Post by goldenpuon on Apr 27, 2013 2:14:52 GMT -5
I have several sick fish right now. Besides age which appears to be a definite part of my fish’s current problems, I am the only one to blame really due to not paying as much attention to them as I have in the past and not doing enough tank cleanings/water changes. Part of this has been due to finals time and car trouble, but my own inattentiveness over the past few months is largely to blame. 
This is a very long post with many pictures and videos. Please note that this post has some very sad/disturbing things about some sick/very old fish and fish euthanasia gone wrong. I feel awful the condition of some of these fish. Please feel free not read read if you are likely to be disturbed by this. Thanks.
I tested water in all these tanks. Despite not being expired yet, my test strips seem to have varying readings for the same tanks. Other than some high nitrate readings, the numbers appear normal.
I also added wonder shells to all of these tanks today to help with minerals and redox.
All these fish are fed 2x a day. I don’t understand why a number of them are so thin.
40 gallon goldfish tank
For my goldfish in the 40 gallon (all were bought as pets in 2005-2008 I wanted to rescue since they were feeder fish), I have noticed some have their dorsal fins down and one, Alden, is acting weak.
Alden has a strangely long/hollow-bellied appearance as if it is missing muscle tone or thin. (I have had it since about December of 2005 if this is age related). It has had white nodules on its tail for 5 years without much problem. However, it is sort of flowing with the current and seems uncoordinated and offbalance. It is having difficulty turning like another very old goldfish in a separate tank I will be mentioning later in this post. I have also seen it resting at the surface a couple times (not gasping), just sitting there when I came into the room. In the past four months, I have seen white, stringy stuff attached to its gills twice. The most recent was a couple weeks ago. I was about to treat but it shook it off. Lately it has been breathing heavily and has scratched against the side of the tank two times in the past week. It also appears to have come down with fin rot. The goldfish in the 40 gallon had fin rot several months prior before it went away.
Here is a video of Alden swimming. I'm sorry for the darkness/poor quality. s457.photobucket.com/user/goldenpuon/media/100_5348_zps396fd6c1.mp4.html
Another fish in the same tank, Aztec (which I have had since September of 2005), has been sluggish/weak and I caught it sitting on the bottom a couple days ago (not just lying there sleeping in the middle of the night as some fish do). This morning, its gills seemed irritated, its breathing was more rapid than usual, and one side of its gill cover was red. It had no sign of other injuries. This fish sometimes gets strange marks and is accident prone (a tear in its fins, red mark on its gills in heal in few days). For this reason, what most concerns me is its behavior. Despite its age, it actually appears to have put on weight as of late and its not underweight.
Puon, my oldest goldfish (I have had it since August of 2005) looks like it *may* be starting to develop some humping of its back too. However, it is very friendly/active.
All of the fish in the 40 gallon seem under the weather whether it is some degree of sluggishness or some seem to have labored breathing at times.
I did a water change on the aquarium Thursday night thinking the fish might have nitrite poisoning. The nitrate in the tank was 30-60 as of this morning (too high) and nitrite 0-0.5 (varying readings due to test strips).
I added a regular wonder shell Carl’s and extra Prime as per Carl’s suggestions. I added 3 teaspoons of salt for now, but have held off on medication since I feel there are a number of issues and that I have little idea what is going on.
Any suggestions for treatment/diseases the fish may have and/or what to do would be very helpful. I have had these guys for years and am very worried about them.
Alden
Alden's tail (aka fin rot)
Aztec
10 gallon goldfish tank (aka handicapped fish tank)
I have two blind goldfish in here I got in September of 2005 from the same pet store at the same time. They both have an eye problem only Oranda is about three years ahead of the other goldfish Foneme in developing it- it is definitely genetic. Foneme has struggled with low weight for 4+ years which no anti-parasite food seems to help.
As of the couple months, both Foneme and Oranda have developed some mild humping of their backs. Foneme has been inactive, clamping its fins pointing its head slightly downward as if it has digestive issues frequently (not super uncommon for this fish, it has had stringy waste for 6+ years).
About a month or so ago, I noticed Oranda having difficulty turning and that both fish were extremely thin. I fed them Kordan anti-parasite food for about 6 days and increased feeding. At the time, Oranda also seemed to be having trouble turning (using its tail to turn was slow and shaky). About a week or two ago, its swimming became slow and increasingly uncoordinated (somewhat similar to my goldfish Alden’s).
