2 bloated fish

[Alice B]

There were 3, the one the backyard pond arrived a bit over a year ago with bloat, her death yesterday prompted the pond cleanout, had to find her body. I was going to move her to the wading pool with the other bloated goldfish and a bloated small koi. All are eating well.
I suspected egg blockage, well at least until the backyard pond fish died. All were eating well, able to swim. I treated the wading pool with epsom salts when i set it up. I have metronidazole, if it was a parasite i could add that with food. The fish have personality, I'd like to keep them alive. I think the back yard fish is in this picture. I'll post one of the wading pool fish in an hour or so

 

[Alice B]

the goldfish has been bloated Like this for over a year. Little spotted koi almost a year

 

[Colin_T]

It's unlikely to be egg bound if there are male fish in the pond.
If it's eating well and been fat like that for a year, it's probably a tumour. There's no cure for tumours.
I can't see the spotted koi well enough to make any sort of guess. A picture of it in an aquarium would show more.

Are their bodies bent causing the tail to bend to the side?
If yes, this would also point towards a tumour.

 

[Alice B]

a bit of a bend toward the side. they eat very well. Every morning. thank you

 

[Back in the fold]

I’ve seen goldfish like that . Bloated ones . It doesn’t seem to be anything detrimental most of the time just a fat fish . As long as they behave as usual and eat well they seem fine . Goldfish are getting civilized like their owners and tending toward obesity . It might be the food .

 

[Alice B]

if it's the food I have about 75 goldfish and 30 koi that are not bloated on the same food. Goldfish came in that way from a customer pond. I'm not sure what is up with the koi. On goldfish I think it is a bit of a digestive tract partial blockage and it will kill her if I don't cure her, but I don't want metronidazole in my honeybee hives so for now I have not treated for hexamita. the koi improved somewhat when I put some epsom salt in, I will probably add a little more epsom salt today. I'm not worried about that with bees

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish has Hexamita or any other internal protozoan infection, it would lose weight over a few weeks and usually die within a month.

What does their poop look like?
Fish with internal protozoan or bacterial infections normally do stringy white poop. Intestinal worms can also cause the stringy white poop.

 

[Alice B]

I don't know, they are outdoor fish. I'm just going to put some epsom salts in the pool. The koi is improving, her bloat bubble is much less and she is gaining body length. the goldfish is not improving, both fish have had some bloat evident, koi for a year, that goldfish maybe for 2 years. i could use a needle and drain fluid from bubble and see what's going on

 

[Colin_T]

Be careful if you use a needle on the fish, you could allow an infection to get in and kill it.

 

[Alice B]

which is why I haven't done anything. The fish is alive. Had another bloated one from a different pond that came in 2022, died about 2 weeks ago. I don't believe it's dropsy, I cleaned the backyard pond because the fish vanished and I needed to find the body, plus it was dirty. These are not young fish, except the koi, and i am not sure what to do for them so for now I provide decent water quality and feed them, but they are quarantined, I had intended to move the one from the back yard pond to this pool before she died. Just didn't get it done

 

[Colin_T]

If they are eating normally then I would just keep them in a separate pond and leave them until they have trouble swimming or eating. When that happens you euthanise them. Until then keep them comfortable and let them be.

 

[Alice B]

they are fine. They have a few mosquito fish in with them and the bees visit daily for water.