Very sick goldfish.

Posy

One of my fish had been getting increasingly fatter over the past few months. She's not being overfed. She laid eggs about 2 years ago but nothing since. I've been feeding her peas and epsom salts for a couple of months but there's no improvement. She now has a very distended stomach (she's starting to resemble a football) and has difficulty swimming, often swimming on her side. Her scales are very stretched but still flat and not showing any signs of dropsy. I took her to the vet about 10 weeks ago and he didn't seem to know what to do with her.. he said there didn't appear to be any stomach growths and that she'd probably die of heart failure before long.

She now appears to be in distress in the tank, just sitting on the bottom of the tank, struggling to breathe. Is there anything I could do for her?

Does anybody know-

Of a goldfish vet/expert in Dublin that might be able to help?
A humane way to put a fish to sleep if I have to end her suffering?

Thanks for any help.

ANXIOUS

Posy wrote: »

One of my fish had been getting increasingly fatter over the past few months. She's not being overfed. She laid eggs about 2 years ago but nothing since. I've been feeding her peas and epsom salts for a couple of months but there's no improvement. She now has a very distended stomach (she's starting to resemble a football) and has difficulty swimming, often swimming on her side. Her scales are very stretched but still flat and not showing any signs of dropsy. I took her to the vet about 10 weeks ago and he didn't seem to know what to do with her.. he said there didn't appear to be any stomach growths and that she'd probably die of heart failure before long.

She now appears to be in distress in the tank, just sitting on the bottom of the tank, struggling to breathe. Is there anything I could do for her?

Does anybody know-

Of a goldfish vet/expert in Dublin that might be able to help?
A humane way to put a fish to sleep if I have to end her suffering?

Thanks for any help.

I'm very sorry to hear abour your fish, the advice i've heard before is move your fish into a smaller container and place five or six drops of clove oil. This should put him sleep quickly and humanely without any stress whatsoever.

What you can do is feed her pea's . These are a laxative to goldfish and might help remove any blockages . Its a last resort .

FACEPALM

The best way to put the fish down is to not do it yourself . You will regret it .
Bring it to the vet and they will take care of the rest

CAPTIAN CRAZY

try meth blue as a last resort instead of putting it down ,dyes everthing blue for week or so but power full medicine for fish . i only use chemicals as a last resort .best humane method of putting down fish is fill bucket half ice half cold water ,dead in seconds

Guitareaxe

Before putting it down have you tried any anti internal bacteria remedy from interpet or melafix to treat possible bacterial infection??
these are available in most pet shops.

How is your water quality?
Do you wash filter media out under the tap?
do you water change regulary and dechlorinate if required?
do you know your average temp, PH,KH,NO2,NO3 and ammonia levels?
Is there any goldfish or other species living with the fish?
If so what species, how many and how large is the tank/pond?
Is it in a pond or tank?
What substrate/decor are you using, any bogwood, large grain pea gravel or small, sand etc?

If you can provide this info, or as much of it as possible I should be able to diagnose problem, I'm an aquatics specialist.

If you have to put the fish down the quickest way is to quickly remove fish, place between some tissue and bop it. Sounds cruel but its widely known amongst fishermen, fish experts and vets to be humane and instant provided you strike it on the head with a hard blunt object. For the squeemish I apologise if this offends, but its sometimes required as a humane act. (board members I do not wish to debate this method so dont bother trying, Ice is cruel as its not instant, as is chemical poisoning, quick sharp blow to the head is the preferred and most humane method as its instant, albeit unpleasent to perform)

Guitareaxe

CAPTIAN CRAZY wrote: »

try meth blue as a last resort instead of putting it down ,dyes everthing blue for week or so but power full medicine for fish . i only use chemicals as a last resort .best humane method of putting down fish is fill bucket half ice half cold water ,dead in seconds

Please do not ice your fish, its cruel and is not instant. Meth blue is a last resort, try bacterial remedys first.

Guitareaxe

ANXIOUS wrote: »

I'm very sorry to hear abour your fish, the advice i've heard before is move your fish into a smaller container and place five or six drops of clove oil. This should put him sleep quickly and humanely without any stress whatsoever.

This is also not instant death and therefore inhumane, please dont poison your fish. Oil suffocates fish, its slow and agonising.

