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Forum > The Goldfish Topics > Disease Diagnosis/ Treatments > Diagnosis & Discussion
Diamond T
Test Results for the Following:
Ammonia Level? 0
Nitrite Level? 0
Nitrate level? ~10
Ph Level, (If possible,KH and GH and chloramines)? 8.4 - high yes - but it is steady & has always been high
Ph Level out of the Tap? 8.2
Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running? 90 gal. - the original tanks since last summer - this tank since Jan. (cycled filters moved from previous tanks)
What is the name and size of the filter/s? homemade overhead filter w/700gph pump and AQ110 500gph
How often do you change the water and how much? usually weekly ~40-50%
How many fish in the tank and their size? shubunkin 7", shubunkin 5", fantail 4", ornada 1.5", lionhead 1.5"
What kind of water additives or conditioners? prime
Any medications added to the tank? in hospital tank - Maracyn Plus in hospital tank
Add any new fish to the tank? no
What do you feed your fish? variey of flakes, pellets, shrimp pellets, dried blood worms, peas...
Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt", bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus? see below
Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, ect..? see below

About 6 weeks ago, Spanky, my largest Shubinkin was staying in the bottom corner of the tank periodically over a couple of days. On one of his ventures out I noticed a large red streak in his tail. The red area was kind of a splotch near the base of his tail and the area seemed "thickened". From there a large red streak ran a couple of inches through the tail. I moved him in to a 15 gal. hospital tank the and added Melafix and fed him Jungle anti-bacterial food for 3 weeks. The redness cleared up within a few days but the area still seemed a bit thickened. I left him in the hospital tank for 3 weeks and continued his medicated food. He was active and eating/pooping well and the tail seemed all cleared up when I moved him back to the main tank. I few days ago I noticed him in the corner again - only a couple of times - not regularly. Last night he was swimming around and seemed a little agitated. Not flashing really but a bit frantic. I saw then that he had sort of a cottony looking something in the same place where the bloody splotch and streak had been. On closer inspection maybe cottony isn't right. It looks like it's in the tail - not on it. His tail is white and this whatever is white. There is a kind of a thready streak and a small bump at the end of it. The tail again appears to be a little thickened. He also has a white bump in/on his dorsal fin and another on one of his lower fins. These bumps look almost waxy maybe. My regular hospital tank isn't available right now so I have him a rubbermaid - only about 8 gal. I'm afraid but it's all I have right now. No filter at the moment either. I have a bubble wand in there with a bag of cycled ceramic ring on top of it (from another filter). Hope that will do for now. I started him on medicated food again and added Maracyn Plus. Today he is active, has eaten and pooped - good poop. When I got home from work I found 3 white stringly looking things floating in the tank - each about an inch long and one that was about 4" long. They are very thin (could barely see them) and weren't anything living. I scooped them out - they were kind of slimy and just desintegrated when I touched them.

Any idea what's wrong with Spanky? What the stuff was floating in the water? Have I added the right med? Anything else I should do? Also, it says to add the Maracyn Plus on day 1, 3 & 5. Since I have no filter except as mention above, I will be changing the water on those days. Is the Maracyn Plus cummulative so that I will add the original dose plus the 2nd dose on day three or just add the day 3 dose?

Sorry, this has become very wordy. I want to give all the info I can.
LaurieP
Sorry you are having issues with one of your fish.

Your treatment sounds good to me. I believe that is the way I would go as well.

Is there a ph difference in the hosp. tank he is in?

The white stuff could be slime coat, often when a ph problem exsists they can slough it.
Diamond T
Thanks for the reply Laurie. I hadn't thought of pH. I'll check it tonight though it really doesn't look like slime coat. The was another long white thready thing in the tank tonight when I got home - about 6" but...it was attached to a normal poop. I'm guessing the others were clear empty poop casings also - no air bubbles. From the "goldish poop" link I'm guessing this indicates a bacterial infection so my current treatment strategy should be correct for that also - am I right? Also, due to my current filter situation (mentioned in 1st post) I will be changing water tonight as well as adding the 2nd dose (day 3) of Maracyn Plus (liquid). Do you know if I should add what I remove by the water change as well as todays dose or just todays dose - or should I just maybe add some extra Prime and hold off on the water change untill treatment is done?

Tonight Spanky is acting normal - swimming, eating etc. The bumps are definately getting smaller. He still has the white thickened area (streaks) in his tail. It's odd - looks like I would imagine scar tissue to look in a fin. Do goldfish get scar tissue? Could that be as a result of the bloody red blotch and streaks he had originally? The white bumps are very different from the streak.

Thanks again for your help!
Diamond T
Checked the water last night and it was still good so just added a little Prime to help keep things in check. My little ad-lib filter must be doing OK. Added the 2nd dose of Maracyn Plus. Again tonight there is a long 6" skinny clear/white poop with bits of normal colour in it. The are also several "normal" poops. I usually don't see those 'cuz the filter in the main tank sucks 'em right up b-4 I ever see them. Spanky looks good and is active and eating. Two of the bumps are all but gone. The biggest - in his tail - is still there but definately smaller. The white streaks (scars?) are still there.

I'm a bit surprised that those clear poops are so abundant and that they still continue. Shouldn't they be at least diminishing by now?

Tomorrow is the 3rd dose of meds. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens after that
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