Fish is swimming strangely...has been sick but seems better in some respects?

Question

HI Guys. I just lost 2 fishes this week and am just so very sad...and my 3rd I thought was going to die. The living fish is a goldfish with no Dorsal fin. Anyway, they had a terrible case of Ich. It appears the Ich is finally clearing. The living fishie has developed some dark spots all over him, which I read indicate that the healing process has begun. He had been laying on the bottom of the tank hanging on for dear life. I did a huge water change yesterday and he seems much better today...except...he cant seem to swim correctly. He keeps getting pushed around by the filter and appears to almost be swimming backwards at times and doing summersaults. He also will suddenly swim really twitchy and fast. Any ideas what these new symptoms could be? He doesnt look bloated at all...poor little guy has been through a lot.

Would a frozen pea do it? Do I need to cut the pea up at all or just drop it in whole? I did check the ammonia and nitrites again today and they are still down, though I may do another water change since the nitrites are not yet to 0. They are at .25. My tap water tests a 1.0 and I add the neutralizer to it. It is at 1 still so from what I understand the ammonia is OK right now. Is there any product or test that will show the true ammonia levels after it has been treated that anyone knows of?

hi Copper...I actually treated with salt. I stopped feeding to every 2-3 days, raised the water temp to about 82, however I realized that the new heater I got might not have been working properly as sometimes the water was not very warm and other times it was. The Ich is clearing from his body. I would be inclined to use the medicine now that the parasite may be starting free swimming but I really don't want to stress the little guy out any more than he already is. I even lowered him back to normal temp (slowly). I will keep doing water changes and try the peas. I appreciate the advice :)

Answer 1

it sounds like the black patches are ammonia burns and he has swim bladder problems as well,check your ammonia levels in your tank ick causes white spots not black patches,my guess is your fish has to much ammonia in his tank,and probably high nitrite levels to,do a water change 50 percent and starve him for 3 days and then feed him a shelled pea a day for the next four days
i use inter pet test kit which are tablets for ammonia testing the test kit has the readings on the box when you test the water but when testing the ammonia the co lour should be yellow and the nitrite should be clear at 0 you need to get a test kit that allows you to test properly and gives you correct readings.
regarding the peas take a frozen pea let it defrost take the shell off and you can either squash it up or put it in whole and let your fish eat it .

Answer 2

Start by reducing the flow from the filter.

What were you using to treat the ich? The dark spots can be a sign of healing, but healing from what? These usually don't appear from ich, but it can appear when there's a high amount of ammonia or nitrite in the tank, and also if there's too much of a medication or treatment such as salt. I'd continue to do a few more water changes (25-50% for the next few days) at the same temperature he's in now, adding whatever you use to remove chlorine/chloramine. This will reduce any ammonia, nitrite, salt, or medications even further which can help him out. If you were doing water changes while he was being treated, hopefully you only added the dose of medication for the volume of water that was removed - not the dose for the full tank (I know of someone who did that, and her fish turned black).

Is it possible he's been overeating? When fish overeat or have a problem with their swim bladder from air trapped by too much food, this can cause them to move as you describe. If your fish is still eating, try giving him a piece of a cooked green pea with the skin removed.

I'm assuming when you say your fish doesn't have a dorsal fin, it's a lionhead or ranchu (which are supposed to lack this fin) rather than a fin rot problem.


ADDITION: Ammonia and nitrite should both be kept below 0.5 - these are toxic to fish, and can be fatal even at low concentrations if the exposure is long enough. Does the swimming behavior of your fish look like it's swimming rapidly, and rubbing its sides against objects in the tank? This is a sign of parasites (they itch, he's scratching the best way he can).

I wouldn't turn the heat down just yet - If there are still free parasites in the water, the colder the temperature, the longer they can survive. If you stop treating too early, your fish could get reinfected.

Also, be sure what you have is ich. Velvet also appeas as white spots, but the spots are smaller, more like powder: http://www.flippersandfins.net/Images/VelvetEarly.jpg To treat this, you also need to turn off any lights on the tank - these parasites can use photosynthesis to stay alive if there's light.

As to the peas, they can be frozen, but they should be thawed first. The skin should be removed as well. You can smash the peas between your fingers, or pinch off small pieces to feed.

See ths link for staying on the bottom: http://www.goldfishconnection.com/articles/details.php?articleId=145&parentId=12