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I feel really bad about not noticing the goldfish sooner, but it's been a pretty cold winter and we are just starting to feed the pond fish again. And even now, I'm not feeding them every day. There's just something about them fasting all winter that makes me nervous about turning on the food spigot full blast. I like to ease them back in to the routine. Because of that, I honestly don't know how long this little goldfish waited for me to find him. But he did wait, and I did find him.
After talking to Mzungu and Wesleydnunder about the little goldfish (who I will from here on out refer to as 'Trooper'), I decided to go ahead and Blog this entire experience. It's going to include successes and failures, good choices and bad choices, photos, medications used, maybe even some videos if I get around to setting up the tripod. WARNING: The photos of Trooper show incredible damage, and may not be appropriate for any of our super-sensitive members.
March 28, 2010
I went outside to feed the pond fish. I saw a fish laying on the bottom, completely chewed up, missing fins, and covered in a white fuzzy fungus. Honestly, I thought he was dead. I went in and got a net to scoop him out of the pond. When I got him in the net, he moved. I was floored. I brought him in the house and put him in a hospital tank I happened to have up and running (and clean). He couldn't stay upright and just rested on his side on the bottom of the tank. I hate that. I hate that more than just about anything. And the thing is, fish just keep trying to right themselves. I imagine they are uncomfortable laying down, or vulnerable, or both. Either way, I feel like it's a waste of energy and that energy is better spent trying to heal. This is what I did to help Trooper stay upright without having to work at it.
I put a large piece of acrylic in the 10 gallon so that it leaned from the bottom-front to the top-back. Then I filled the wedge with java moss. Here's a really bad graphic that shows a little better what I'm talking about. Imagine you are viewing the tank from the side.hospitaltank.jpg
I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I've seen some pretty messed up fish over the years, but I have never seen anything like this. All of his fins are gone, he's breathing heavy, and almost his entire body is covered in a thick fuzzy mass. But what could I do? He was still alive, somehow, so I had to give him the chance to keep going.
Since this was the first night, and I really didn't know exactly what had happened to him, I decided to go easy on the meds. I'm not too big on dosing with a lot of medication before knowing what I'm dealing with. I know there are emergencies where you just kind of have to throw the kitchen sink in there and hope something works, but I really felt like going mild with this guy was the best thing to do for now. So I used Melafix and Pimafix. I tried to get him to take some food (Cichlid Excel mini sinking pellets soaked in Vita-Chem), but he wanted no part of that. I can't say I blame him. I probably wouldn't have much of an appetite either. I ended up just adding 20 drops of Vita-Chem to his water instead.
March 29, 2010
He's still alive!
Now that I've had some time to look him over, I don't think it's fin rot. It looks like he was attacked by something, and now the wounds are covered by fungus. I'm still using Melafix and Pimafix for now.
March 30, 2010
I talked to MB (Mzungu) yesterday and she requested a pic. Here's what I sent her.
DSC_03890330.jpg
Pretty crazy, huh? This fish shouldn't be alive!
I emailed this pic to MB and together we brainstormed. Based on the injuries, we figure an animal of some kind got a hold of him, tore him up pretty good, but dropped him back in the pond before he was finished off.
I did a water change and dosed with Melafix and Pimafix, and added erythromycin.
March 31, 2010 - April 4, 2010
The basic routine is water change and medicate. Nothing much new, except that I've switched from Melafix and Pimafix to Ich Attack. Continuing with the erythromycin. He's still kickin'.
April 5, 2010 and April 6, 2010
I can tell the fungus is getting better, but he's still in bad shape. The fact that he's still alive continues to amaze me.
April 7, 2010DSC_04740408_sm.jpg
Well, since the fungus is going away, I'm seeing some pretty significant damage underneath. For example, a solid chunk of meat came off his back today. My theory is that the only thing that was holding it on was the fungus. I can see his bones. So, the good news is that the fungus is going way. The bad news is that the damage is far worse than just some missing fins. You can click on the attached photo to see what I'm talking about.
April 8, 2010
He ATE food! I feed our betta's bloodworms using an eyedropper, and I figured I'd see if Trooper would eat some. I didn't think he would, but I put the dropper in front of his mouth and squeezed some BW out and he just went crazy! So I got some pellets soaked in vitamins and fed those to him too. He ate so good! That has to be a good sign, right??
I've also switched from erythromycin to Marycin-2. I'm still using the Ich Attack, just changed the antibiotic.
April 9, 2010
He poo'ed! Yay! He's eating and he's poo'ing. I think that means his internal organs are working! At the very least, his digestive system is working.
I've also found the easiest way to feed him is to cup my hand in the water, then pick him up and let him sit on my palm. Then I put some pellets into my palm and he sucks them up. That way he doesn't lose them in the java moss. It takes a long time, but at least I know he's eating. He's gotten to where he can maneuver around my hand without too much trouble.
I didn't use the Ich Attack today. Instead I used Methylene Blue. Still using Maracyn-2.
April 10, 2010
It looks like the fungus is better today. I took some off of him and put it on a slide to view on the microscope.
April 11, 2010
Emailed the digital pics of the fungus slides to MB. Thanks to her amazing researching skills, we confirmed that it is Saprolegnia fungus. From what I've read now, the best treatment is Malachite Green. The only Malachite Green I have also has Formalin in it. So at this point, the closest I've come to using it is to put the bottle by the tank.
I'm just nervous about the Formalin.DSC_05040412.jpgApril 12, 2010
I've decided to suck it up and do a bath using the Malachite Green and Formalin. I moved Trooper to a tupperware container full of his tank water. I put some of the med in the container with him and went to work cleaning his tank. And today, I am giving it a super clean. I left him in the tub of medication for about 30 minutes, then back to his super clean tank he went. I dosed the tank with Ich Attack and Maracyn-2.
April 13, 2010
For some reason, he just looks better to me today. I don't know what it is exactly. He looks brighter somehow. I think I'll do the Malachite Green/Formalin bath again. And another super clean of the tank. Gotta keep the tank as free of the Saprolegnia spores as possible.DSC_05050413.jpg
I'll be blogging about him and his progress for as long as there is a story to tell....more to come.
