Hi! I've been trying to get to the bottom of some issues with my goldfish, Nemo. He always tilts sideways at about a 30 degree angle when he swims. He's been doing it for about 6 weeks now. I tried salting the tank, but that didn't have an effect, and he didn't tolerate the salt well. I tried fasting for 4 days, and peas for four days following, but that didn't help either. I've tried upping my waterchanges, but that doesn't seem to be helping either. Now i'm trying Melafix, and i'm on day 7. But in the last 3 days, i've noticed that Nemo is hanging out at the surface alot, not really gasping heavily, but a little bit. And yeasterday, i noticed one episode of flashing, and on closer inspection, i saw that he has a tiny red dot at the corner of his mouth. Kind of like he has chapped lips! I was torn between finishing the recommended 7 day course of Melafix treatment, and getting him out of the medicated water. Do you think that the melafix could have been irritating him? I'm going to test the water now, and do a big waterchange/tank clean out (it IS saturday afterall!) but i really wonder if i did the right thing?

Hey Dana, glad to see you survived the holidays!! LOL

Sorry to hear he isn't doing much better. As you may know often SBD is only controled never cured. So this may be an on going ordeal.

How is the water coming along? I know you were having some issues with it.

Melafix is a "natural" med, I personally haven't used it but I think it is something like tea tree oil, or something homeopathic/herbal If I remember right.
However it is always a possiblity that the fish is reacting to it.

Post back soon.

Ive read before of people having issues with melafix, or at least attributing their problems to it.

I think some of the concern is that it might irritate or clog up their gills somewhat. Most people have no such problems though. I would search the forums or even google for 'melafix' or 'melafix gills'.

I think the fresh water will do him good. As will excellent oxygenation of the water if his gills have had any kind of reaction.

Is Nemo the fish in your sig Dana? SBD, as I understand it, although possible, a great deal rarer in slim bodied fish like him. So id maybe be thinking of other possible causes. Are his stools good?

If I were you I would just keep the water quality excellent and keep a close eye on him for any other signs or symptoms. The red mark could just be a graze from where he scratched himself as my comet has done that a few times. See if it clears up in a couple of days (it took mine three days before it had totally gone)and go from there. If it gets worse or spreads to other parts I would be thinking its a bacterial infection (which can also be responsible for the angled swimming) If he just flashed the one time I wouldnt be overly concerned but given he has a few other things going on its something to watch for.

in some cases where tank maintenance and filtration isn't up to par with dealing with metabolic wastes, the stable foam that forms on the surface after putting melafix in becomes a breeding ground for harmful bacteria. I've had an experience in which my black butterfly moor developed fin rot after being in repeated contact with "dirty" foam. He recovered quickly after a water change and I angled the powerhead's nozzle to churn the water surface and avoid the formation of stable foam.

Hi - thanks for the replies! And yes, thank goodness i DID survive the holidays! It's been very quiet since boxing day, and i've been enjoying it immensly, and so has the rest of my family! So, onto Nemo's water quality & the tilted swimming prob:

Nitrite 0
Ph in tank 8.0
Ph from tap 8.0
Gh 180
Kh 120
Ca 40

Ammonia - here's a bit of a mystery: One test says 0, another says 1.2 I did them both twice, and got the same results for both tests both times. So i tested the water out of the tap with both tests, and they both came up with 0. Very strange. Not very helpful.

Nitrate unknown (i'm still waiting for a test kit to arrive. I ordered one, and it's being shipped, unfortunately, the transcanada hwy keeps getting closed due to avalanches, and nothing is getting through. Both grocery stores have been out of milk for 3 days, and everybody is drinking powdered - yuck!)

So i did an 80% waterchange, to give him lots of fresh water, and start getting rid of the melafix, and the possible presence of ammonia.

I'll do another 80% change tommorow, to make 160% to be sure that i'm all rid of the melafix. After that, i guess i'll just keep my eye on parameters, and make sure the levels remain good.

Other than that, i'm at a loss - i guess i'll just attribute the tilty-ness to sbd, and maintain it as well as i can.

Thanks so much for all your helpfuL thoughts and suggestions!

dANA.

PS: Red spot - gone. Hurray! d.

I find some things might be allergic to the Melafix. I get a burning sensation in my nose and wherever it touches on my fingers when I use it. I usually end up in a fit of sneezing too. So I wouldn't be surprised if the red spot had been from the stuff.

Glad to hear he is better Dana.

With the ammonia tests, what tests are you using (drops/strips) and which is giving you what?

With drop tests it is very finicky about you following the directions to a tee. So if you don't do it precise it can change the results.

I may be wrong here....but I have read that some fish swim tilted or pointed up or down and that it is just an individual thing and normal.It is when it suddenly starts to swim differently than his normal that you should worry.
Just a thought,and may be irrelevant.