Goldfish acting strangely

[Dianne]

Hi,
I have a goldfish pond with 7 fish, 1 of which has been acting strangley since the middle of winter where it kept coming up to the top of the pond and just lying there but when you touched it it swam back down to the bottom. Over the last 2 months I have noticed brown markings around his gills plus odd spots on his back, I took some photos and went up to the aquariam shop where I bought him and was told he was changing colour. I took a sample of water which was fine, plus the salt level was also good. Since this has all happened over the last few weeks he had just been going to the bottom of the pond and staying there, hardly eating or swimming about. Over this weekend I switched the pump & filter off and put in some medication to see if that would help him, he came straight up to the suface gasping for air so had to switch the pump etc. back on, I have noticed he seems to have a buoancy problem where he seems to have problems swimming in a straight line without going sideways or upside down. Hope someone can help me with this as everyone I have spoken to say he is just an odd one, but I just have a feeling there is something wrong with him. Thanks for any help.

 

[Dave 54]

Firstly you'll need to post some good closeup of this fish only then will we be able to help you , firstly are these brown spots on the gill casings or the gills themselves but first off we need to look at your water to see if its not an issue .
Do you have the drop test kits or strip please . if you have the strip variety throw them away and buy a pond test kit API have a ready put together one with Tetra your going to have to buy seperate kits
Coyuld you please give me your Ammonia Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph Gh and Kh readings .
It could be anything from a simple swimbladder problem to an infection and everything in between so we need an accurate description of everything you see Please

Dave

 

[dieselplower]

If you have a sick fish you want to treat it would be best to remove it from the pond and put it into a smaller tank in the house. Like a 15 gallon or something. That way you can observe it more closely and be more sure you are using the right amount of medication.

 

[Dianne]

Firstly you'll need to post some good closeup of this fish only then will we be able to help you , firstly are these brown spots on the gill casings or the gills themselves but first off we need to look at your water to see if its not an issue .
Do you have the drop test kits or strip please . if you have the strip variety throw them away and buy a pond test kit API have a ready put together one with Tetra your going to have to buy seperate kits
Coyuld you please give me your Ammonia Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph Gh and Kh readings .
It could be anything from a simple swimbladder problem to an infection and everything in between so we need an accurate description of everything you see Please

Dave

I will bring the photo's and send them tomorrow as at home, the sample of water was taken from the pump at the bottom of the pond and they tested it at the pond centre I don't have one myself. The brown markings are on the casings as I double checked when I got back from the pond centre as he said just to make sure it wasn't insects but it all looked smooth. Just to confirm this fish didn't have the brown markings when he was coming to the top of the pond in winter. I am absoluted bemused.

 

[Dianne]

Hi managed to find the photo I took up to the pond centre it is the light coloured goldfish to the back of the photo, as he is mostly at the bottom of the pond it is very difficult to get any photo's of him, hope you can tell what is wrong with him, he has a few spots on his back also which don't really show on this photo

 

[dieselplower]

Dianne it is very hard to tell anything. It looks like possibly the entire gill plate is missing and the fins are clamped. These are signs of a sick fish. I would get it out of the pond ASAP. You will then be able to get better pictures and treat is using more exact measurements. I dont know what the pond store or whatever told you about the readings of the pond water but I never feel good about it when someone says it was "fine" or something like that. Black spots could even indicate ammonia burns or they may be right the fish is changing color. However, changing color does not explain why the gill plate appears to be missing, the fins are clamped, and the fish sounds like it is also suffering from a swim bladder disorder. Get it out of there before it infects the other fish.

 

[Dave 54]

Dianne it is very hard to tell anything. It looks like possibly the entire gill plate is missing and the fins are clamped. These are signs of a sick fish. I would get it out of the pond ASAP. You will then be able to get better pictures and treat is using more exact measurements. I dont know what the pond store or whatever told you about the readings of the pond water but I never feel good about it when someone says it was "fine" or something like that. Black spots could even indicate ammonia burns or they may be right the fish is changing color. However, changing color does not explain why the gill plate appears to be missing, the fins are clamped, and the fish sounds like it is also suffering from a swim bladder disorder. Get it out of there before it infects the other fish.

Yes I agree your going to have to net this guy and put him in a clear plastic or glass container only then will we see whats happening

Dave

 

[RobAmy]

I agree it looks like the gill plate is missing. Looks like a definite problem. Follow the above advise and remove it from the others.

 

[Dianne]

Yes I agree your going to have to net this guy and put him in a clear plastic or glass container only then will we see whats happening

Dave

Hi I am back with an update, I took the goldfish up to the pond centre, his tummy is swollen and they think he might have the swim bladder disease. They told me to do a part change with the water as the ammonia reading was higher than it should be, and put some more of the medifin in the water switching off the filter uvc light. This has all be done, but he is still just lethargic and staying in one place with his head facing downwards with tail in the air. He still doesn't appear to be eating, not when I am watching anyway in fact none of the fish seem very interested in food. His gills were fine inside the brown markings are on the top of his skin. Any other ideas I could do would be appreciated. Many thanks
PS They said that with all the rain we have been having it has probably made the water too soft?

 

[dieselplower]

Sometimes feeding peas can help with constipation that can cause swim bladder issues. Pop the peas open from the shell first.

 

[dieselplower]

Did you get any better pics?

 

[Dianne]

Sometimes feeding peas can help with constipation that can cause swim bladder issues. Pop the peas open from the shell first.

 

[Dianne]

I did try frozen peas thawed out the other day, there seem to be so many options as to do you cook them first, blanche them or give them raw. Because he hasn't really eaten anything they all went to the bottom of the pond ever the other fish didn't seem interested although I can't see them now. He did try a lug when he was swimming about the other day but just spat it out, I give them a mixture of lugs and flakes? Could this upset them. His tum is very soft where it is swollen and no sorry didn't take any more pics as I just wanted to get him back in the pond before he got too stressed out.

 

[Dianne]

Sadly my fish passed away during the night, I cleaned the pump up yesterday afternoon and he was just lying at the bottom of the pond so I put him in a trough and managed to get a couple of photo's attached. He was breathing very slowly and didn't really want to move, so I put him back in the pond. What I don't understand is that none of my other fish seem to be suffering with what he had which I find a bit strange, any further comments would be helpful so that I can keep an eye out if any of the others become lethargic like him. Many thanks for your comments thus far. You can just see the little bulge at the bottom of him.

 

[dieselplower]

Wow so you had the fish out, didn't take any more pics, and didn't put it into a quarantine tank even though multiple people asked you to and now the fish is dead. I'm shocked.