Hi
as some of you may know i have a ryukin goldfish named billy with lumps and bumps on his body all the info on that is in my last fourm
i have had him on t caps and gel-tec "erythromycin" i did a water change yesterday and he was fine when i went to work in the morning he was fine when i came how tonight after working a 12 hour shift i noticed my fishs eyes are poped out and it looks really really bad PLEASE HELP I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO water test are normal!!

I'm sorry to hear about your lil' Billy. I know it can be hard when you feel like you have done everything and then a new symptom comes up. Please answer the questions above so someone will be able to come along and see the big picture a little clearer. I'm afraid I'm not the best person to help, but I am sure someone will come along.

Ammonia Level? 0ppm
Nitrite Level? 0
Nitrate level? 0
Ph Level, (If possible,KH and GH and chloramines)?
Ph Level (KH/GH) out of the Tap? 7.6
Brand of test-kit used? (strips or drops?) jungle test strips
[*]Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running? 5 because i removed him because he has a few pus like bumps
[*]What is the name and size of the filter/s? tetra
[*]How often do you change the water and how much? every 3 days because he when he was on meds i stoped the med yester day


[*]How many fish in the tank and their size?
5 gal
[*]What kind of water additives or conditioners? api and prime
[*]Any medications added to the tank? tcaps
[*]Add any new fish to the tank? no
[*]What do you feed your fish? flakes just got off of gel tek [*]Any unusual findings on the fish such as
"grains of salt", no
bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus? no
[*]Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating,ect..?
was sitting at bottom did water change got better now fish has really bad pop eye after meds

<<<<<PS i added a new filter yesterday when i changed the water about 50% water change

billy is gettin worse by the min he is now bloated i just changed another 50% of water and dipped him in salt somebody PLEASE HELP ME!!!

I'm sorry about Billy
You had the wrong antibiotic meds and this is one of the things that can happen when antibiotics are wrongly prescribed. Its a dangerous guessing game at best. They can make a fish worse indeed, erythromycin (and other macrolides) only work on very few gram pos infections for example but time and again are recommended by fish stores when most fish bacterial diseases are actually gram neg.

T caps DO NOT work in light (tank needs a dark cover) and have a short life span after which they can be lethal.

You need a sulfa antibiotic for pus filled bumps usually. You can try Maracyn Plus by Mardel.

Until you can get that you will have to do 100% water changes temp matched and pH matched to rid the water of the bacterial pathogens that are being released in pus from the sore places into the water perpetuating the cycle of sickness.

You need to know this is a strong medication and will damage your cycle so you may like to QT and medicate him there.

ok but as of right now my fish is sitting at the bottom of the tank with pop eyes and he is very bloated i dont know what to do for him hes really sick

i did a water change a few min ago he looks really really bad and breathing really heavy

the more you do now can add even more stress to your fish. i highly recommend listening to the advice of the mods, thats what they are here for. try to keep the light of the tank off and try not to disturb your fish. as soon as you can, get the meds into the qt with the fish. theres, sad to say, really nothing you can do unless you have the meds as of right now that i can think of

ok well i will get the meds later today when the store is open i feel so bad and its all my fault all i wanted to do was help him with his bumps now he has really bad pop eye and really bloated i hope he makes it till i can get the meds ....

A small water change is not going to help hun. It needs to be as close to a 100% full tank change as you can manage to clear the water of the build up of poisons being released back into the water from the sores and bad eye. I think you should slowly and carefully do another temperature matched water change for him. You have my word it is the best thing you can give him while waiting for the meds

Changing water every 3 days in a QT is no good. It has to be daily. There is no cycle here, no protection from rising ammonia which can surge even more when the fish are sick.

You can add epsom salt (that is baking soda) to the new water to help him with the bloating. Just a few small pinches in your small tank.

Do not add regular salt.

Please don't beat yourself up, hon. Most of us here have been there. The lfs unfortunately usually isn't the best place to give you good advice on medicating fish. They are there to sell you something and many of the sales people don't know much about fish. The lady who owns the lfs here in town was the one who gave me the incorrect advice on medication that would've killed my fish if I hadn't come here. You tried your best to help your fish.

I hope he recovers, but if he doesn't...you did what you thought was the right thing.

Good luck!

well really bad news billy is nolonger with us he died in the morning while i was sleeping i did a full water change lastnight but i guess that didnt do any good all though he is gone his eyes look better but still really bloated anyways today sucks ....

hes gone and it's all my fault i care about my fish but never can get it right i suck!!! i knew better then to over med my fish why i didnt listen to myslef i dont know, the meds were to strong for my fish why i listen to other ppl i dont know .... billy was just a little fish a cute little fish..............

Don't feel bad . This is the kind of event that turns us into better fishkeepers. All of us lost fish like this, we understand how you feel and how painful it is right now. That's why we are here and this site was started. Don't give up, you did great to come here and seek help and take advice. You did right. You did far better than 90% of people who buy fish in fact. Feel better hun. Billy was your teacher and he won't be forgotten because of what you learnt.

cute little Billy.

I'm so sorry you lost your Billy. Sometimes, fish are sick when we buy them, and the serious symptoms don't show up until much later, sometimes when it's too late. Dropsy is an awful disease that usually takes all of its victims. I did everything I could for my dropsied fish, Rhapsody, -- every correct med, pristine water... and I still lost her.

Everyone of us has lost at least one fish. It's never easy, but we try to move on and not be discouraged. New fish bring a lot of happiness and the chance to do it all right this time. I hope you feel better hon, and I wish you the best of luck.

Hon, I am so very sad for you that you lost Billy. You tried very hard to help him, and came here looking for help, which was the right thing. Even a fish that survives dropsy the first round usually comes down with it fatally sooner or later. Its a very tough disease to fight.

If YOU suck, then we ALL suck because we have all lost fish due to our inexperience or inablity to help them at one time or another. We do the best we can for all of our pets, but fish are the hardest to diagnose and care for. Thats why Koko's is here.

You seem like a genuinely compassionate person who cares for your fish, and I truly hope you don't give up. Please hang around here for a while and you will see that all of us have trouble at one time or another and we all pitch in to try and help. You'll learn something new every day here.

Thanks everyone for your words i felt worse when i had to clean his hospital tank out i felt like i was getting rid of him..
Thanks again everyone.......