stringy white film/fungal infection. not eating

[rtil5 0]

• Test Results for the Following:
  • * Ammonia Level(Tank) 0
  • * Nitrite Level(Tank) 0
  • * Nitrate level(Tank) 30ppm
  • * Ammonia Level(Tap) 0
  • * Nitrite Level(Tap) 0
  • * Nitrate level(Tap) 0
  • * Ph Level, Tank (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines) 6.8
  • * Ph Level, Tap (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines) 7.0
  • Other Required Info:
    • * Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops? API
    • * Water temperature? 73F
    • * Tank size (how many gals.) and how long has it been running? 30 / 3 YEARS
    • * What is the name and "size of the filter"(s)? 30G AquaClear Sponge/ZeoCarb/BioMax
    • * How often do you change the water and how much? 3 times/mo 1/4th WC

• * How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change? Today, half (emergency)
• * How many fish in the tank and their size? 1 adult telescope eye goldfish
• * What kind of water additives or conditioners? algaefix, stresscoat, accuclear, fluval
• * What do you feed your fish and how often? fluval goldfish pellets every other day
• * Any new fish added to the tank? no
• * Any medications added to the tank? melafix
• * List entire medication/treatment history for fish and tank. Please include salt, Prazi, PP, etc and the approximate time and duration of treatment. 2 years ago had dropsy. was fed medicated food i got from a member here. i can't remember what it was called.
• * Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt," bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus? stringy white film coming off body, white fuzz on head.
• * Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.? bottom sitting, not interested in food. 

 

 

i apologize for this HORRIBLE picture but it's the best one i can get in the night time. circled is some of the white fuzzy substance on his head.

 

i went out of town for a few days and our friends were watching our apartment. when i got back i did WC, but the water got cloudy fast and there was an algae bloom. so i did another one (This was about 6 days later) and put in accuclear and algaefix to try and stop it. the water cleared up but ever since then my goldfish Edward has been acting strange. he ate his last meal about 3 days ago now. he does not want to eat. when i did the water test i noticed the high nitrate levels, this is even after doing a 50% WC just a few hours ago after noticing what i imagine is a fungal infection.

 

i'm guessing the high waste levels may have been a cause of this. although i have not encountered this before, i do not know what to use to treat this nor do i even know exactly what it is. 

 

best i can describe it is there are some tiny white dots around the top of his head and near his eyes. a stringy white film substance was coming off of him earlier today. 

 

i attempted to hand feed him but he was not interested. he was 'breathing' fast all day today.

 

thanks for any help and suggestions.

Edited July 21, 2016 by rtil5

[shakaho 6,312]

Please read our guidelines for healthy goldfish.   You will see that you have a large enough tank for one goldfish.   Your filter, while appropriate for smaller fish, has about half the flow rate we recommend for goldfish.    You may want to upgrade, but  the filter size didn't cause your fish's problem.

 

You do have a water quality problem,  and it comes from not changing enough water.  For most tanks, to keep nitrate down to the <20 ppm that we recommend, you have to change at least 50% of the water weekly.  30 ppm after a 50% water change means you had 60 ppm before the change -- way too much.  The depressed pH in the tank comes from the high nitrate.  How recently did you use the algaefix?  Sadly, this product has killed goldfish along with the algae.  Do you aerate your tank?  Fish deaths after algaecides can result from lack of oxygen which gets used up as the dead algae rot.

 

The stringy white stuff consists of sloughing slime coat.  While your fish may need medication, first we need to correct the water quality problem.  This might bring him back to full health, but at least will help him to make use of medications that we might use later.

 

I recommend a 100% water change and a treatment with salt to help restore the slime coat.   Do you have aquarium salt?  If not, you should get this or any other salt that contains nothing but pure NaCl.  You can find such salt in the grocery store.  Many of us use Mortons Canning and Pickling salt. 

 

If you do a 100% water change, scoop the fish out in a bowl or small bucket, drain the tank and refill with water and nothing else but dechlorinater and salt.  You will add 1 teaspoon of salt for each gallon of water.  For a 30 gallon tank, that means 30 teaspoons = 10 tablespoons of salt for the entire tank.  Then return the fish to the tank.

 

If you feel uncomfortable with removing the fish, You can drain the tank until the water just covers the fish, then refill as above.  If you don't have suitable salt on hand, just use the clean water and dechlorinater.  You can add the salt later.

[Helen 8,511]

 

You do have a water quality problem,  and it comes from not changing enough water.  For most tanks, to keep nitrate down to the <20 ppm that we recommend, you have to change at least 50% of the water weekly.  30 ppm after a 50% water change means you had 60 ppm before the change -- way too much.  The depressed pH in the tank comes from the high nitrate.  How recently did you use the algaefix?  Sadly, this product has killed goldfish along with the algae.  Do you aerate your tank?  Fish deaths after algaecides can result from lack of oxygen which gets used up as the dead algae rot.

 

The stringy white stuff consists of sloughing slime coat.  While your fish may need medication, first we need to correct the water quality problem.  This might bring him back to full health, but at least will help him to make use of medications that we might use later.

