Very Ill Shebunkin; Please Help Diagnose

[Jenni T]

Hi there,

I was hoping someone could help me with my shebunkin, he's been ill on and off for a while and nothing seems to be working to help him, and he's suddenly got worse in the last couple of days.

He's in a 70 litre tank with one blackmoore. They're both about 2inches long (not including tails)
They have a large external ehiem filter designed for about 150 litres or more.
They've had a 20litre water change every week this month to try and help, and it was a 20litre water change about once a month before that.
We always dechlorinate
He got a couple of ulcer like blisters on his tail, and they went after treating them with goldmed general treatment because the blackmoore had a fungal infection as well.
He then developed red streaks along his fins and redness at the base of them, and is laying on the bottom all the time looking very sorry for himself, he still seems keen to eat but stuggles to move to get to the food. This happened after he was treated for the blisters.
We then treated him with Interpet anti fungus and finrot, and he has just got worse.
There is no ammonia or nitrite present, but the nitrate was 40ppm which I know is high.

Here is some pictures:

Many thanks,
Jenni

 

[SombreroBanana]

Looks like septicemia to me. I'm not sure about the medication for it, so look it up. Hope this helps.

 

[fluttermoth]

Septicemia is usually caused by poor water quality. It also looks like ammonia poisoning.

How long has your tank been set up? Did you do a fishless or fish-in cycle, and if fish-in, were these the fish you cycled with? How are you testing the water?

I would do an immediate large water change (drain the tank right down, leaving just enough water for the fish to swim upright); even though your water sounds fine (nitrate of 40ppm is nothing to worry about), there's always a chance that there's something we can't/don't test for present in your tank.

I feel it only fair to warn you that that's a very poorly fish, and he might not pull through. But where there's life, there's hope, and we'll do all we can to help.

 

[Jenni T]

Thanks for your replies guys,

He's declined so quickly in the last 2 days I keep expecting to find him gone, which is why I posted incase there were any more suggestions.
The tank has been set up about 2 years, but we've moved a few times so those 2 fish have been in the same tank together for about 5 years, but it's been here and stable for 2 years.
We're gettng more water ready for a change now, (we filter all the water with a britta filter) and I've also just bought some better looking treatment for bacterial infections incase it is bacterial septicimia.

Like you said, all I can do is try, thanks very much for your help and I'll keep this updated.
Thanks again,
Jenni

 

[Jenni T]

Just thought I'd update this thread if anyones interested.

He improved a little after treatment, but my other half suggested it may be the largly fluctuating temperature as we live in a very old single brick wall house so it's utterly freezing in the winter, and ofcourse we have the heating on when we're here so it warms up for a while.
We put a heater in to keep it at a low, but much more constant temperature and since then he's come on in leaps and bounds. Even by the next day he was swimming around.
He's now swimming and eating fine and only has a couple of streaks left on his tail, and a few blisters which are clearing up, so here's hoping he's on the mend permanently! He still doesn't look fantastic, but he's certainly improved no end.
Thanks,
Jenni

 

[fluttermoth]

That's really good news, thanks for updating us.

Make sure you keep up the large water changes, though. Goldfish are very messy and do get sick if the water's not kept in good condition.

In the future, it might be a good idea if you could get the shubunkin into a pond; they're really not tank fish, I'm afraid.

 

[Jenni T]

I will do thanks, and I know that's why we've only got the two in there with a big filter, we're thinking about getting a bigger tank for the two of them as it's really only just big enough.

I do have a pond at my parents house which I put the other 2 shebunkins I was given him with in, but as he's much more fancy shaped (I think he's a bit of a cross breed) then the others I was concerned that as he wouldn't be able to swim as well he'd get bullied or miss out on food.
Thanks for your replies and help,
Jenni