Bloated shubunkin :(

[Fishylove]

Ok, I acquired two weeks ago, via my husband bringing a 12" shubunkin and plinking it into my 5 year old pond
And of course the pour baby came from a pond where the owner abandoned thier duties as a pond owner! I saw the pond in question and it was filthy! Nothing had been turned on ( filter, pump etc) this season... So OF COURSE our new inhabitant had lice and gave it to ALL of the fish in my pond grr... Can't be too angry with hubby, he didn't know to quarantine. At any rate. I treated the pond after a 30% water change with the lice treatment ( have done the second treatment now ). Now since we got it it has been quite listless and stays at the bottom of the pond. Today I noticed that it is so swollen that it's scales are sticking out Watertesting is within normal parameters and I added salt to make it .3%
It's breathing better, not gasping like it was. (I say it because I don't know if it is a female or male. Lol )

Unfortunately before I realized about the lice, my shubs tail partially fell off
But she's seems to be feeling much better and still swims well.
My question is, by putting the foreign shubby in that pond, and the fact that it came from such awful conditions. Could it have been toxic? Be cause my shub was fine before he put that one in there.
Several water changes and salt replacements later she is doing MUCH better. But the other, like I said, is Very, bloated. I don't know what else to do, my pond was well established so it can't be the water quailty. What else is there I can do to treat him? And is dropsy contagious to the other inhabitants in the pond? The tiny fancy tails seem to be doing great, didn't seem to effect them, thank goodness.
Please help he is really a beautiful fish, I hate to see him suffer.

 

[koiguy1969]

I know this isnt what you'd like to hear, but...believe your fish has dropsy....very small chance of survival... humane thing would be to euthenize the fish. its an internal infection that causes the bloating. you can google it or look at the thread here... https://www.gardenpondforum.com/topic/8501-practical-pond-fish-medicine/

 

[Waterbug]

My question is, by putting the foreign shubby in that pond, and the fact that it came from such awful conditions. Could it have been toxic? Be cause my shub was fine before he put that one in there.

The new fish could carry parasites, virus and bacteria but wouldn't be "toxic". It couldn't make your pond toxic.

BTW, filthy water, at least what many people would consider filthy water, can be the most healthy water for Koi and Goldfish. Clear water can be the most deadly water. Testing the water is the only way to actually tell.

 

[Fishylove]

Thank you both. By filthy, I mean so dark and mukky the pond never settled and it had a very foul smell
I found out a bit ago that there were other fish in there ( something like 20  ) and 6 had died two days before he talked her out of this one. She wouldn't give up anymore and she was moving and still hadn't turned the filter or pumps on this year. We've had temps in the 100's for weeks now! Poor fishes 
Anyway, I found a link I believe you posted koiguy! And started the Tetracycline mix yesterday. He wouldn't eat at first so I put a bit of garlic in and shook it up and he loves it!! So that is good news, he eating anyway. I did a partial water change today and added salt back ( should be at .3% ). So I'm making a go of bringing him back  Wish Me Luck!! ( or should I say him lol )

 

[JohnHuff]

The whole thing sounds like animal abuse to me. Just because they're not cute and cuddly means you can mistreat them. Grrrr.

 

[rdk]

Last week I had a bloated shubunkin that just died. If the fish died of egg impaction, what can I do to prevent other females from having this problem? Thank you. RDK.

 

[Blackdog128]

my subunkin die on 9-11 -12 of thsi year and she had dropsey i had no choice but to put her down i did the frezer one it work i left her in there in a ziplock badg over night then jsut drop it in the trash on trash pick up day there was not a thing i could do for her i cryied over her passing

 

[callingcolleen1]

Sorry to hear that guys! Dropsey is sure to kill most fish. Many years ago I had a fish in a fish tank that had that too and it died. it just happens sometimes, and nothing much could have be done to save the fish once it has dropsey.

 

[pecan]

I just put a shubunkin out of his misery last night due to dropsy. Seemed like the swelling occurred within a day or two and he got huge (except his head) his scales stuck out like a pine cone. I felt horrible for the little guy so I went and picked up some clove oil. I put him in a bucket of water and added three drops, mixed the water well and waited 20 minutes. I could see he was calming down/relaxing. I then added 3 more drops mixed the water and waited about 20 minutes and he visibly went to sleep with his gills still moving. I then added 3 more drops and waited about 20 more minutes. He appeared to be dead at this point. But I added 3 more drops and waited another 20 minutes just to be sure. I dug him a nice grave directly under one of my favorite rose bushes and gave him a proper burial. Rest in peace Sam (my husband named him Sam the Shubi)

 

[callingcolleen1]

Did the clove oil put him to sleep? Plant a flower over him so that his life energy can be resbsorbed into something beautiful.....

 

[pecan]

Did the clove oil put him to sleep? Plant a flower over him so that his life energy can be resbsorbed into something beautiful.....

I planted him under my favorite rose bush

Yes the clove oil worked to put him to sleep. I read that vets use clove oil to sedate fish, but in larger doses it kills them. By slowly adding it, it first relaxes the fish, then sedates him, then if you keep adding it, it kills them. Seems like a pretty good way to go if you have to go.

 

[Dave 54]

Yes clove oil can be used to euthanize or anethatize your fish we recomend 20ml for a euthanation and 10ml to anethatize in reality you are watching for the fish to go still with gills still moving to put a fish under giving you anout 5 minutes to do a minor proceedure such as a wound clean or snippimg off a bit of fin you can keep the koi under much longer than this but it needs a skilled person to carry that one off .
Basically you'd need a tank some spong large enough to fit in the tank at an angle but it has to be able to support the fish with it at this angle.
you'll need a small powerhead connect to it the tubings and run the pipe work up to the fishes gills so you have a constant flow of anethatized water flowing through it this way its possible to put a fish under for a much longer period of time the water passes back through the sponge and is collected again by the pump etc etc.
As of yet I've not tried this method out but I know it in theory its basically the same method a fish vet would use.
Hope the first bit of this post helps anyone who wishes to try the quicker option
In reality to euthanize a fish set out as to if you where going to anethatize it but when it rolls over you then just leave it for a number of hours whhen you go back again the fish will have passed away gently and peacefully not hit on the head with a mallet, frozen in the freezer or flushed down the loo as some would do.



rgrds


Dave.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Good information Dave! Nice to know if I ever need it .....

 

[Dave 54]

This I learned from a book on Ornamental fish called The Fundamentals of Ornamental fish Health as koi come under this bracket .
It's quite straight forwards once you have thought it through, we have the spare tank a former show tank (no sharp edges).
We have the sponge the line now all we now reqiure is a small pump and I can put this in practise instead of it being only theory at the moment .
Remember if putting koi/goldfsih under for a minor 5 minute proceedure to lay it on a wet towel so you are able to wrap all but the area you need to treat and always handle your fish with wet hands otherwise you'll damage the mucus which protects the fish .
We aim at some stage to try out the other way of treating our koi rather than the 5 minute treatment other wise you'll have to keep putting it back into the anesthetic which can get quite confusing after a while .


rgrds

Dave