I just discovered today that Tailer has another hole in his lovely tail I am on day 6 of Melafix treatment as I noticed about a week ago that that area of his tail was beginning to fray somewhat. I am at a loss as to what the problem is so added Pimafix today as well and the water parameters are fine. Now I am starting to wonder if it is an organism that has attached itself to that part of his tail and feeds on the tissue every few weeks. I am going to a huge fish and aquarium warehouse store tomorrow and will be bringing this picture in with me to ask the staff if they've seen this anomaly before. Will let you know how it goes.

Honestly, I am almost at the point of giving up. In the past 3 hours the hole has dissolved and there is now a small tear like the first time this happened. I feel helpless as I sit and watch this sh*te go down. There have been choice words and a lot of screaming in the sheer frustration of this. My poor little Tailer  

Hey April, you are not the type of girl who gives up, no, not you.
Mr. Tailer will be fine, sure.
He may have suffered a small injury ( like our Sunshine must have during the move because she has got a bit fin rot but I am treating with Pimafix and Melafix and it is getting better every day ) As long as Mr. Tailer behaves normal you shouldn't worry too much, concentrate on waterquality on regular waterchanges and treat with Pimafix and Melafix.

I am back from the BIG fish store and shared that photo with the staff there. I was lucky to get a 'goldie' girl too! who keeps many goldfish. After the pic was passed around, they all agreed to stick with the melafix and pimafix. Also to change out 1/3 of the water every 7 days and begin treatment again until it has healed completely for as long as a month. The use of salt was advised as well but I am not sure about adding it after that treatment using ammo lock several weeks ago.

To add insult to injury, I tested the tap water and it is again showing low levels of nitrite so any fresh water I add back to the tank already contains it. As for the ammonia levels, well with that darn ammo lock, the levels still show very high (4.0) even though they can't possibly be. I will NEVER use that stuff again! Nitrates are very low (5 to 10) which is excellent. The water is looking a little cloudy after adding more of the medicines today and a thin film is coating the tank walls. Lots of aeration and a new media insert (not the biofilter).

I promise to never give up on my best little fish friend I was just so frustrated and worried. I tend to be ultra sensitive when it comes to my animal friends as I love them so much  

Please do Hanna - thank you much appreciated.

Just send an email to him, now we must be patient... all will be fine 

The Melafix and Pimafix will make your tank seem cloudy.  I almost see a film on the tanks sides when I use it.  It has natural oils in it and I think it builds up on the glass of the tank.

I bet he'll be just fine After all, one hole or tear in the tail is one of the easiest thing to care for and you usually don't even have to treat! Besides, I wouldn't worry about the nitrite in the tap water, it will all be handled by the beneficial bacteria in the tank once it'd done cycling

And again, not to worry about the ammo lock, as long as you rinsed the gravel well (preferably in a bucket of tank water) it should be perfect!

Hello April,
Graham is my name and I am Hanna's friend that she mentioned, I read through this thread and have given it some thought, firstly Ammo lock may not have caused ammonia problems in your tank, the active ingredient in all of these type of products on the market is, (apart from some other things), formaldehyde. This chemical may interfere with your test and give you a false reading, it is possible you have no commonly understood problems with your water.
Before I start I would also add that almost all diseases are caused by a water condition and the least understood condition is the tap water itself, specifically hydrated lime. Hydrated Lime or Caustic soda, (which turns into Hydrated lime when in contact with calcium) are added to drinking water by recommendation of the World Health Organisation  to all developed countries. If your tap water comes out of the tap at 7.6 pH it is as a result of lime, unless your drinking water come from glacial ice, which is possible.

If you have turned you tank white with the cures you are using, stop there addition now, you have used to much, don't add any more and do a 50% water change to remove them from your tank, ammo lock won't be leaving that residual.
Even though I have recommended this big water change, I would not have recommended any change for another 2 weeks at least, the melafix in particular is an oil (tea tree oil) and you may have gone a bit far with it, understandably of course.

