Hi guys. I just moved and got my tank set up again. Water params seem to be stable - 29 gallon tank, 2 fantails and an algae eater.

Here's the issue
Lilly, my yellow goldfish, has developed this weird "thing" on her mouth. Her lips look a little deformed and there's a white stringy looking thing on her lip. She's eating okay and is as active as I've ever seen her, but this is definitely new since the move.

Any advice? Any had anything like this before? I'm open to all suggestions and insights.

Many thanks,
Janelle

Hi there and


Could you be seeing an injury? She might possibly scraped her lip on some surface or ornament in the move. IT sometimes takes a while for a strip of loose skin like that to fall off. I would watch her closely for a few days and see if any other symptoms develop.

Did you salvage your biofilter during the move or are you going to be going through the cycling process again? IT would be good to be prepared in case you cleaned everything spotless.......


Paul

Hi Toothless! Thanks for the quick reply.

I guess it's possible that it's an injury. Her little fishy lips have always been big, but this seems a little out of the ordinary. I tried to take a couple pictures of it; take a look and see if those help to diagnose her problem.

Lilly's lip problem #1
Lilly's lip problem #2

(she's the yellow goldfish; roger is the orange one.)

I've been sitting here watching them this evening, trying to get pictures and figure out what's wrong with her. And my algae eater keeps zooming out after her and sucking to her side and back. Is it possible that he caused this injury, if that's what it is?

As far as keeping the old filter, you know, it didn't even cross my mind. (Dumb, I know, but I'm still pretty new to this whole goldfish thing! ) However, I didn't clean everything spotless - I left the plants and the driftwood as is, with algae and all. I also used some of the old tank water when setting up the tank in its new location.

Again, all suggestions and insights appreciated. You guys on this forum are great!

Regards,
Janelle

It's mouth rot.

Could have started as an injury and got infected but either way you should treat it with an anti-fungus treatment and use Melafix at the same time.

Oh no!

What's a recommended anti-fungus treatment?

you could try melafix

Nope, NOT mouth rot at all.
Nope, DO NOT add any medications to your tank.
Nonchalant suggestions of adding medications to the water can often do more harm than good.



Yep, definitely a mechanical injury. This can easily be treated with a slight raise in salinity to 0.3% levels for a week. 1 level teaspoon per gallon of tankwater. Then, when you go to perform a waterchange, you only dose the gallonage that your going to add back to the tank. This will keep your salinity stable. Remember, salt cannot evaporate nor can it be filtered out. So, be precise with your measurements and additions.

In time, your goldie will shed its loose flap of skin. It will also regenerate the lost skin and look normal after a while.

As for the Plecostomus, it needs to go ASAP. Bring it to your local fish shop and give it to them. You might even be able to work out a store credit in exchange. Regardless, he is probably the source of your goldies injury.....

Do you have test kits for ammonia, nitrItes, nitrAtes and pH? If not, it would be a very wise investment. Without these test kits and regular testing, you cannot know if your aquarium water is actually good for your fish or not. Without them, you won't know how much water you should be changing weekly. Test kits are a very important part of responsible fish keeping.........

Thanks for checking back, Toothless. I really appreciate the help.

I've moved my algae eater out and will take him back to my lfs this week. I feel so bad for Lilly that she had to be injured in order for me to learn that not all fish are compatible.

As far as increasing the salinity in the tank, does it have to be aquarium salt that is used? I want to say that I've read that some people use epsom salt instead (and that would certainly be easier to get in this area, my lfs is about 75 miles away) but I want to be sure to use the right thing for my fishies.

Again, many, many thanks for everyone's help. I'll keep you posted on our recovery process.

Regards,
Janelle

You can also use pure seasalt or pure mined salt (mined salt is the salt used to make ice cream). Kosher salt is an excellent choice as well. When you go to mix any of these salt into water, if you notice any sandy looking deposits at the bottom of the mixing reservoir, just pour the water into the tank carefully so that you don't get the sand in it. The sand won't harm the goldies but it could possibly hurt your filters impeller if it makes its way up into the filter.

Paul

How is your fishie? Just make sure that the salt has NO additives ok, cause otherwise it can harm your fishies.

Bad news guys. Lilly didn't make it through the night. I feel awful - when I took her out of the tank I could see that she had very little slime coat left - it looks like my algae eater did a real number on her.

Now I'm down to one lonely goldie in my tank.

Thanks, though, to everyone for their advice and help. I'm sure I'll be looking to you guys for guidance in the future.

~Janelle

Oh wow. That sucks. I'm so sorry. I was reading along hoping to see a brighter outcome. Some of these threads are so sad...but I learn so much along the way.

Sorry Jannelle.........