Goldfish skinny with a black mark on her belly

[Kitty1297 10]

I hope I can give you all the info you need to help me, so I'll try. Sorry I don't have water parameters, but I feel like it's an emergency. Also, the water is all fresh and I slowly got her used to the water before I put her in.

Penny is 4 and a half years old and not the healthiest fish in the world. She was in a 55 with 4 other goldfish. I have just moved her to a 20 gallon hospital tank today.

She's been having issues with bloating for a while now. I've tried all different kinds of foods and they all made her bloated. The black on her belly looked like it was going away, but then stopped and hasn't gone away. There is also black on the bottom of her tail.

She was doing ok in the hospital tank after I fed her because she hasn't been getting enough nutrition. I fed her the frozen blood worms that I bought at petsmart. She was looking perkier and more active. Then I made a mistake. I saw a hair sticking out of her mouth and tried to pull it. I think I accidentally hurt her. I stopped when I saw a blood worm and some blood come out of her mouth. Now she's just sitting on the bottom. I put in stress coat because I figured I stressed her out really bad. I'm not sure if I fed her too much or if I hurt her.

Can anyone help me?

Edited June 14, 2013 by Kitty1297

[yafashelli 9,540]

Hi, I'm sorry your fish isn't feeling so well. If you could begin by answering these questions, it would give our moderating team a big head start in helping you figure out what's going on in your tank.

Please copy & paste fill the following form and fill it out to the best of your ability when requesting help for Goldfish Problems:

• Test Results for the Following:
  • * Ammonia Level(Tank)
  • * Nitrite Level(Tank)
  • * Nitrate level(Tank)
  • * Ammonia Level(Tap)
  • * Nitrite Level(Tap)
  • * Nitrate level(Tap)
  • * Ph Level, Tank (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)
  • * Ph Level, Tap (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)
  • Other Required Info:
    • * Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops?
    • * Water temperature?
    • * Tank size (how many gals.) and how long has it been running?
    • * What is the name and "size of the filter"(s)?
    • * How often do you change the water and how much?

• * How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change?
• * How many fish in the tank and their size?
• * What kind of water additives or conditioners?
• * What do you feed your fish and how often?
• * Any new fish added to the tank?
• * Any medications added to the tank?
• * List entire medication/treatment history for fish and tank. Please include salt, Prazi, PP, etc and the approximate time and duration of treatment.
• * Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt," bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?
• * Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.?

[tithra 4,917]

Sorry Penny is not doing well! Please fill out all the questions above and provide a quick video of Penny. If you could also put her in a small tupperware container and take a couple top view pictures that would be great!

[Kitty1297 10]

As I said, it's completely fresh water that I transfered her into and it won't show anything if I did test it. I'm sorry if I'm coming off rude, I'm just really stressed. If you really want me to, I could test the water.

[GoldenSpoiledRotten 6,786]

Edit: Sniped!

We need to know all of the parameters to make sure that the water in the tank is matched with the tap.

Edited June 14, 2013 by ChelseaM

[Kitty1297 10]

Can you please at least try to give me some ideas while I'm testing? I feel like she's dying and my anxiety is through the roof.

[yafashelli 9,540]

As I said, it's completely fresh water that I transfered her into and it won't show anything if I did test it. I'm sorry if I'm coming off rude, I'm just really stressed. If you really want me to, I could test the water.

We like to have a complete picture of the fish, and its environment, in order to make the best move to heal the fish quickly, and completely. Without all the information, the best we can really do is guess, and that's not something that's in anyone's best interest.

I've had quite a few sick fish in the past, and I know how scared I was for them. We really love our pets here, so I'll tell you what they always told me. The first step you can take, when you have a sick fish, is not to panic. Help is here, and we're going to get you through.

Go ahead and answer all the questions that you can, and we'll take it from there.

[bodoba 2,980]

Take a deep breath. Remember that to help a sick fish you need to be calm and focussed.

The questions do help us make sure that the fish will heal in the best way possible. It will also help to point out if there is anything that may prevent the fish from healing.

I would need a video to confirm but from your description your fish does not sound like it is minutes away from dying. It does sound like you may need to change a few things in order to help it heal (caring for a fish that is healing is different than caring for a fish that is healthy). If you are willing to do this great! I'm glad you came to the forum for help and we will help in any way we can.

You are not alone.

[tithra 4,917]

Please provide water parameters for the QT tank, main tank, and tap

I know you are feeling very stressed, it is understandable, but as Tammy said, we need all the information along with a visual of the fish in order to provide you with any helpful advice. You have already done the first step which is getting Penny into a QT tank with clean water. The more information we can get the better help we can give you and Penny.