The reason I recommend less water change is because the only way to stop the cause of your problem (lime) is to allow the biology of your tank to break it down, which it will do with time. My products remove lime but you can't get them in your country at the moment.
You have the very early stages of a fungal infection, that could have been caused by your tank cycling, but it is as likely to be hydrated lime. The reason I say this is because your tank is crystal clear, aged tanks that have absorbed lime have a very slight amber tinge, well planted tanks are a good example of this.
 Seachems prime or any water conditioner that can remove toxic metals are what you need to use when you do your water change, they will have EDTA in them and this will soften the water to some extent, Calgon is the chemical I use as well as Edta, but this toxin (lime) is largely misunderstood and I am the only manufacturer I know that uses it, there's a story in that as well.
To keep your aquarium in good order in future never add cures unless it is your last resort (your problem is not bad) monitor your pH, make sure it isn't becoming acid, don't worry to much about nitrates, goldfish are quite happy with very high levels. I would try to get away with no more than about 20% per fortnight, you need to get to that amber colour.

You can read more in detail about water changing with respect to lime removal by clicking on the link below, I had an in depth discussion on another forum which helped develop my own understanding.
(Link is not visible to guests. Please register to view.)

I hope this helps
Regards Graham Lloyd-Jones
 

Thank you Graham for your great post, I believe this will help lots of members on this forum towards a better understanding whats happening with and in the water, including me.    See you and Kerry on Sunday 

Thank you goldiegirl for sharing  so we know it is nothing strange 

Thanks to Graham for this very informative post! You are absolutely right - the pH of my tap water is 7.5 and it is not from glacial ice. For many years I have used a Brita filtration device on the tap itself because I simply hated the taste of this city's tap water. Not long ago I discovered that my nitrate readings were off the chart coming thru the filter itself as I have always used filtered water for the aquarium. I have since removed that filter and started using plain tap water with a suitable water conditioner before adding it to the tank. I now understand how everything got so messed up and you're right - I went overboard with water changes in an attempt to free up some of my tank parameter readings. All the while throwing the balance completely out. Several other forum members have warned me about this as well. I have done as you suggested and changed half of the water and will hold off any further additions of medicines. Hanna I must thank you again for sharing my dilema and getting your friend involved I had no idea about the nature of the city water coming out of my taps. I hope to see Graham's products in Canada in the future or I will just have to pay a visit down under! All the best

Fortunate to have a chance meeting a guy like Graham and his wife Kerry, otherwise I woudn't have known much about town water either 

This is fantastic information Hanna thank you for posting, now I will look for similar items here or I will really have to go there to buy these great products - did you hear that???...♪♫♪♫ ding ding ding ding = KARMA Woohoo!!! Aww with all those adorable teddy bears - how sweet

Hello April,
I would have to say that it is refreshing to see people who treat their Goldfish as pets and are concerned about them as individual animals, enough to give them names, ( even though I was making fun of Hanna on an Australian forum with respect to this)
What you were doing for Mr Tailer was clearly done with his health in mind, it's a shame more people weren't as caring about there pets as yourself and Hanna.
I would agree with the posts above, that if this is a fungal infection it is very minor. Also if you can't get the products Hanna has displayed look for a Water Conditioner that removes toxic metals. Even though you are unhappy with Ammo Lock, it may do this and may be your only option. Sera and Tetra products will do this, in fact Tetra invented the first product to do it, Supa Chlor goes a little further and removes lime specifically but you can't get it in Canada.

Regards Graham

LOL, Graham, we do have fun on this Aussie Forum, I love it, lol, I played the game   
But you are right, we cherish our fishies, they do have their own personalities and it is just so beautiful as they give so much love back, well this is my impression anyway 

Andrea, as you are in Aussie, you should be able to order products of Grahams website, just send Graham a personal message and ask him if you are interested He sure will provide you with the necessary information.