heater in there to increate the temperature to 80. I then put epsom salt (you can find this kind of salt at the Pharmacy from nnnnnn.). For the first day, I also put two tablets of Maracyn II. After that, I only put one tablet for that 10-gallon tank. I treated the fish with Maracyn II for five days (no water change at this time). At this time, I also gave my fish medicated food. Four days later, the fish's eyes were back to normal. My fish is healthy now. It has been in the 10-gallon tank for a while. I am going to move it back to my big tank this weekend.

I hope this will help you a bit.

If your fish starts to sit at the bottom of the tank, it is too late to treat for dropsy.

hi dave,
I read your post again. I guess that your fish may not get sick.

The fish may get the following problem: