Goldfish pineconing and covered in white. Ich medication not working at all. Help!

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enfiskejer

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I have been treating for ich in my fish pond for 9 days, I have seen no improvement unfortunately. This fish has been lying on the bottom for the whole week and came up to eat a little this morning which is when I saw how bad he looks. One of the other fish has dropsy (but can still swim a little) I think as a result of the ich.
Could it be something else?
What can I do urgently to save this fish?
They've been sick for about 2 weeks but he's been in this state for maybe 2 days...

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I don't understand why the medication isn't helping I've been using this one https://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/products/blue-planet-white-spot-remedy
the active ingredients are malachite green and formaldehyde
 

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I have been treating for ich in my fish pond for 9 days, I have seen no improvement unfortunately. This fish has been lying on the bottom for the whole week and came up to eat a little this morning which is when I saw how bad he looks. One of the other fish has dropsy (but can still swim a little) I think as a result of the ich.
Could it be something else?
What can I do urgently to save this fish?
They've been sick for about 2 weeks but he's been in this state for maybe 2 days...

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I don't understand why the medication isn't helping I've been using this one https://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/products/blue-planet-white-spot-remedy
the active ingredients are malachite green and formaldehyde
I'm not sure your fish has ich. What makes you think that?

How's your water quality (Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates?) Is your tank cycled? Water quality problems are always my first suspect.
 
I'm not sure your fish has ich. What makes you think that?

How's your water quality (Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates?) Is your tank cycled? Water quality problems are always my first suspect.
This fish is in my pond and I think its ich because I bought a few small goldfish and they had lots of white spots that then spread to the remaining ones and then all started acting really sick. I posted on this forum and we concluded it was probably ich. This pond has been running for many years but I'll test for ammonia and nitrite just in case.
I have had goldfish for many years and have never had any problems with any kind of disease.
 
Do a huge water change and suck any gunk out of the pond.

Have you been doing water changes between treatments?

It could be kidney failure due to the medication.

---------------------
The other way to treat white spot is to move the fish into a clean container of water each day. Do this for a couple of weeks or until all the spots have gone.

Bleach the containers after use and then rinse them well. Let them dry in the sun and re-use them the following day.

You will probably need a couple of containers for all the fish.
 
Do a huge water change and suck any gunk out of the pond.

Have you been doing water changes between treatments?

It could be kidney failure due to the medication.

---------------------
The other way to treat white spot is to move the fish into a clean container of water each day. Do this for a couple of weeks or until all the spots have gone.

Bleach the containers after use and then rinse them well. Let them dry in the sun and re-use them the following day.

You will probably need a couple of containers for all the fish.
I have only been giving half dose and there has been a lot of rain so I would think that dilutes it a lot as well. I didn't know I had to do water changes between the treatments. If I do a water change do I have to treat the new water with medication?
If I'm not sure its even ich now so is it worth all the stress moving him around all the time?

Its really only him that's like this, the other small fish seem fine apart from one that might have dropsy.
I'm willing to do anything that might help, he's my favourite fish...
 
Do the other fish still have white spot?
When was the last time you saw any white dots on them?

The chemical companies say you don't normally have to do a water change between treatments but I like to do a big one and clean the gravel, etc, before re-treating a tank or pond. This just makes it cleaner for everything and gives the medication more chance to work on disease organisms rather than gunk in the tank/ pond. However, it's not essential.

The fish in the picture is probably not going to live. You could move it into a container of clean water and see if it improves. But if it doesn't look better in a few hours (maybe give it 12 hours in clean water), I would euthanise it by hitting it on the head with something hard. Put a paper towel over it if you do that because they make a mess. If you can't do that, get some clove oil and add some to the container of water with that fish in. Aerate it and when the fish rolls over and stops breathing, put the container in the freezer and let it freeze solid. Then bury the iceblock and fish in the garden.
 
Do the other fish still have white spot?
When was the last time you saw any white dots on them?

The chemical companies say you don't normally have to do a water change between treatments but I like to do a big one and clean the gravel, etc, before re-treating a tank or pond. This just makes it cleaner for everything and gives the medication more chance to work on disease organisms rather than gunk in the tank/ pond. However, it's not essential.