 

 

i second ditching the algaefix. this is the exact product which brought the identical symptoms to my goldfish. thankfully i was around to notice it happening and acted fast to remove that product from my tank. it took a few days to a week before the slime coat of my fish was beginning to repair and about a week or so until they started behaving normally again.

[rtil5 0]

Please read our guidelines for healthy goldfish.   You will see that you have a large enough tank for one goldfish.   Your filter, while appropriate for smaller fish, has about half the flow rate we recommend for goldfish.    You may want to upgrade, but  the filter size didn't cause your fish's problem.

 

You do have a water quality problem,  and it comes from not changing enough water.  For most tanks, to keep nitrate down to the <20 ppm that we recommend, you have to change at least 50% of the water weekly.  30 ppm after a 50% water change means you had 60 ppm before the change -- way too much.  The depressed pH in the tank comes from the high nitrate.  How recently did you use the algaefix?  Sadly, this product has killed goldfish along with the algae.  Do you aerate your tank?  Fish deaths after algaecides can result from lack of oxygen which gets used up as the dead algae rot.

 

The stringy white stuff consists of sloughing slime coat.  While your fish may need medication, first we need to correct the water quality problem.  This might bring him back to full health, but at least will help him to make use of medications that we might use later.

 

I recommend a 100% water change and a treatment with salt to help restore the slime coat.   Do you have aquarium salt?  If not, you should get this or any other salt that contains nothing but pure NaCl.  You can find such salt in the grocery store.  Many of us use Mortons Canning and Pickling salt. 

 

If you do a 100% water change, scoop the fish out in a bowl or small bucket, drain the tank and refill with water and nothing else but dechlorinater and salt.  You will add 1 teaspoon of salt for each gallon of water.  For a 30 gallon tank, that means 30 teaspoons = 10 tablespoons of salt for the entire tank.  Then return the fish to the tank.

 

If you feel uncomfortable with removing the fish, You can drain the tank until the water just covers the fish, then refill as above.  If you don't have suitable salt on hand, just use the clean water and dechlorinater.  You can add the salt later.

 

i have been running the same filter ever since he was young and the only time there was ever a problem was when he got dropsy..which was caused by a friend looking after my fish while i was away for 2 weeks. thanks for letting me know, though.

 

i have never aerated my tank, but there is an air stone at the bottom.

 

i will continue the WC today to bring it 100% and get out all the algaefix. i do have aquarium salt. thank you.

 

 

 

 

You do have a water quality problem,  and it comes from not changing enough water.  For most tanks, to keep nitrate down to the <20 ppm that we recommend, you have to change at least 50% of the water weekly.  30 ppm after a 50% water change means you had 60 ppm before the change -- way too much.  The depressed pH in the tank comes from the high nitrate.  How recently did you use the algaefix?  Sadly, this product has killed goldfish along with the algae.  Do you aerate your tank?  Fish deaths after algaecides can result from lack of oxygen which gets used up as the dead algae rot.

 

The stringy white stuff consists of sloughing slime coat.  While your fish may need medication, first we need to correct the water quality problem.  This might bring him back to full health, but at least will help him to make use of medications that we might use later.

 

 

i second ditching the algaefix. this is the exact product which brought the identical symptoms to my goldfish. thankfully i was around to notice it happening and acted fast to remove that product from my tank. it took a few days to a week before the slime coat of my fish was beginning to repair and about a week or so until they started behaving normally again.

 

 

this is too bad, because the product worked very well. i'm glad i know now that it is harmful. 

 

 

Here is a better picture of Edward today. Another thing I noticed is that his belly is oddly shaped near the back. He has always had kind of an oddly shaped belly ever since recovering from dropsy but it looks more warped than usual. I don't know what this means.

 

Also, the bubble inside of his eye was caused by his dropsy as well. It never disappeared.

 

Edited July 21, 2016 by rtil5

[Arctic Mama 3,638]

Yeah, that's the fishy version of mild chemical burns. If you want to use algaecides in the future just remove the animal to a hospital tank with filter and run the algaecide with him out. Then give it two weeks and several very thorough water changes to remove any residue.

[rtil5 0]

no more algaecide for me. ok, so i did 100% WC with the salt and dechlorinator. i will report on progress tomorrow.

[LisaCGold 1,691]

Healing vibes to dear Edward!!

[rtil5 0]

Healing vibes to dear Edward!!

thank you 

 

nitrate levels today: 15ppm

 

 

Edward's head seems a little better but this back side of his abdomen seems strange to me. i'm not sure where to proceed from here.

[shakaho 6,312]

I was waiting to hear that you had added the salt.  Now we want to raise the concentration.  You started with 0.1 % salt, now you want to add the same amount of additional salt to get it to 0.2% salt, and tomorrow, increase the salt by the same amount to get to 0.3% salt.  Maintain the 0.3% salt for a week to see if you get any improvement.

[rtil5 0]

ok, i have added more salt today. will report again tomorrow.

 

still bottom sitting, not eating, but he is 'breathing' more normally now.

