Ryukin's Tail Missing

[ZmanArt007]

So yesterday I discovered that one of my fancy goldfish had her tail completely ripped or eaten off. I've dealt with wounds before but they aren't usually this extensive.




I have her secluded and I've been giving her a salt bath every day with salt as well as a high concentration of melafix and pimafix. I think her wound is starting to get an infection though It's fuzzing up.

 

[Dave 54]

Zman if this is down into the body of the goldfish then there will be no getting this section of the tail back and there is a very strong possibility we may well loose this fish if that is the case .
I really wish you guys would look to the use of chemicals over primafix and melafix, [we dont rate it and have tried it ourselves prior to saying this].....
First off we need to identify why this has happened i'e underlying damage to your Ryukin's tail has been damaged be that a preditor spawning activity etc something has happened to cause this .
Next anethatize the fish and with cotton wool buds one stroke one bud clean up the fungal area of the wound with Malachite green then spray the whole tail area with propolis then return your fish t a holding tank.
When was the last time the bottom of your pond was vacuumed you need to remove any possible source that may reinfet your fish , then treat the pond with a good off the shelf ant fungal and we'll see if weve stopped it in its tracks.
To tell you the truth my friend I think this fish is too far gone looking at the tail there is a raging infection going on which may or may not be bacterial in origin , there are really too many bad things going on with this fish.
Its up to you what you want to call on this but it should be out of the pond to aviod further infection of your fish
Sorry

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

I've had another look at this wound this morning to see if I missed anything ,[ in the cold light of day, so to speak].
What seems to be happening is that the infection has now reached the body of the fish ,
At worst your going to loose this fish at best it will only ever have half a tail because I believe the area or bed in where the rays of the tail/caudial fin are seated has become infected.
When this happens no fin will ever grow out again why.... because the support structure of the fins are gone when the rays that support it have been eaten away like they have.
Then you have the infection which is more than probably bacterial. this will need to be sorted its a really big ask for your fish.
Remember Zman this Ryukin's has just come out of winter and is more than probably weak.
@bettasngoldfish or @Mmathis will more than probably say the same thing as Val and I ......
However which ever way you go with this we'll back you 100% of the way .


Dave

 

[Tula]

Wow, this poor fish looks gravely debilitated. If it were mine, I'd try to treat the area with a q - tip, as Dave suggested and keep a close eye on it. If it then appears the infection is spreading, I'd humanely euthanize it. Really sorry about this.

 

[mrsclem]

Zman- do you have any medicated food? I had several fish become affected with fin and tail rot this spring. I treated the worst with a medicated bath and everybody got the medicated food. I also used the Melafix-Pimafix. Fish are recovering but not sure which treatment did the most good. Good luck

 

[Dave 54]

Zman- do you have any medicated food? I had several fish become affected with fin and tail rot this spring. I treated the worst with a medicated bath and everybody got the medicated food. I also used the Melafix-Pimafix. Fish are recovering but not sure which treatment did the most good. Good luck

I would say the medicated antibiotic food is helping the most mrsclem how far gone was the tail at that time on your own fish ?
I tend to agree with @Tula that you may have to humainly euthanize this fish

Dave

 

[Mmathis]

@Dave 54 @ZmanArt007 So what is the potential underlying cause? Do y'all think the fish was injured, which lead to an infection, which lead to the destruction of the tail? And would the injury have been something as simple as scraping on something, or was the fish attacked......? Or just an opportunistic infection on a winter-weakened fish....?

And I know these are probably rhetorical & academic questions, but hoping to learn something.

It's a pretty fish! Hoping for the best!

( I'm still trying to grasp the world of fish and the things that go on under the water. It's a foreign place with all kinds of hazards not known to this dry place we inhabit. Give me a bloody trail on the kitchen floor, and I can track down the injured kitty, figure out what happened, and take care of the wound. Then take care of fixing whatever caused the injury in the first place. But this world of fish......a place of which I am totally in awe. Maybe that's part of the attraction... )

 

[mrsclem]

I would say the medicated antibiotic food is helping the most mrsclem how far gone was the tail at that time on your own fish ?
I tend to agree with @Tula that you may have to humainly euthanize this fish

Dave

Cave - I had 4 fish that got the fin and tail rot and then started getting what looked like green fungus. All 4 recovered but one lost almost all of her tail. I thought about euthanizing her but she gets around well, eats good and spawned 2 weeks ago.

 

[ZmanArt007]

I'm not sure what caused the injury, but when I found her it definitely looked like a wound, not rot. After a while it began to develop some fungus. She is the slowest fish in my pond, so it might have been one of my cats or one of the other fish. I don't have medicated koi food but I should probably order some. Brand suggestion?

 

[bettasngoldfish]

@ZmanArt007 Do you happen to have a pleco in with this fish?

 

[mrsclem]

Med-finn or Blackwater creek.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I agree with Dave to get rid of the melafix and or pimafix. Do you have malachite green on hand to treat the fungus?

I'm not sure that this can be cured but if it even has a chance you are going to need medicated food. I have always used medigold by goldfishconnection but they have recently closed. I would try the Blackwater medicated food http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=15912 Is the fish still eating and acting normal?

By any chance have you tested the pond water lately? Just curious as it will help us to figure out if this was caused by a water quality issue or something else.

 

[ZmanArt007]

@bettasngoldfish I do not have a pleco. I do have a carp sucker though, why do you ask? I will look into ordering some medicated food.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I asked about the pleco as they have been known to suck on the larger slower moving fish (such as fancy goldfish) destroying the slime coat and opening the fish up to infections. The fancy goldfish with long flowing tails can especially have problems ( as they rest on the bottom of the tank or pond) and become easy targets for a pleco on the lookout for food.

I'm not familiar with the carp sucker. Do they feed like plecos?

 

[Dave 54]

Larger tailed fish can snap the supporting rays and eventually that section of tail gets ripped away , or falls off
But I believe there is also bacterial as well as fungal infections at play here.
Look at the reddening of the tail behind the fungus which is more than probably a secondry infection to the bacterial one.
The malachite dipped swab's one stroke one QT until the wound is cleaned [one stroke on swab meas you us it once then throw away]and propolis should clear up the fugal side , the medicated food should hopefully take care of the bacterial side , it wont be pretty possibly that part of the tail willl never grow back but at least you've given things a go Zman.
Also there looks to be alott of detritus on the sides of the pond , it may be an idea to spring clean the sides and bottom ready for summer.

Maria the koi's sucker mouth faces downwards somewhat akin to the pleco's mouth but is used more for grubbing about with in the mud for food.
Not with the suction then rasping movement of the mouth parts such as a pleco has .


Dave