HELP! My fish has a disease!

[BennyLava]

I went out to my pond today and one of my fish was looking very diseased. He is usually shy so I don't often see him. He was up at the top floating on his side, but then when I walked up of course he started trying to get away. Very very slowly. So I scooped him up and put him in a bucket with a little air pump for air. Here are some pics of him, so maybe yall can help me identify the disease. I am not sure if it's ich, because none of the other fish have it, and I can't really see the telltale little white clumps on him. Then again, he is a white-ish color fish so it may be hard to tell. As you can see, his eyes have a haze over them, as does his body. It is not usually to tones of white like that. It is usually all the darker tone. So this lighter color white on his sides is something new. Anyway, here are the pics.

 

[DrDave]

I went out to my pond today and one of my fish was looking very diseased. He is usually shy so I don't often see him. He was up at the top floating on his side, but then when I walked up of course he started trying to get away. Very very slowly. So I scooped him up and put him in a bucket with a little air pump for air. Here are some pics of him, so maybe yall can help me identify the disease. I am not sure if it's ich, because none of the other fish have it, and I can't really see the telltale little white clumps on him. Then again, he is a white-ish color fish so it may be hard to tell. As you can see, his eyes have a haze over them, as does his body. It is not usually to tones of white like that. It is usually all the darker tone. So this lighter color white on his sides is something new. Anyway, here are the pics.

The water is dirty making it hard to see anything but the clouded eye. Are those string looking things attached to the fish?

 

[koikeepr]

Oof! okay...I would be really surprised if this fish ends up surviving. For one, it appears his eye appears completely occluded. Pictures aren't great here, but does he have sort of white coating to him? Sort of fungusy looking?

I'm assuming that's not his normal color, either, correct? Do you have a normal looking photo of this fish so we can compare?

It is not ich. Ick is tiny white spots....that is not what this is at all.

Do you have a means of keeping him in a hospital tank for a while?

 

[DrDave]

Do you have any meds on hand or at the very least rock salt?

 

[koikeepr]

the shredded finnage definitely means something is dissolving/nibbling them...bacteria or parasite of some kind. My guess is bacterial since it's winter and most parasites go dormant or die in cold water. This needs salt at minimum, but I really do think its going too late to save this fish. Once a fish starts looking like this, it's pretty hard to bring him back from this state.

I can't see the fish well due to the photos, but if the white looking stuff on the fish looks stringy, it could be columnaris. It sort of looks like a fungus, but really isn't. In this case, Tetracycline would be good to use.

Do all the other fish look fine? Why is that water in that bowl so yellowish-green like that? Is that pond water? You got a lot of debris in there, too. Have you checked your water parameters?

 

[BennyLava]

Oh well it's too late he died. The water is pond water, it looks like that cause my pump is down and I have yet to buy a new one. But I am going to get a new one tomorrow or monday.

 

[DrDave]

Sorry to hear that. In the future, You should have some basic medications on hand. At the very least, salt and tetracycline. Take photos in clean water and while you are waiting a response from the forum, Google as much info as you can. Knowledge and time are key to success.

 

[koikeepr]

Sorry Benny! Never a good day when we lose one of our wet pets.

If your pump is out, you should do some partial water changes at minimum and throw an air stone in there.

If the water quality has descreased due to a pump outtage, this can be the culprit in many fish diseases. This is why it is critical to always have a back-up pump on hand so that you can quickly sub it in for your main pump while you get it fixed or replaced.

Sorry to hear about your fishy...

 

[BennyLava]

Thanks for the sympathy guys. Makes me feel better to know that others out there feel the same when something like this happens. Yeah after this, I am now keeping a lot of medicines on hand. I never knew you needed to add "salt" to the pond sometimes.