[rtil5 0]

i don't have a good feeling about Edward's health. he has been very still since last night, has not moved from the spot i saw him in before i went to sleep. very little movement besides his mouth. tried to feed him but no interest. he has not eaten in it ~4-5 days now. seems his slime coat is still deteriorating despite the WC and salt. 

 

i am wondering if maybe it's better to move him out of this tank and into a quarantine with water specifically meant to treat this. the only problem is that the biggest thing i have to do this is a 6 gallon planted tank that currently has no fish in it. i also have a 2 gallon bucket. 

Edited July 23, 2016 by rtil5

[shakaho 6,312]

Get a plastic storage box, a shallow one with about a 10 gallon capacity.

[Helen 8,511]

how is Edward.. yes, he seemed a little loose looking in the belly with the photos you posted. unfortunately, that is not a good sign.

 

if he is still with us, could you follow the instructions in the video below with Edward and let us know your thoughts?

 

[rtil5 0]

how is Edward.. yes, he seemed a little loose looking in the belly with the photos you posted. unfortunately, that is not a good sign.

 

if he is still with us, could you follow the instructions in the video below with Edward and let us know your thoughts?

 

hmm ok i will try this tonight although he has not been very cooperative in the past in this way, although being as docile as he is lately maybe it will be easier.

 

i don't think Edward is doing well, still. while his stomach looks better, he is still not interested in food, and bits of his fins have fallen off. the chemical burn on his top fin is still there. idk if this is something that can go away though. i am continuing to monitor the water, the nitrates are down to 10ppm and everything else still at zero. 

 

is there maybe a way to force feed a fish or is this a bad idea? i'm just afraid that he will die of starvation first before anything.

Edited July 25, 2016 by rtil5

[Arctic Mama 3,638]

Yes they can definitely be syringe fed if needed. Helen has done a great video on how to syringe feed safely. She can advise you further on whether it is necessary when she gets back online later on but here is the video for your reference:

[rtil5 0]

ok thanks. just for a frame of reference i have not seen him eat in almost 6 days and have attempted to feed him twice and he has refused.

Edited July 25, 2016 by rtil5

[Arctic Mama 3,638]

Then syringe feeding is the way to go, certainly, and I'm pretty sure Helen would agree. Give it a try as per the video and report back in, okay?

[rtil5 0]

Then syringe feeding is the way to go, certainly, and I'm pretty sure Helen would agree. Give it a try as per the video and report back in, okay?

 

so, finally some good news here, i had trouble with the syringe but instead i tried just feeding him by hand and he ate out of my hand! so he is interested in food again. he didn't eat as much as he normally does but it's a start.

 

how is Edward.. yes, he seemed a little loose looking in the belly with the photos you posted. unfortunately, that is not a good sign.

 

if he is still with us, could you follow the instructions in the video below with Edward and let us know your thoughts?

i did my best at doing what she did in the video. Edward does not really like me to do this and he swam away a few times. i did not try to stop him because, well, his fins are in very bad shape. they are red and shredded and there is even a hole in his back fin. he can swim just fine but it almost looks like he has been bullied and nipped at despite the fact he is alone in the tank. i felt like if he struggled too much they might get worse.

 

anyway, his belly feels soft, i would not say it feels firm.. it's not like squishy there is a bounce back but it's not like in the video. 

 

i looked at both of his gills. they are supposed to be a flush red, right? they look white and red to me. 

 

i don't know what these things mean but i assume not good. 

 

outside of this i'm not sure what else to say besides he's pretty much the same. sitting at the bottom, not much activity. he is more active than he was a few days ago. but far from normal behavior. i feel like he is getting better but he won't ever be the same.

Edited July 26, 2016 by rtil5

[rtil5 0]

one thing i noticed today is sometimes he lifts his dorsal fin, then he starts twitching and it goes back down. i've seen him twitch in the past but these seemed more violent.

[rtil5 0]

he is trying to eat on his own again today which is nice to see. he still hasn't left the bottom of the tank, though.

 

edit: i just saw him swim to the top of the tank for the first time in a week!

Edited July 29, 2016 by rtil5

[LisaCGold 1,691]

Good to hear that Edward is eating and swimming to the top of tank! Go Edward!!

[rtil5 0]

hi again. i did a 15% WC today because the water was a bit cloudy. still dosing with the salt and dechlorinator

 

here's a video of how Edward is currently behaving. you can skip to about 0:53 to see how even though he is active he is still having trouble. every once in a while he still swims around the tank but it's brief.

 

 

 

here are some pictures of him today.

 

http://imgur.com/j3Uzd1y

 

http://imgur.com/1q02x6Q

 

http://imgur.com/TJEwHay

 

in the last picture you may be able to see the hole in his tail near the back.it looks like a tear. 

 

no more tearing or damage has occured to his tail for a few days now so i assume the algaefix and whatever else may have been hurting him has been completely wiped out.

[rtil5 0]

also nitrates are down to 5ppm.

[rtil5 0]

well, it seems like Edward's behavior is back to normal. the chemical burn on his dorsal fin is also gone. 

 

is there anything i can do now to help his fin tears heal faster?

[rtil5 0]

anyone?