Here is a video of Oranda. It is more active because it thinks I am feeding it. Around the end of the video is more accurate as to how it acts most of the time lately. s457.photobucket.com/user/goldenpuon/media/100_5274_zpsb3568e72.mp4.html
It spent almost all of its time on the bottom of the tank at a corner trying not to be pulled away in the current from the bubbler and filter (except during feeding). I was concvined it was going to die within the week so I blanketed the tank to cut down on its stress and let it pass naturally. It never stopped eating and now it is still alive (perhaps a little better). Its body appears strangely long looking due to lack of mass (quite possibly loss of muscle tone due to advanced age). I have sworn never to euthanize a goldfish, but I think it is unfair to the fish to keep this fish alive at this point with how much it is suffering.
I had an incident with a very sick tetra I tried to euthanize with a newly opened box of alka selzer (they normally lose consciousness in less than 10 seconds without pain using this method). However, this fish took 5+ minutes to stop struggling with 3 tablets in about 8oz of water. Needless to say, it was extremely painful to watch and I need to get a much more effective box of new alka selzer before I do this again.
Any suggestions for quick/painless euthanasia tips/method for this fish is greatly appreciated! Also, if you agree that this is a good idea for this fish. This is a very hard decision for me and I don't take it lightly.
Foneme and Oranda (See humps in front of back)
Oranda trying to turn
Oranda elongated body look
5 ½ gallon tank (4 year old lone guppy)
I have had a male guppy named French Fry I raised from the moment he was born in late 2008 or at the latest, early 2009. He has spent the majority of his life alone in a 5 ½ gallon aquarium after his older relatives and some Petsmart guppies passed on from old age. I noticed that he was not begging as enthusasitcally as usual lately. Earlier this week, I saw him around the top looking unhappy. I did a small water change (it had been a while) and test. The numbers came out fine. Yesterday, I saw him breathing rapidly at the top. I did a water change and tested again. The water change did not appear to help and the readings showed the water was fine again. When I checked on him tonight to get pictures and investigate further, I saw a pretty large growth in the bottom/middle area of his tail considering how tiny he is. His tail fin appears stretched where the growth is and his spinal column is very prominent (somehow the fish is extremely underweight despite being fed two times a day :’( ) I did not realize how thin he was until I looked at the close up of the picture. I am almost positive the growth is inoperable and that any drawbacks outweigh the benefits.
Once again, euthanasia suggestion will be helpful here unless anyone has any ideas. :’( As well, any insight into why he is so skinny besides age. Thank you!
Growth on French Fry's Tail
Close Up of French Fry's Spine
2 ½ gallon tank
I had two female black phantom tetras in a 2 ½ gallon separated by a divider (they were both unusually aggressive hence their separation. I got both around December 2009/January 2010 with several others that have passed away since then. I originally had them in a more spacious 10 gallon tank with many plastic plants. I had been told that nipping/chasing was normal and that I should leave them be. I tried separating the most aggressive fish and rearranging/adding more and more plastic plants which didn’t seem to help. By the time I permanently separated them, their immune systems were weakened from chasing and had their fins too torn to ever fully heal. A couple died from illness that resulted from the chasing later which I take blame for and the two that lived have been more had weaker immune systems/more prone to disease as well.
Over the past year, the two in the 2 ½ gallon have gotten cottony growth on their mouths (Saprolegnia or Columnaris). I have treated with Melafix/Pimafix combo and medicated wonder shells on separate occasions only to have it come back 3-4 months later. I noticed one of the tetras was acting strangely the past few days – a buoyancy problem where she had to continually spend energy trying to swim upward to avoid getting dragged to the bottom. I thought I saw some fuzzy growth on the other fish tetra yesterday and some on the tail fin of the tetra with the buoyancy problem today.
I lowered the temperature to about 73 F in the aquarium, increased the salt by a teaspoon (I am adding another teaspoon tomorrow for a total of 1 teaspoon/gallon to not shock the fish with the salinity increase), added a regular wondershell, and added Kanaplex (as per Carl’s advice sicne the milder treatments weren’t working). I stopped to take pictures and discovered that the supposed cottony growth on one of the tetras fins was actually new fin growth (I am unsure what from since their fins haven’t healed in a long time since the fin nipping caused permanent damage)! One still has darkened tissue around her mouth which is eaten away, but I couldn’t find any cottony growth anywhere on the two fish.
