What Was Wrong With My Goldfish?

[rokovoj]

I've had this goldfish for about 5 years. Last fall it started to get large and round. We added more salt to the pond and tried some antibacterial/fungal treatments, but it didn't get better. The fish acted normally (swam around, ate, survived the winter), but last week it stopped eating and kept to the bottom of the pond. This morning, it was lying on its side at the bottom of the pond, and I actually thought it had died until I tried to remove it with a net. When the fish tried to swim away from the net, it couldn't swim straight and only spun around in a circle. It seemed extremely unlikely that it would live, so we euthanized it with clove oil. I'd still like to know what was wrong with it.

None of the other fish have visible problems. I suspected it might have been dropsy, but the fish survived with this problem for a long time and the scales never pointed away from the body like a pine cone.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[MewMew42]

severe case of drospy Im afriad, once its body becomes bloated and its scales stick which is organ failure, there is a fast decline

I dont believe there is a cure for it, nor is it infectious

I heard that it may be caused by a dirt environment, but im sure no one knows

 

[arobinson1984]

I think you are right with the diagnosis of dropsy, tell tale signs are usually:

Unable to keep balance in water
Bloated
Scales sticking out like a pine cone.

As far as I'm aware dropsy is not contagious so other fish should be fine, if you want more detailed info you would be best posting in the emergencies/illness section and try to talk to a member called wilder.


Andy

 

[ellena]

Looks like dropsy to me too When you say 'added more salt to the pond' does that mean you keep a certain level of salt in there all the time?