The fish in the picture is probably not going to live. You could move it into a container of clean water and see if it improves. But if it doesn't look better in a few hours (maybe give it 12 hours in clean water), I would euthanise it by hitting it on the head with something hard. Put a paper towel over it if you do that because they make a mess. If you can't do that, get some clove oil and add some to the container of water with that fish in. Aerate it and when the fish rolls over and stops breathing, put the container in the freezer and let it freeze solid. Then bury the iceblock and fish in the garden.
I'm putting him into some clean water with my air pump, I really hope he gets through this! He came up this morning and ate so much because he hadn't eaten in almost a week this is when I saw his state.
Thanks for the help
 
If the fish is eating, that is a good sign

Keep the water clean and well aerated and feed him up. See how he goes over the next few days.
 
A week later and I have an update!
Benny (his name) is doing a little better, I spend probably 2 and 1/2 hours on him everyday to make sure he eats, cleaning his tubs, changing water etc. His scales have started to go back to normal and the excess mucous is falling off, he is eating well but he doesn't come up to the surface much.
If things keep going the way they are going I hope to put him back into the pond in a week or more. I'm really rooting for him, thanks for you help :)
 
A week later and I have an update!
Benny (his name) is doing a little better, I spend probably 2 and 1/2 hours on him everyday to make sure he eats, cleaning his tubs, changing water etc. His scales have started to go back to normal and the excess mucous is falling off, he is eating well but he doesn't come up to the surface much.
If things keep going the way they are going I hope to put him back into the pond in a week or more. I'm really rooting for him, thanks for you help :)
This is lovely to hear! Well done on putting this much work into helping your fish - if only every fish owner was as dedicated as you are!

Any chance of an updated photo of him please? :D He was in a bad way in the previous photo, would be nice to see him now he's on the mend!
 
It's unlikely to have been ich - there are other diseases that also produce white cysts.
 
If things keep going the way they are going I hope to put him back into the pond in a week or more. I'm really rooting for him, thanks for you help :)
I would give it at least 2 more weeks before you put the fish back in the pond. The fish needs to be fully recovered, and eating and acting normally for at least 1 (preferably 2-3) weeks before you put it back in with the others.
 
I forgot to post a picture last week so here is one, he looks SO good, he is eating food from the surface and is completely himself. I'm going to give it another week or so but its such a change from how he looked before...
Benny is back!

Wow, that truly is an amazing recovery! Are you suuuure you're not showing us a pic of a different fish and having us on? ;) :lol:

Kidding! I can tell that it's the same fish, but it truly is an incredibly difference! I don't think many people could have brought him back from the condition he was in, but you clearly have! Wow, what a beauty too. Couldn't see how pretty he was before, but he really is a lovely fish. So nice to see such a great update! Thank you for taking the time to come back and update, along with all the time you put into saving him. Not that many people do come back with updates, so it's really appreciated to see such great news!

Also think of this way - if you look at posts and compare the number of views compared to the number of comments (or the number of guests compared to the number of members on the forum at any one time) you'll see just how many people lurk forums like these. When someone has a sick fish and googles "goldfish pineconed/goldfish ich" or similar, they often find threads like these, while looking for info about their own fish. Being able to see the difference in Benny and what you did to help him is likely to give a lot of those people hope for their own fish, and make them much more likely to put the work in to save them, like you did. :wub:

Would be great to see him once he's back in the pond, if you're happy to share that good news too, :D
 
I would give it at least 2 more weeks before you put the fish back in the pond. The fish needs to be fully recovered, and eating and acting normally for at least 1 (preferably 2-3) weeks before you put it back in with the others.

@Colin_T , after looking at the new photo of a much recovered Benny, do you think he might have some koi in there?
A fish knowledgeable friend of mine was looking at the pond at my folks house recently, and said he saw some goldfish that had scales from some koi mixing going on. Makes complete sense they can interbreed of course, both carp, but still surprised me for some reason, since there had been a couple of koi in that pond when I was a kid, but not for decades! So I'd never really thought of it. But this fish makes me think of koi for some reason.
 

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