Goldfish with (probably) swim bladder problems... Treated/poisoned w/ Formalin  9/5/07 Hi there, <And you> We have two goldfish in a 160 litre (what's that about 40 gallons?) <Yes...> tank with an inbuilt (and pretty powerful) filter. We regularly test for ammonia and nitrite, infrequently for nitrate and PH - we've never had any water quality problems at all. We do a partial water change (about 30%) and gravel clean each week. <Sounds good> We bought one of the fish (Lewis) about six weeks ago, and a week or so after we got him we noticed that he was getting small white patches on his fins. One patch would form, then fade after about three days, >Maybe flukes; Trematodes< then another would develop. It didn't seem to affect his behaviour or bother him at all, so we left it for a while to see if it was just stress related from the move from the shop. Eventually, having been advised that it was most likely a bacterial problem, we treated with Waterlife's Myxazin (formaldehyde-based - <Yikes> don't know what the US equivalent would be, we're in the UK). This seemed to clear up the problem, and for a week or so he was fine. <Very toxic> Yesterday we came back from three days away (they weren't fed while we were away) and found that Lewis was very lethargic, sitting in the corner of the tank barely moving. <To be expected> He stirred himself enough to grab a bit of shelled pea last night, but wasn't terribly alert and looked like he was having trouble with balance. This morning he was the same, and today when I came home from work he was wrapped around the filter inlet, unable to move enough to free himself. I freed him (and have covered the filter to stop him getting stuck again). He's now mostly lying on his side - he does move around from time to time but can't keep himself straight. His breathing is very laboured, but there are no other visible symptoms. <Could be just poisoned> Am I right in thinking this is likely to be a swim bladder problem. If so, other than continuing to feed peas, is there anything else we can do? <Optimized, stable conditions is about it> Also, is there any risk to our other fish (who so far seems completely fine)? We don't have a quarantine tank set up - we have a 25 litre tank currently empty of water (and which we don't have good filters for) which we could use at a push. Any advice very much appreciated. Thanks Simon <Do keep monitoring nitrogenous accumulation... it may be that your bio-filter is mal-affected. And please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/formalinart.htm Bob Fenner>

Disease In Goldfish, Research - 11/06/2005 Can Maracyn two be added to a tank recently treated with Formalite 1? One fish had black and white spots; the Formalite seems to be working on him, but the fantail has dropped her fins again, and they are ragged. Maracyn two works well for her. <Umm.... too many factors at play to give you proper advice without you actually learning about the factors that may be affecting the fish.... Please start by reading here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm , http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwdis3setsfactors.htm , http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshdisease.htm and all the FAQs links in blue at the top of that last.> It will take me days to do a proper water change in a 30 gallon tank.... <Uhh, what? A proper water change should be accomplished in under an hour.... Prepare water, remove water, add water.... That's all. Water changes are of extreme importance in emergency situations; you really must find a way to make it not take days to do one. A matter of some days can mean life or death.> <<Could she be waiting on an RO system to filter sufficient water?  MH>> and I'd hate to see her deteriorate.  <Fin rot is often exclusively environmental. Test your water: ammonia and nitrite must be ZERO, nitrate less than 20ppm.... if these are not so, do water changes (perhaps large ones, daily, if necessary) until they are correct.> Really great web site...thanks in advance for any advice! Mary... <Wishing you well, -Sabrina>

Ick help!  9/11/05 I have a 5 gal. tank with 4 goldfish. My little guy Noah has white spots but no one else did. I called my fish store and she told me to still treat the whole tank with "Quick Cure" <... Too toxic> and when I came home from work the other fish looked like their scales were missing and very sick. I only used one drop per gallon and this is my first day of treatment. Is this medicine killing the rest of my fish? <Yes. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner> Please let me know! Sarah

Oranda breathing heavy after a <poisoned> formalin bath hi, I kept my Oranda in a formalin solution for 10 min. 3 hours back and when I put it in aquarium it was acting as if it was chewing and spitting out something. since then it is continuing this behaviour. its gill flaps are also rapidly moving as if it is having problems in breathing. will it go off in some time or is a serious problem? what can I do? <Read... on WWM re formalin use. And hope. Bob Fenner> 

"Quick Cure" for Goldfish With Ick <Hi, Mike D here> I have been treating my goldfish for Ick for almost a week now and he still seems to have the parasite. His tail is drooping and he stays on the bottom of the bowl
<looking poorly is not the same thing as "still having a parasite">.
I have live plants in the tank, should I take them out during treatment?<You don't say how large a tank he's in, but the ingredients in this medication are definitely not conducive to healthy plant growth> I'm using QuickCure
<Actually, this is one of my personal medications of choice and is a pretty decent product>, it claims to work in 2 days.<OK, while it's a pretty fair product, this IS definitely a bit of an exaggeration> Is there anything else I can do?<Without knowing anything about your tank size, filtration, etc., it's difficult to say. I, personally would have transferred him to a special treatment tank as I NEVER treat my main tanks themselves. A few things you'll want to do for sure are 1) some partial water changes ASAP as the tank MAY have a build up of formalin and Methylene blue (both very lethal in overdose amounts), as well as any excess ammonia and nitrites that may have already been present in your tank. 2) I'd suggest getting some basic test kits and a treatment bowl for future outbreaks, and 3) I'd continue treatment for 7-10 days minimum WITH partial water changes every other day until done.  Without knowing any of your tank parameters, I strongly suspect that he's now suffering from poisoning from at least the four previously mentioned chemicals, so the water changes (up to 50% if need be) will have the fastest immediate visible beneficial effects> thanks so much<Your very welcome and good luck>

Sick Snoopy My comet (Snoopy) was acting sick for a while. He lost his color and wouldn't come out as much. I put two new fantails in with him. He seemed to perk up but they brought ICH with them and the larger fantail is nipping the others. The comet's fins have been torn pretty good and now there is black on them. I have read that fish will nip at sick ones? < Fish will feed on anything edible and other sick fish certainly do qualify.>
I have treated the ICH with QuickCure. What to do about the fins? <After the Ich has been cured then add some additional decorations and plants. If the water is clean and the fish are healthy then the fins will grow back. If the nitrates are too high and you haven't done any water changes in a while then they might come down with a bacterial infection and need treating.> Is it a bacterial infection? <Probably not yet. If there was an infection then the fins would look torn and ragged. Service the filter and do a water change and see if they pick up.> Isolation? How to stop the nipping? < This may be needed eventually.-Chuck> Poor Snoopy.  Thanks, Scott