tnfishlady
New Member
A bit of a journal in my hopefully successful fight to save my 2 "big" fantails ...
I posted a couple of times on this with no definite diagnosis, but am currently treating it as septicemia. For anyone that's dealt with this, I'd like to hear their experiences and how they treated it.
Background: I think it's been 3 weeks since I got my new fish (new to me), second-hand from the former owner. They were in an aquarium that is thought to be a 33 gallon, with other fish. The bigger fantail is about 3" in body length; the other around 2" in body length. I've fallen in love with these guys with their size and long flowing fins, longer than I've seen on other fantail goldfish. The two were originally purchased by the former owner in the "feeder" tank at Walmart about 5 years ago. When I first got them, I know a water change / gravel vaccuming hadn't been done in a while and filter media also hadn't been cleaned in a while. I got a lot of "guck" out of the gravel and filter when cleaning it that evening.
On December 12th, I noticed a reddish spot on one of the smaller fins just before the tail fins, on the largest fantail. Within 2 days, more spots / hemorraging (sp?) appeared. On 12/13 or 12/14, I started treatment with Tetra Fungus Guard (active ingredients nitrofurazone, furazolidone, potassium dichromate). The big fantail looked better the following morning, but then the next day more spotting appeared. By the 16th, I noticed bloody streaking and areas on the smaller fantail. After researching I suspect this is septicemia. I stopped by a local LFS store and was advised to try nitrofurazone plus neomycin sulfate, plus adding salt. She strongly advised using a hospital tank because nitrofurazone would kill the bacteria in the filter. The little research I came up with along with implication from the LFS, septicemia can be hard to treat.
On the advise of the LFS, I put the two big fantails in my 20 gallon aquarium, and switched the current inhabitants (2 smallish common goldfish and 2 smallish fantails) to the bigger aquarium. I took the cartridge with the carbon out, but left the biowheel running on the filter, plus a corner filter. The lady at the LFS said I could safely use double the salt dosage given on the aquarium salt container. I put in 5 tablespoons (almost double dose) in the aquarium after dissolving it in a smaller cup of water. Then added the medications using the dosage instructions.
By the next morning, both fantails were sitting on the bottom and appeared to be uninterested in food. By midday, I decided a major water change was in order to remove part of the salt, so did about an 80% water change and redosed the meds. But the fish didn't really perk up.
Dosage instructions say to treat for 7 - 10 days with a 1/3 water change before adding another dose. I've been doing approximately 40% water changes daily with a full dose of the water conditioner each time. Honestly I hadn't tried feeding them for couple of days because all they wanted to do is sit on the bottom. But I think it was on the 18th I tried feeding them and both showed interest. Also by the 18th the big fantails reddish spots had disappeared. However, the smaller fantail initially got worse and is just now starting to look a little better. Both fish were swimming around when I got home from work and they haven't stopped swimming around. I take that as a good sign.
A couple of pictures:
The largest fantail showing the first spot, taken on the 12th:
The smaller fantail on the 18th: Not showing in this picture is the belly area which is quite reddish and still is.
Does this look like possible septicemia? Regardless, the big fantail has responded to treatment, and hopefully the smaller one is responding to the treatment as well, although more slowly.
I posted a couple of times on this with no definite diagnosis, but am currently treating it as septicemia. For anyone that's dealt with this, I'd like to hear their experiences and how they treated it.
Background: I think it's been 3 weeks since I got my new fish (new to me), second-hand from the former owner. They were in an aquarium that is thought to be a 33 gallon, with other fish. The bigger fantail is about 3" in body length; the other around 2" in body length. I've fallen in love with these guys with their size and long flowing fins, longer than I've seen on other fantail goldfish. The two were originally purchased by the former owner in the "feeder" tank at Walmart about 5 years ago. When I first got them, I know a water change / gravel vaccuming hadn't been done in a while and filter media also hadn't been cleaned in a while. I got a lot of "guck" out of the gravel and filter when cleaning it that evening.
On December 12th, I noticed a reddish spot on one of the smaller fins just before the tail fins, on the largest fantail. Within 2 days, more spots / hemorraging (sp?) appeared. On 12/13 or 12/14, I started treatment with Tetra Fungus Guard (active ingredients nitrofurazone, furazolidone, potassium dichromate). The big fantail looked better the following morning, but then the next day more spotting appeared. By the 16th, I noticed bloody streaking and areas on the smaller fantail. After researching I suspect this is septicemia. I stopped by a local LFS store and was advised to try nitrofurazone plus neomycin sulfate, plus adding salt. She strongly advised using a hospital tank because nitrofurazone would kill the bacteria in the filter. The little research I came up with along with implication from the LFS, septicemia can be hard to treat.
On the advise of the LFS, I put the two big fantails in my 20 gallon aquarium, and switched the current inhabitants (2 smallish common goldfish and 2 smallish fantails) to the bigger aquarium. I took the cartridge with the carbon out, but left the biowheel running on the filter, plus a corner filter. The lady at the LFS said I could safely use double the salt dosage given on the aquarium salt container. I put in 5 tablespoons (almost double dose) in the aquarium after dissolving it in a smaller cup of water. Then added the medications using the dosage instructions.
By the next morning, both fantails were sitting on the bottom and appeared to be uninterested in food. By midday, I decided a major water change was in order to remove part of the salt, so did about an 80% water change and redosed the meds. But the fish didn't really perk up.
Dosage instructions say to treat for 7 - 10 days with a 1/3 water change before adding another dose. I've been doing approximately 40% water changes daily with a full dose of the water conditioner each time. Honestly I hadn't tried feeding them for couple of days because all they wanted to do is sit on the bottom. But I think it was on the 18th I tried feeding them and both showed interest. Also by the 18th the big fantails reddish spots had disappeared. However, the smaller fantail initially got worse and is just now starting to look a little better. Both fish were swimming around when I got home from work and they haven't stopped swimming around. I take that as a good sign.
A couple of pictures:
The largest fantail showing the first spot, taken on the 12th:
The smaller fantail on the 18th: Not showing in this picture is the belly area which is quite reddish and still is.
Does this look like possible septicemia? Regardless, the big fantail has responded to treatment, and hopefully the smaller one is responding to the treatment as well, although more slowly.
