Help With Ill Goldfish, Unsure What Else To Try

[purkles]

Hi there, just joined for a bit of advice from anyone willing to help.

I have a 72 litre tank with 2 plecs and 5 goldfish. Heater usually set about 24 to take off the chill, a filter and a sandstone bubbler.
About 4 weeks ago i came in and one of my goldfish was sitting on the bottom and lookin a bit swollen at the bum end. I changed about 30 % water checked up on the net presuming constipation or dropsy. I tried not much feeding, and feeding peas to treat the constipation (if it was this) and some salt. He perked up a little and started swimming about again within the next few days but continualy got more swollen. Scales started to stick out so im now thinking its definetely dropsy. I got an internal bacteria medication and used this for the 7 days i stated to use. Nothing changed. So i then tried Myxazin recommended by the fish shop for 7 days. This did nothing either. The swelling at the bum end has gone but now the swelling is like a lump on its "shoulder" area, at the top right hand side. The other side is a little swollen and his head it a little swollen on the top. About 2 weeks ago he also had a red ulcer on the underside fin but it went away after about 2 days. The end of his tail is a little black around the edges. My other fish all look fine, all thefish are eating and swimming as normal but this one fish looks all bumpy. I got some methylene blue to try this but was looking to see if anyone had any ideas for a bumpy looking fish.
Sorry to go on a bit, just trying to explain the situation. Ive been doing a 25-30% water change everyweek with a tap conditioner too.
Any advice appreciated thanks

 

[Imber]

Do you have water testing kits or access to a pet store where you could take your water to be tested? Your tank is very overstocked(your tank has barely enough room for 2 fancy goldfish) and I'm guessing the water quality is not very good. The black marks that you saw were most likely caused by ammonia burns and the poor water quality probably weakened your fish's system and it succumbed to an internal bacterial infection. You should test your water and the stats should be ammonia:0 nitrites:0 nitratesreferably below 20(which might not be possible depending on your nitrates out of the tap). If you have elevated ammonia or nitrites you need to do large water changes until they get down to 0. How long has this tank been running? Do you know the turnover rate on your filter? Also, what kind of plecos do you have? Common plecos will grow much much too large for your tank and have also been known to develop a taste for goldfish slimecoat and attack them. Smaller plecos like bristlenose and rubberlip have been successfully housed with goldfish, but like I mentioned your tank is very overstocked as it is with just the goldfish. These issues need to be addressed first to ensure the health of your remaining fish. If your tank was cycled at some point there's a good chance that it no longer is because of the medications you've been using.

Okay on to the sick fish. The standard dropsy treatment is to quarantine the fish and raise the temperature up to 82F(27C I think). This will boost the immune system and negatively impact some forms of bacteria that cause dropsy. You need to add epsom salt at a dose of 1/4 tsp for 10 gallons(about 39 litres) and you need to medicate with a antibiotic. Since I'm american I'm not sure what is available to you, but I use medicated food like metromeds in combination with maracyn2. If you can get furan 2 I think that it is good for dropsy, but someone more familiar with medication availability might be able to help you further. I've successfully treated dropsy numerous times, but depending on the cause of the dropsy it can be very difficult to impossible to treat. If you cannot get an antibiotic food you can try making your own gel food that's high in vitamin C, high quality protein and garlic to help boost the fish's immune system further. Good luck with your fish and I really hope he can pull through for you.