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Author Topic: Poor Spot  (Read 256 times)
Nicole
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Poor Spot
« on: November 01, 2012, 06:43:29 PM »
My favorite fishy, Spot the shubunkin, isn't looking well.  He has dark red spots on his body, fins, and gills.  I tested the water using a home test kit, and everything, including ammonia, was in the "safe" range.  None of the other fish are sick.  He lives in a 60 gallon tank with five other goldfish, and the water is due for a change this week.  He's been eating well, but he's clamping his top fin and sometimes swims in fast circles around the tank.  We currently have him in the hospital tank and are treating him with Pimafix.  He had these marks two weeks ago, but not as badly, and they cleared up with a little Pimafix.  I'm also posting a few pictures.  My husband thinks this is a normal color change and he's fine, but I'm worried.  Thoughts, friends?
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Fizgig
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2012, 08:07:47 PM »
It looks to me like it like an internal bacterial infection and/or Septicemia.  He was able to fight of the bacteria initially  a few weeks ago when it was still in the early stages, but it looked like he wasn't able to get rid of the infection completely. The infection looks a lot more serious this time with red areas all over his body and fins. Melafix and Pimafix are only good for very minor stuff, but this will require real medications (antibiotics). 

Typically , you want to use medicated food in this type of situation , since this is the best way to get the medication into his body.

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If you don't have the medicated food , the next best option is to get the antibiotics from the pet store.  Don't order it by mail ,since it will probably require several days to reach your house. You want to treat Spot as soon as possible.

You can try  using both Marycyn 1 ( erythromycin  for gram positive bacteria)  and  Maracyn 2 (minocyclin, a tetracycline antibiotic for gram negative bacteria) together for best result.  This is mostly likely a gram negative bacterial infection , but  using Maracyn 1 & 2 together is a good idea.

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If you can't get your hands on these medications, pick another brand but make sure it  is broad spectrum antibiotic that treats gram negative bacteria.

The medications will most likely kill off some your biological filtration , so you should you use them in a quarantine tank. Spot has already shown he can't fight off this infection on his own, so you will need to treat him as soon as possible for the best outcome.
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scrivens345
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2012, 05:23:22 AM »
I'm afraid that you'll keep having problems as your tank is overstocked.
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Nicole
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2012, 09:54:42 AM »
Thanks everyone.  We'll go out today and get some medicine for Spot.  As for the overstock problem, we'll see if there's someone at one of the schools or businesses that might want one of Spot's tankmates.  It will be hard getting rid of one of them, but I don't want them to get sick as well.  How well would a comet do in a pond in the winter?  I heard they're hardy, but I don't want their rehoming to be a death sentence.
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scrivens345
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2012, 11:53:48 AM »
comets and shubunkins are really pond fish and are quite hardy.However ir's probably too late in the year for them to go out to a pond, as they won't have time to acclimatize, the shock could kill them. Think about re-homing in the Spring.
All single-tailed goldfish can grow up to a foot in length  and eventually need to be moved to ponds where possible
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laurencasualty
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2012, 02:31:38 AM »
I'm no expert but that certainly doesn't look normal :/ Best of luck with spot Nicole, and I agree with scrivens about rehoming some of them in spring. I'm sure they'll be very happy boys and girls a big ol' pond Smiley freedom!! Tongue
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Nicole
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2012, 09:54:24 PM »
Good news!  We had him in the treatment tank for the day, then put him in the main tank overnight, prepared to medicate him the next day.  When we checked on him in the morning, his red marks were nearly gone.  We changed his water and watched him.  Today he looks great!  It's like he was never sick!  Fishy miracle, anyone?
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laurencasualty
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2012, 12:01:59 AM »
aww wow, that's great
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Nicole
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #8 on: November 09, 2012, 12:33:50 PM »
Sad update today.  I noticed Spot's fins were clamped.  My husband looked and saw that he had a little red spot on his tail.  In the course of an hour, all the red marks from before appeared on his body again.  I'm getting the treatment tank ready right now.  I hope this time the medicine will do it, and he won't have another relapse.  I can't believe he went from fine this morning to sick so fast!  All the other fish are great- I wonder how he got sick in the first place?
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Skwishee
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2012, 05:54:36 AM »
Does the medicine say how long you should use it? Perhaps use it a little longer to make sure and complete the full course if there is a recommended one  Smiley

As scrivens has said, over stocking could have been the cause. Any luck with finding ponds for next spring?
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Nicole
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Re: Poor Spot
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2012, 08:16:21 PM »
We have another update.  Spot has been having red patches, on and off, since last posting.  We've tried putting him in a treatment tank and dosing him with his medicine, but all that happens is that the tank gets disgustingly cloudy and Spot gets lethargic and stops eating.  His patches seem to disappear in a few days no matter what we do, so this time we're just going to keep him with the others and monitor him.  Again the other fish are just fine and aren't picking on him in the slightest.  I'm hoping it will just be a matter of time before he gets better.
As for rehoming some of them, there is a pond by the park that might be good.  Our local botanical garden used to have a goldfish in the conservatory pond.  Perhaps they would want one or two there again.
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