Goldfish with fungal infection

Hey all,

One of my goldfish has developed a fungus type infection on his fins and has now been isolated in a hospital tank. I noticed the issue yesterday, since his swimming was abnormal, and today he is on his side, although fortunately still alive. I dosed the tank yesterday with antifungal medication but am unsure now what the next step should be; do I water change and add more meds, or let him rest for the time being? Cheers.

Pictures and video of the fish?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the tank water?

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If goldfish ever get sick, do the following.
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using salt or medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

Thanks for your reply! Prior to the water change, my parameters were:
Nitrate: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
pH: 6.5-7
Note that these may be slightly off, given I am colourblind, so I account for some variation in readings. I cannot test ammonia currently since my test kit for it expired recently (it was from an old set) and I am working towards a replacement.

I suspect that the issue might stem from fallen leaves, since the pond sits beneath several deciduous trees and, admittedly, I wasn’t as diligent in removing them as would be ideal.

Should I use both the medicine and salt? And would medicine be safe in the main pond for the established bacteria?

Find attached a photo and video of the fish in question. You should be able to see the fungus on its dorsal and tail fins.

In the meantime, I will do a water change on both the hospital tank and the pond and medicate the former.

What medication are you using? Does it give dosage instructions? It's possible that it's a bacterial infection instead of fungal. I can't give advice about using salt with medication because I don't have experience using salt (I keep mostly cories and they don't tolerate salt). But if your fish is floating on its side I think it's probably beyond the point of being saved with a salt bath (and quite possibly medications as well though it would be your best bet at this stage.)

I wouldn't put medication into the pond. It could definitely harm the beneficial bacteria as well as other parts of the delicate ecosystem and it would be harder to get rid of the residual medication afterwards than it is to get it out of an aquarium. I would try to treat any affected fish outside of the pond like you are doing and take immediate measures to drastically improve the water quality of the pond--clean out as much debris as you can, drain as much water as you can and replenish with new water (with water conditioner added to remove chlorine/chloramines.) You could try adding an immune supplement like Voogle Koi into the pond if you continue to have problems with fish illness.

I had an avocado tree that hung partly over my pond and I had to put up a netting for a few weeks every year to catch all the leaves. That way if you're not able to keep up with them they can only go so far until you're able to get to them and they won't mess up your water in the meantime.

I don't think the photo and video attached correctly

coriesinhawaii said:

I don't think the photo and video attached correctly

Click to expand...

Oh, you’re right. I dunno how to attach the video, but the photo should be here now

coriesinhawaii said:

What medication are you using? Does it give dosage instructions? It's possible that it's a bacterial infection instead of fungal. I can't give advice about using salt with medication because I don't have experience using salt (I keep mostly cories and they don't tolerate salt). But if your fish is floating on its side I think it's probably beyond the point of being saved with a salt bath (and quite possibly medications as well though it would be your best bet at this stage.)

I wouldn't put medication into the pond. It could definitely harm the beneficial bacteria as well as other parts of the delicate ecosystem and it would be harder to get rid of the residual medication afterwards than it is to get it out of an aquarium. I would try to treat any affected fish outside of the pond like you are doing and take immediate measures to drastically improve the water quality of the pond--clean out as much debris as you can, drain as much water as you can and replenish with new water (with water conditioner added to remove chlorine/chloramines.) You could try adding an immune supplement like Voogle Koi into the pond if you continue to have problems with fish illness.

I had an avocado tree that hung partly over my pond and I had to put up a netting for a few weeks every year to catch all the leaves. That way if you're not able to keep up with them they can only go so far until you're able to get to them and they won't mess up your water in the meantime.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I do have some covering over the pond, but evidently not enough for the amount of leave; a net will be a priority. My current med is bactonex, which I happened to have sitting around from a while ago.

As a general update, the goldfish is still alive and kicking, although I am waiting to the regime of salt and medication to kick in. I have been doing partial water changes daily for his hospital tank, so hopefully on the path to recovery.

Do you have any pics of the fish / issue as Colin asked for ?

Hard to diagnose an advise on meds without those.

To attach a video it needs to be uploaded to YouTube and the link posted here.

Hi, any closer pics of your goldie ?

Looks like Bactonex is a mixture of methylene blue and aminacrine intended to be used as a preventative measure against infections. I can’t find any guidance for its use to treat an established infection. It would be better to switch to a drug designed specifically for treatment though it remains unclear whether it should be an antibiotic or an anti fungal medication. Are fish medications available over-the-counter in Australia?

coriesinhawaii said:

Looks like Bactonex is a mixture of methylene blue and aminacrine intended to be used as a preventative measure against infections. I can’t find any guidance for its use to treat an established infection. It would be better to switch to a drug designed specifically for treatment though it remains unclear whether it should be an antibiotic or an anti fungal medication. Are fish medications available over-the-counter in Australia?

Click to expand...

Yep, I think most those in the US are here as well. Is there a combination medication I could use, just to hit both possibilities at once? I realise I am likely low on time at this point, so am willing to try anything.

Here are some new, better shots as well:

@GobyMaster11276 you can check a possible fungal infection this way : take fish out of water, if spot(s) disappears instantly, it is a fungus.

That fish appears to be in a typical "c" shape. This generally indicates poison. Could be ammonia, nitrate, or some other toxin in the system. I do not see any fungus. It is rare that fish in this condition recover. In my several years of disease assistance on goldfish forums, I haven't seen even one C shaped fish recover. That's how rare it is. There is not much you can do for him beyond keeping his water clean. Random medications thrown at him are unlikely to help.

I honestly would euthanize any fish I had that ended up in this condition, but that's always a personal choice made by the owner and owner alone.

I agree that the prognosis does not look good but if you do choose to try medication API Fin & Body Cure (doxycycline) or Seachem Kanaplex (kanamycin) would be reasonable choices for bacterial treatment, as bacteria tend to kill quicker than fungus so it would be a good first target. I don’t know of any antibacterial-anti fungal combination products designed for treatment of active infections but you could add on methylene blue baths (treat fish for 30 min a day in a separate container from antibiotic) for fungal coverage.