Sick Goldfish - Seeking Assistance with Diagnosis

[Jaes]

I need urgent advice for a sick goldfish. It's a bit of a messy situation and there are no local fish vets available.

I moved a sick goldfish from my parent's pond to a 60L hospital tank. She has a swollen abdomen, red patches on her face and near the base of some fins, and her one eye has less visible sclera than the other. Though her behavior and appetite seem normal, I'm no expert. Unfortunately, she's been this way for months, as my parents hoped she would recover by herself. I suspected dropsy, but the local pet shop ruled it out, considering the timeframe. They suggested she might be egg-bound, but isn't that fatal by now?

I initially had some ammonia issues with the new setup, so I've been doing daily water changes with pond water. I want to help her swiftly, so I can return her to the healthier and roomier pond. I've adjusted her diet, now feeding her veggies and pellets thrice daily, and raised the water temperature to 23°C. I've heard Epsom salt might alleviate swelling, but I'm hesitant without a clear diagnosis.

pH stands at 7.4, and the tank and pond show no nitrite, nitrate, or ammonia (thanks to daily changes). Excuse the picture quality, taking pictures of fish is hard. Apologies if my Reddit formatting isn't great — I'm not a regular user.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Colin_T]

What does the fish's poop look like?

Dropsy causes the fish to bloat/ swell up (get really fat) overnight and the scales on the side of the body usually stick out from the body. Fish with dropsy usually stop eating. If the fish is eating well and has been fat for several months it is not dropsy.

Egg binding occurs when cold water fishes (like goldfish) are kept in warm water all the time. The males don't come into breeding condition and don't try to breed with the females. Then the females develop eggs but can't expel them and over time the fish becomes egg bound and won't be able to breed. It does not normally kill the fish. I do not think this is egg binding because the entire abdomen is swollen and that's not where the eggs build up.

If the fish got fat over several months, it could be a tumour or cyst, tumours are more common. There's no cure for tumours and the fish are left until they have trouble swimming or stop eating, then they are euthanised.

The red areas around the face could be from physical damage or an infection. However, if the fish is eating well then it's not an infection. If fish get an infection in their head/ face, they stop eating and don't act well. Physical damage should heal up on its own if the water is clean and the fish well fed.

You can't do anything about the black eye if it's blind. If the fish is blind in that eye, then something has damaged it and that could be the same thing that caused the red around the face.
Make sure no fish predators are getting into the pond and catching the fish.
Make sure there are no sharp/ pointy objects in the pond.

At this stage, unless the fish is doing a stringy white poop or stops eating, I would put it back with the others and just let it be until it can't swim properly or stops eating.

 

[Jaes]

Thank you for your response.

Regarding the fish's poops, they are stringy but I think something more between a light brown and grey. I'll keep an eye out for white poops. What would that indicate?
Speaking of poops, would the other fish in the pond have similar symptoms if this was a result of a poor diet? My parents feed them pellets once a day, and I'm not sure of the pellets' quality.
I'll make sure to check the pond for any sharp objects and will tighten up its security.

I really can't thank you enough. I'm super appreciative for the time you took to explain everything. I think I have a better understanding on the goldfish's situation now. Your advice is hands down the best I've come across.

 

[Colin_T]

Stringy white poop can be from intestinal worms, an internal bacterial infection or an internal protozoan infection. The bloating over a course of months is not bacterial or protozoan. Some fish do get really fat when they have a lot of thread worms but you can normally see the worms hanging out the fish's butt. They look like thin red hairs. Normally though when fish have worms, they lose weight over time. The following link has more info on stringy white poop.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

Make sure the goldfish get some plant matter in their diet. Duckweed is a small floating plant that grows rapidly and goldfish love it. Quite often you need 2 ponds for it. One pond to grow it and the other pond with the goldfish. You can grow it in plastic storage containers outside too.

The fact the fish has gotten fat over several months is most likely a tumour.