The weaker of the two fish (the one with the buoyancy issue) panicked when I got pictures/video of her and the guppy who was in the tank next to it. I tried to keep a distance away as I tried to inspect her for illness. She ended up lying on her side on the bottom gasping as if dying. :’( I have never had this happen while checking fish over before and was very upset. I decided to try to end her suffering by quickly capturing her and using alka selzer to euthanize her so she could die calmly and quickly. She started swimming again when I took the divider out to try to gently capture her. She had a strange dark coloration and seemed like she was be swimming in circles as if in shock. It had been about two years since I euthanized a fish with alka selzer so I opened a new box. I put her in about a cup of water and added two tablets expecting the alka selzer to make her quickly pass into an unconscious state in seconds without feeling much. She struggled quite a bit for over 5 minutes plus a third tablet before she stopped struggling/trying to jump out and stopped moving.
I feel horrible for the poor fish and am going to resume trying to figure out if the dark coloration on the other tetra’s mouth is from Columnaris or if it is merely scar tissue from a past infection in the morning. Here is a picture of the remaining tetra. She paled out when I got a picture of her and is pretty torn up from fin nipping from a couple years ago that never healed. If you have any ideas as to what she could have, please let me know (Sorry her mouth, where the infection may be, isn't showing in this picture). 
Last, if anyone has any idea why so many of my fish are so thin, please let me know. It can’t be age alone! I feed the fish strictly 2 times a day (the type depending on if they are goldfish or tropical fish obviously), Aqueon Goldfish Flakes, Omega One Goldfish Pellets, Spirulina 20, Thera tropical fish pellets, , Aqueon Tropical Flakes, HBH Tropical Flake Frenzy. Many of the foods are a year or more old. I used to have more fish and I tend to buy more food at once than I need.
I have not gotten any fish since 2010 and honestly wish I had cut back sooner. This has been a very sad experience with the fish aging so far, but more importantly, I need to take better care of the fish. That means fewer so I can give them the care they need without it feeling like work.
Renee
This is a very long post with many pictures and videos. Please note that this post has some very sad/disturbing things about some sick/very old fish and fish euthanasia gone wrong. I feel awful the condition of some of these fish. Please feel free not read read if you are likely to be disturbed by this. Thanks.
I tested water in all these tanks. Despite not being expired yet, my test strips seem to have varying readings for the same tanks. Other than some high nitrate readings, the numbers appear normal.
I also added wonder shells to all of these tanks today to help with minerals and redox.
All these fish are fed 2x a day. I don’t understand why a number of them are so thin.
40 gallon goldfish tank
For my goldfish in the 40 gallon (all were bought as pets in 2005-2008 I wanted to rescue since they were feeder fish), I have noticed some have their dorsal fins down and one, Alden, is acting weak.
Alden has a strangely long/hollow-bellied appearance as if it is missing muscle tone or thin. (I have had it since about December of 2005 if this is age related). It has had white nodules on its tail for 5 years without much problem. However, it is sort of flowing with the current and seems uncoordinated and offbalance. It is having difficulty turning like another very old goldfish in a separate tank I will be mentioning later in this post. I have also seen it resting at the surface a couple times (not gasping), just sitting there when I came into the room. In the past four months, I have seen white, stringy stuff attached to its gills twice. The most recent was a couple weeks ago. I was about to treat but it shook it off. Lately it has been breathing heavily and has scratched against the side of the tank two times in the past week. It also appears to have come down with fin rot. The goldfish in the 40 gallon had fin rot several months prior before it went away.
Here is a video of Alden swimming. I'm sorry for the darkness/poor quality. s457.photobucket.com/user/goldenpuon/media/100_5348_zps396fd6c1.mp4.html
Another fish in the same tank, Aztec (which I have had since September of 2005), has been sluggish/weak and I caught it sitting on the bottom a couple days ago (not just lying there sleeping in the middle of the night as some fish do). This morning, its gills seemed irritated, its breathing was more rapid than usual, and one side of its gill cover was red. It had no sign of other injuries. This fish sometimes gets strange marks and is accident prone (a tear in its fins, red mark on its gills in heal in few days). For this reason, what most concerns me is its behavior. Despite its age, it actually appears to have put on weight as of late and its not underweight.
Puon, my oldest goldfish (I have had it since August of 2005) looks like it *may* be starting to develop some humping of its back too. However, it is very friendly/active.