Posy

I'm still thinking it could be something to do with the fact that she laid eggs once and never again. She really only began to expand some months AFTER the eggs were laid.
Does anyone know of an aquatic vet in or around Dublin? My own vet was pretty clueless when I took her to him.

Guitareaxe wrote: »

Before putting it down have you tried any anti internal bacteria remedy from interpet or melafix to treat possible bacterial infection??
these are available in most pet shops.

How is your water quality?
Do you wash filter media out under the tap?
do you water change regulary and dechlorinate if required?
do you know your average temp, PH,KH,NO2,NO3 and ammonia levels?
Is there any goldfish or other species living with the fish?
If so what species, how many and how large is the tank/pond?
Is it in a pond or tank?
What substrate/decor are you using, any bogwood, large grain pea gravel or small, sand etc?

Thanks for your assistance.
Water quality: No idea. How do I find this out?
Filter media: I have a filter with a sponge.
Water change: It's just tap water with nothing added. Has usually been just tap water.
Temp and ammonia levels: No clue. How do I find these out?
Other species: One other goldfish. He keeps bumping her, like when he was getting her to lay eggs.
Pond or tank: It's a 60 litre tank.

How do I find out about the water? Should I add something to it because it's tap water? *confused.*

RaeRae

You don't own a test kit for your aquarium? You really should go out and get one. Any petshop with fish sells them. A must for any fish keeper (I don't keep fish at all anymore but I used to)

You also shouldn't put tap water straight in with fish.

Check out some fish keeping forums quick!

CAPTIAN CRAZY

Guitareaxe wrote: »

Please do not ice your fish, its cruel and is not instant. Meth blue is a last resort, try bacterial remedys first.

it quickest way without vet bill ,i personally have piranhas so i have a quicker way than ice but cruel if ye love the fish that is sick

ValerieR

Posy,
It could be an issue with the swim bladder or constipation. For the earlier, there is nothing much you can do, maybe try to add some methylene blue in order to asceptise the water. It doesn't hurt the fish, however, watch the water quality as it could affect the beneficial bacteria that live in your filter/tank. For the later, feeding him a pea might help relieve the symptoms, though you have been doing that already.
The water quality evoked earlier includes levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. A good water quality means that both ammonia and nitrite levels are down to zero. There are test kits available at your live-fish-shop (LFS).
When you change some of the water in your tank, make sure you also add some dechlorinator as the chlorine (ammonia) that is added to it to clean it is poisonous to the fish. There are other water parameters that can be measured with other test kits but the ones mentioned above are the most important ones.
When you clean your filter, make sure you do not clean in tap water, rince the sponge(s) in some 'old' tank water as the beneficial bacteria would be eradicated by the chlorine. This beneficial bacteria helps transforming the ammonia (produced by the fish and food waste) into nitrite and then further into nitrate (Google "cycling a tank" for more information).
If you need to put the fish to sleep, there are several ways of doing it and a lot of debate about them. Most methods have been mentioned in the posts above. You have to decide yourself about the most efficient method that you feel most confortable with.
A vet would not know much about fish and fish keeping. You would probably be better off talking to a good knowledgeable person in a LFS. There are good guys out there - depending where you are based, in Dublin, you can try Wackers, Aquatic Village or Fintastic Aquatics.
I hope this all helps. You can also check www.irishfishkeepers.com for more info. It's an Irish based discussion forum and has a lot of info at hand.

ValerieR

Guitareaxe

Valarie pretty much covered it there. Follow her advice its 100%.

Posy

Thanks for the advice guys.
I'll get a water test kit in Wackers or The Dublin Pet Store next week and let you know the results. I'll look for some dechlorinator or 'Tap Safe.'
I've had the fish over five years now and they've always been well taken care of and healthy until now.

Posy

Incidently, I'm thinking (once I get the water sorted) of getting another fish for the tank so that if my fish does die my other fish will have someone to keep him company. Just for a change, are there any other coldwater fish breeds I coluld add to the tank, besides goldfish?

CAPTIAN CRAZY

Posy wrote: »

Incidently, I'm thinking (once I get the water sorted) of getting another fish for the tank so that if my fish does die my other fish will have someone to keep him company. Just for a change, are there any other coldwater fish breeds I coluld add to the tank, besides goldfish?

koi carp , golden tench , parrot fish these are warm watered or tropical but do well in unheated water ,do to the fact that your house temp keeps the tank water slightly warmer around 18 deg