Goldfish with fungal infection

[GobyMaster11276]

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.

It might be difficult to tell through photos, but there is a fuzzy growth (what I assumed to be fungus) along the dorsal and tail fins, situated around the edges. If you look at the parts where the fin seems irregularly shaped, you should be able to see it, particularly on the top of the tail.

It might be low odds of a recovery but, given that he has kept fighting for the last week, I feel it best that I exhaust my options before euthanasia.

 

[Avel1896]

Body seems slightly curved, but saying fish is in a typical "c" shape.... hard to say for sure because of picture angle of view and reflections.

 

[Guest14017]

Body is certainly curved. Very easy to tell. C shape simply refers to that curve. The fish rarely/never lives long enough to curve into an ACTUAL "c" shape.

Even if there is fungus on this fish, that would be a secondary concern at this point. A fungus would not cause the fish to be in this condition. It would likely develop after the fish was already ill. Fish fungus is almost always linked to poor water quality and a weakened fish, and curved "on their sides" fish are almost always linked to the same thing.

So, clean water and maybe a little salt is all I can see doing here. He is hanging in there, but the prognosis for fish in this condition are simply very poor. Still, I hope he is able to make a recovery. Never say never.

 

[GobyMaster11276]

Update: the bacterial/fungal growth has been cleared up, thanks to a combination of medication, salt, and water changes, and none of the other fish developed symptoms, but I still face one major problem: the fish remains floating on his side. How does one go about treating this buoyancy issue? He has gotten to the point of having long, white excrement, which I assume is due to not eating, and this needs urgent addressing as well. I have tried feeding him both as normal and with the syringes used for baby medicine, but don’t seem to have had success so far. So, the questions come down:
1. how do you feed a fish floating on its side?
2. how do you correct buoyancy issues?

Thanks for all the help thus far!

 

[Avel1896]

Hey

having long, white excrement, which I assume is due to not eating

You have to deworm your fish asap : he carries intestinal parasites. Get eSHa-ndx.
How are his scales ? Ruffled ?

 

[GobyMaster11276]

Hey

You have to deworm your fish asap : he carries intestinal parasites. Get eSHa-ndx.
How are his scales ? Ruffled ?

His scales appear normal at the moment. When it is light, I will try to get a picture of the ‘poo’ so you can get a better idea of what it is.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

Is he able to swim around but just can’t stay upright? Does he seem interested in food? I’m trying to get a feel for what his quality of life is like. It’s possible that some sort of irreversible damage was done to his nervous system.