All of the fish in the 40 gallon seem under the weather whether it is some degree of sluggishness or some seem to have labored breathing at times.
I did a water change on the aquarium Thursday night thinking the fish might have nitrite poisoning. The nitrate in the tank was 30-60 as of this morning (too high) and nitrite 0-0.5 (varying readings due to test strips).
I added a regular wonder shell Carl’s and extra Prime as per Carl’s suggestions. I added 3 teaspoons of salt for now, but have held off on medication since I feel there are a number of issues and that I have little idea what is going on.
Any suggestions for treatment/diseases the fish may have and/or what to do would be very helpful. I have had these guys for years and am very worried about them.
Alden
Alden's tail (aka fin rot)
Aztec
10 gallon goldfish tank (aka handicapped fish tank)
I have two blind goldfish in here I got in September of 2005 from the same pet store at the same time. They both have an eye problem only Oranda is about three years ahead of the other goldfish Foneme in developing it- it is definitely genetic. Foneme has struggled with low weight for 4+ years which no anti-parasite food seems to help.
As of the couple months, both Foneme and Oranda have developed some mild humping of their backs. Foneme has been inactive, clamping its fins pointing its head slightly downward as if it has digestive issues frequently (not super uncommon for this fish, it has had stringy waste for 6+ years).
About a month or so ago, I noticed Oranda having difficulty turning and that both fish were extremely thin. I fed them Kordan anti-parasite food for about 6 days and increased feeding. At the time, Oranda also seemed to be having trouble turning (using its tail to turn was slow and shaky). About a week or two ago, its swimming became slow and increasingly uncoordinated (somewhat similar to my goldfish Alden’s).
Here is a video of Oranda. It is more active because it thinks I am feeding it. Around the end of the video is more accurate as to how it acts most of the time lately. s457.photobucket.com/user/goldenpuon/media/100_5274_zpsb3568e72.mp4.html
It spent almost all of its time on the bottom of the tank at a corner trying not to be pulled away in the current from the bubbler and filter (except during feeding). I was concvined it was going to die within the week so I blanketed the tank to cut down on its stress and let it pass naturally. It never stopped eating and now it is still alive (perhaps a little better). Its body appears strangely long looking due to lack of mass (quite possibly loss of muscle tone due to advanced age). I have sworn never to euthanize a goldfish, but I think it is unfair to the fish to keep this fish alive at this point with how much it is suffering.
I had an incident with a very sick tetra I tried to euthanize with a newly opened box of alka selzer (they normally lose consciousness in less than 10 seconds without pain using this method). However, this fish took 5+ minutes to stop struggling with 3 tablets in about 8oz of water. Needless to say, it was extremely painful to watch and I need to get a much more effective box of new alka selzer before I do this again.
Any suggestions for quick/painless euthanasia tips/method for this fish is greatly appreciated! Also, if you agree that this is a good idea for this fish. This is a very hard decision for me and I don't take it lightly.
Foneme and Oranda (See humps in front of back)
Oranda trying to turn
Oranda elongated body look
5 ½ gallon tank (4 year old lone guppy)
I have had a male guppy named French Fry I raised from the moment he was born in late 2008 or at the latest, early 2009. He has spent the majority of his life alone in a 5 ½ gallon aquarium after his older relatives and some Petsmart guppies passed on from old age. I noticed that he was not begging as enthusasitcally as usual lately. Earlier this week, I saw him around the top looking unhappy. I did a small water change (it had been a while) and test. The numbers came out fine. Yesterday, I saw him breathing rapidly at the top. I did a water change and tested again. The water change did not appear to help and the readings showed the water was fine again. When I checked on him tonight to get pictures and investigate further, I saw a pretty large growth in the bottom/middle area of his tail considering how tiny he is. His tail fin appears stretched where the growth is and his spinal column is very prominent (somehow the fish is extremely underweight despite being fed two times a day :’( ) I did not realize how thin he was until I looked at the close up of the picture. I am almost positive the growth is inoperable and that any drawbacks outweigh the benefits.
Once again, euthanasia suggestion will be helpful here unless anyone has any ideas. :’( As well, any insight into why he is so skinny besides age. Thank you!