[Kitty1297 10]

• Test Results for the Following:
  • * Ammonia Level(Tank): 0
  • * Nitrite Level(Tank): 0
  • * Nitrate level(Tank): 0
  • * Ammonia Level(Tap): 0 - 0.25
  • * Nitrite Level(Tap): 0
  • * Nitrate level(Tap): 0
  • * Ph Level, Tank: 7.4 - 7.6
  • * Ph Level, Tap: 7.4 - 7.6
  • Other Required Info:
    • * Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops? API Freshwater Master Test Kit Drops
    • * Water temperature? 72
    • * Tank size (how many gals.) and how long has it been running? 20 gallon hospital set up about 4 hours ago
    • * What is the name and "size of the filter"(s)? Top fin power filter 40 gallons
    • * How often do you change the water and how much? None yet, just set up

• * How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change? None yet, just set up
• * How many fish in the tank and their size? 1 goldfish about 5 inches long not including her tail
• * What kind of water additives or conditioners? Prime, Stress Coat, API General Cure for Parasites
• * What do you feed your fish and how often? The past couple of days, was feeding seafood flakes in the morning, medigold in the afternoon and spinach at night. Today I fed medigold in the morning and then blood worms this afternoon. I may have fed her too many because I was worried about her being too skinny.
• * Any new fish added to the tank? No
• * Any medications added to the tank? Stress Coat and API General Cure for Parasites
• * List entire medication/treatment history for fish and tank. Please include salt, Prazi, PP, etc and the approximate time and duration of treatment. We've been treating her with Epsom salt on and off for the past couple months to help with the bloating.
• * Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt," bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus? Black on her belly and on her tail.
• * Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.? Currently sitting on the bottom. Was eating and getting more active, but I tried to pull a hair out of her mouth earlier and she spat up some blood and a bloodworm.

Edit: forgot a number

Edited June 15, 2013 by Kitty1297

[tithra 4,917]

Thanks for all the information! Could you please also provide parameters for the main tank and info regarding main tank maintenance such as filtration and water change schedule?

[fantailfan1 26,742]

How much MediGold are you feeding per day? Do you know what your fish weighs?

And how often is "on and off" with the Epsom? Did you keep track of how long it was in the tank vs out of the tank over the past couple of months?

[Kitty1297 10]

Main Tank 55 Gallons with an API Filstar XP3 canister filer.

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 5

PH: 7.6 - 7.8

There are 4 other goldfish in the main tank. One is about 4 inches long, two are about 2 to 3 inches long and the smallest on is about 1 to 2 inches long.

Edit: Water change schedule is 25% once a week.

Edited June 15, 2013 by Kitty1297

[yafashelli 9,540]

Could you also get us a few pictures of Penny, and a short video?

Focused, top-view pictures would be very helpful to see the extent of the bloat, and also if there is any pineconing present.

Don't forget to breathe--we're here for you.

[Kitty1297 10]

No, I don't know how much she weighs, but I can see that she is way too thin. I couldn't feed her a lot because she would get bloated with everything I gave her. Then she would get lethargic and listless and come right back when I fed her again. We were putting the epsom salt in with almost every water change. When we first started treating with epsom salt, we were doing a water change every other day for a couple weeks. Then we cut back to the once a week water change because we didn't feel like it was really helping her at all, but we put it in for the bloating.

I could try to take pictures/video.

Edit: Right now she's just sitting on the bottom with shallow breathing. She does look like she's bloated and I'm not sure if I fed her too many blood worms or if she's bleeding internally from me trying to pull the hair out of her mouth.

Edited June 15, 2013 by Kitty1297

[fantailfan1 26,742]

So she's been in Epsom for the better part of 2 months?

When feeding antibiotic foods, you want to feed the antibiotic food solely and you want to feed 1% of the fish's body weight (that's why I was wondering if you knew her weight so we could get a feel for whether she's been getting enough MediGold).

Pics and/or a video would be very helpful to help determine if the MediGold is, in fact, what she needs. Good luck obtaining them.

[bodoba 2,980]

Since your tap and tank levels are the same I would recommend a 100% water change to get the epsom salt out of there. This fish has been exposed to it for too long.

[Kitty1297 10]

She is out of it now, she's in the hospital tank with 100% fresh water. She had this problem with the black before the epsom salt. She had problems before that with red spots, but those went away when we bought the better filter. Those were showing up due to ammonia and bad water quality. Then she had a small black spot that wouldn't go away. When we put crushed coral in the bottom of the tank, the black spot got a lot worse and spread. Then it seemed like it was going away very very slowly. We weren't sure if the epsom salt was helping or not.

[Kitty1297 10]

How do I post the video and photos that I took?

[fantailfan1 26,742]

Do you have a photobucket account? If not, you can create one, it's free.

If you need help, let us know.

[yafashelli 9,540]

This is all great information to have--you're doing great.

[Kitty1297 10]

http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/MegaKitty1297/library/?sort=3&page=1

Photos and a video

[Kitty1297 10]

Is anyone still here? Are you guys able to see the photos and the video? It's the best I was able to get. I'm sorry if they're crappy.

[bodoba 2,980]

Yes I do see the raised scales in the video and the underlying black spot.

Did you say whether this fish is still eating or not?

Could you check the gills and tell me their colour?

[Kitty1297 10]

She ate around 5 hours ago, I haven't tried since then because I fed her quite a bit. She was laying on her side when I got home from work and I immediately went to Petsmart and Petco to get a hospital tank, some frozen food and some medicine. Then she was doing alright after I fed her and when I tried to pull the hair out of her mouth is when it all went downhill to where we are now.

Her breaths are so shallow that I cannot see inside her gills.