goldfish help! bloated

[Colin_T]

When fish are sick they will sometimes hang around the filter outlet or by the surface gasping for air. This is because there is more oxygen there. However, fish don't normally do this unless they are very sick and in pain, and they usually die within 24 hours of gasping at the surface.

Whilst gill flukes are common in fish, they don't normally cause the fish to suddenly hang around the surface gasping for air. If fish do have gill flukes and they are treated successfully, the gills still have scar tissue on them and that reduces the fish's ability to take in oxygen from the water.

Increasing surface turbulence/ aeration is recommended for sick fish but you don't want the fish being washed around the tank. You should also increase aeration whenever you use any medications because they reduce the oxygen levels in the water.

If the fish has stopped eating and is doing stringy white poop and gasping at the surface, I would euthanise the fish.

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Praziquantel should be used once a week for 3 weeks and a big 75% water change should be done 24-48 hours after treatment. You treat the tank 3 times to kill off any worms or flukes that hatch from eggs over the next couple of weeks.

Fish that have tapeworm lose weight slowly over time but recover quickly after treatment and usually have a normal shaped belly within a couple of weeks of treatment.

Fish treated for gill flukes will normally make a full recovery within a few weeks or so but it depends on how much damage was done to the gills. If there was extensive scaring the fish might not recover but most do.

 

[helptoall]

so assuming he does have gill flakes, the fact that he is still showing distress breathing dosent mean the treatment isnt working, beacause after the flukes are gone he need more time to recover demaged tissue? im suspecting flukes beaause he is also rubbing hes "cheeks" on the galss often

 

[Colin_T]

Yes, if it is gill flukes, the fish will need more time to recover from the damage done to the gills.

Rubbing on objects can be protozoan parasites or poor water quality. Chemicals can also irritate their skin and cause them to rub on objects.

 

[helptoall]

after researching some more i saw that alot of diffrent parasite can cause the ame symptoms as flukes..costia,trichondina and chilodonella.. Should i start treating for those parasites? What treatment would you reccomend? also i read that salt can help with them but didnt found a dosage.

 

[Colin_T]

Costia, Trichodina & Chilodonella cause cream, white or grey patches to appear on the body of the fish, usually on the dorsal side. Really bad infections can go red around the edges of the grey patches, and infected fish will normally rub on objects to relieve the irritation.

Any whitespot medication or medication containing Malachite Green or Copper Sulphate will treat protozoan infections. However, you can also treat them by increasing the water temperature to 30C (86F) for 2 weeks. If you raise the temperature to 30C for 2 weeks, you do not have to use chemicals to kill the parasites.

If the aquarium water is less than 27C you only want to increase it 2-3C each day until the water is 30C. Then keep it there for 2 weeks. After two weeks you can slowly reduce the temperature by 2-3C each day until it is back to normal.

If the temperature is less than 20C, then use a medication rather than raising the temperature because the stress of warming the water to 30C could kill the fish that is having trouble breathing.

Do a big 75% water change and clean the filter before raising the temperature. And increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.

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General dose rates for salt (sodium chloride) to treat tetras, barbs, danios, angelfish and Corydoras is 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can increase the salt to 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres of water. Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks or kidney damage can occur. This level of salt will not affect plants or filter bacteria.

If you are treating Livebearers, goldfish, rainbowfishes and certain other fish, you can use 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres, and if there is no improvement after 48 hours you double that so there is 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres of water. Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks. This level of salt will not affect filter bacteria but might affect some plants.

Salt can treat gill flukes, minor protozoan infections, some bacterial and fungal infections. You can use most aquarium medications when using salt.