Growth on French Fry's Tail
Close Up of French Fry's Spine
2 ½ gallon tank
I had two female black phantom tetras in a 2 ½ gallon separated by a divider (they were both unusually aggressive hence their separation. I got both around December 2009/January 2010 with several others that have passed away since then. I originally had them in a more spacious 10 gallon tank with many plastic plants. I had been told that nipping/chasing was normal and that I should leave them be. I tried separating the most aggressive fish and rearranging/adding more and more plastic plants which didn’t seem to help. By the time I permanently separated them, their immune systems were weakened from chasing and had their fins too torn to ever fully heal. A couple died from illness that resulted from the chasing later which I take blame for and the two that lived have been more had weaker immune systems/more prone to disease as well.
Over the past year, the two in the 2 ½ gallon have gotten cottony growth on their mouths (Saprolegnia or Columnaris). I have treated with Melafix/Pimafix combo and medicated wonder shells on separate occasions only to have it come back 3-4 months later. I noticed one of the tetras was acting strangely the past few days – a buoyancy problem where she had to continually spend energy trying to swim upward to avoid getting dragged to the bottom. I thought I saw some fuzzy growth on the other fish tetra yesterday and some on the tail fin of the tetra with the buoyancy problem today.
I lowered the temperature to about 73 F in the aquarium, increased the salt by a teaspoon (I am adding another teaspoon tomorrow for a total of 1 teaspoon/gallon to not shock the fish with the salinity increase), added a regular wondershell, and added Kanaplex (as per Carl’s advice sicne the milder treatments weren’t working). I stopped to take pictures and discovered that the supposed cottony growth on one of the tetras fins was actually new fin growth (I am unsure what from since their fins haven’t healed in a long time since the fin nipping caused permanent damage)! One still has darkened tissue around her mouth which is eaten away, but I couldn’t find any cottony growth anywhere on the two fish.
The weaker of the two fish (the one with the buoyancy issue) panicked when I got pictures/video of her and the guppy who was in the tank next to it. I tried to keep a distance away as I tried to inspect her for illness. She ended up lying on her side on the bottom gasping as if dying. :’( I have never had this happen while checking fish over before and was very upset. I decided to try to end her suffering by quickly capturing her and using alka selzer to euthanize her so she could die calmly and quickly. She started swimming again when I took the divider out to try to gently capture her. She had a strange dark coloration and seemed like she was be swimming in circles as if in shock. It had been about two years since I euthanized a fish with alka selzer so I opened a new box. I put her in about a cup of water and added two tablets expecting the alka selzer to make her quickly pass into an unconscious state in seconds without feeling much. She struggled quite a bit for over 5 minutes plus a third tablet before she stopped struggling/trying to jump out and stopped moving.
I feel horrible for the poor fish and am going to resume trying to figure out if the dark coloration on the other tetra’s mouth is from Columnaris or if it is merely scar tissue from a past infection in the morning. Here is a picture of the remaining tetra. She paled out when I got a picture of her and is pretty torn up from fin nipping from a couple years ago that never healed.
If you have any ideas as to what she could have, please let me know (Sorry her mouth, where the infection may be, isn't showing in this picture). 
Last, if anyone has any idea why so many of my fish are so thin, please let me know. It can’t be age alone! I feed the fish strictly 2 times a day (the type depending on if they are goldfish or tropical fish obviously), Aqueon Goldfish Flakes, Omega One Goldfish Pellets, Spirulina 20, Thera tropical fish pellets, , Aqueon Tropical Flakes, HBH Tropical Flake Frenzy. Many of the foods are a year or more old. I used to have more fish and I tend to buy more food at once than I need.
I have not gotten any fish since 2010 and honestly wish I had cut back sooner. This has been a very sad experience with the fish aging so far, but more importantly, I need to take better care of the fish. That means fewer so I can give them the care they need without it feeling like work.
Renee
I put a couple months worth of goldfish food into bags and crushed an entire small wondershell up and mixed it. It's a good thing the goldfish will try to eat anything I put in their tank even if they don't like the taste because their food is going to taste like wondershells from now on. lol 
Could Puon's spinal problem be from some kind of injury? Puon's fins (tail fin plus pectoral fin) appeared suddenly worn away/torn the day after I first noticed its spinal curve. The fish also had a very minor injury his/her gill cover on the same side that it lost 1/2 of its pectoral fin. I haven't seen any bullying in this tank barring my largest goldfish, Salyme, trying to nibble at the other goldfish's gills when it begs for food. It never does this any other time and I never see nipping. Torn fins are pretty common in this tank however. Puon starting acting strange after the water change though I never call hitting or hurting the fish. Any ideas?
