Goldfish with bloody scale

[zoli]

Hi,

I would really appreciate some help on this. I have one, about a year old, goldfish in a 40 gallons (153 liters) tank. About 2 weeks ago a white patch (area) appeared on the left side of his nice round belly. It didn’t look like fungus; it looked like the mucus itself got thicker. The white area was the size of 8-9 scales. After about a week the white patch decreased in size to about 5 scales, but yesterday I discovered blood under one scale (I mean the whole scale is bloody), right in the middle of the white area. I don’t have a clue to what this could be, there are no other fish in the tank so this cannot be an injury caused by another fish and I have no sharp objects in there. Could it be some bacterial infection? I’m really worried about my fish because I love him so much and I really don’t want him to die. My fish has been in this tank for more then 2 months, I moved him here from a 6.5 gallons (25 liters) tank, where he lived for 8 months.

[michael lai]

Hi Zoli,
I'm sorry I do not have my "bible" with me now as such I cannot pinpoint the disease. It is a protozoan infestation albeit not a deadly one. Have you added salt to your current treatment regime? It should prove very effective against the invader, water quality is of upmost importance here to prevent a reoccurence. Try the salt method and I'll try to come back as soon as possible, god speed.

[zoli]

Thanks for the quick answer,
I did add some salt, but I wasn't sure what quantity should I use. 1 tablespoon of salt to 5.3 US gallons (20 liters), would do? Or is that too much?

[michael lai]

Hmm...for a 40 gallon, I think 2 teaspoons should not pose too much of a problem. Look for feeding appetite and behavior, if the "bugger" still carries a good appetite and no signs of listlessness then I think you're on the road to recovery. Cheerio.

[zoli]

I'm doing the salt treatment. My fish seems to be ok, big apetite and very lively, he doesn't seem very affected by the bloody scale situation. Little pieces of some white stuff are coming of occasionally from the mentioned area however. Again, it doesn't look like fungus, it doesn't have that woolly aspect.

Thanks again for the help.

[zoli]

I have to get back with some (not so good) news on this subject. The salt treatment seamed to work at first, the blood disapeared only the white stuff remained but on a smaler scale. Now the blood is back and it's spreading, it's on about 7-8 scales, so it's a significant area, very visible! I have no idea what this is. I need help, what the hell is this? What other treatment can I try?
Thanks in advance.

[michael lai]

Hi Zoli,
Is the tank on filtration? what sort of filtration? Are you feeding him alot? Water quality is very important here, are you doing any weekly water change? Continue with the salt treatment, do they sell Melafix or Pimafix over there? Its a brand by err...Aquarium pharmacuetical if I'm not mistaken. Otherwise try waterlife's myxazin, both proven medication against minor exterior infection and wounds.( both are safe against beneficial bacteria in your filter ). The 'bugger' should recover in a week but remember the water quality, god speed.
Ps: there are about 3 protozoans that can caused the red skin under scale symtoms which can be very confusing. The medications that are mentioned should remedy your fish's disease. If melafix can't, you can use together with pimafix. Never together with waterlife's product unless you are familiar with the product. Any introduction of new medication should at least be after a major waterchange.( 50% ) Lastly, always upkeep your water quality.

[zoli]

Well, I have an internal filter called Aquael FAN-3plus, link here https://sklep.aquael.pl/webapp/wcs/s...egory_rn=10586. It's a popular brand over here in Romania. It's specs say use in 150-250L tanks, since mine is 150L I'm guessing it's ok. I only have one fish. About the feeding... I'm very carefull to spoonfeed my goldfish pellet by pellet (previously soaked in water), this way there's never any food leftover on the bottom or floating. I'm feeding one time per day. I'm doing the weekly water changes. I don't think I can find in Romania the products you've recommended, there are only Sera and TetraFin products over here. Do these brands have anything usefull?

[michael lai]

Forgive me Zoli if I was too 'you know what' . Your filter setup and feeding regime looks sound. For Sera products, you can try Omnipur. I cannot advise you much on this as I seldom use their products. Good luck and speedy recovery for your goldfish.

[zoli]

Thanks and no problem, it's normal to ask for details, it's the only way to make an accurate assessment. By the way, I've looked in the gallery at some photos uploaded by you, nice catfishes, I was thinking of getting some panda corys at one time, but probably not right away. I've also seen that big scary looking pleco, it sure is an impressive fish! Very awe inspising!

[michael lai]

Hi Zoli,
Yup, you found my weakness. I'm a big lover of catfishes. That huge pleco you saw is a fine LDA 065 specimen, it is about 3 feet long. It belongs to a good friend another catfish lover who has about another 2 specimen only slightly smaller. Panda corys are nice my personal favorite is Sterbai. You should start soon, I'm sure you will have endless pleasure looking at them, foraging for food. Have fun!

[zoli]

It seems the Omnipur is doing the trick. The red (bloody) patch is gone. The white patch still remains, but it looks a bit thinner. For treatment I moved my goldfish to a smaller tank (25 liters ;6.5 us gallons). What do you think I should do with the 40 gallons tank? Should it be sterilized in some way? I have a little rockscape thing going in there plus some plants, the whole thing is a kinda primitive aquascaping, but still I don't really want to redo the whole thing. Could I "sterilize" it by just pouring a whole bunch of Omnipur in there?

[michael lai]

You will not be able to fully eradicate them Zoli, you can however run a dosage of omnipur for 2 weeks according to dosage to the tank. Followed by adding a small amount of salt for every waterchange there after. If water parameters are good throughout, outbreaks will be far and between.

[zoli]

Hm, too bad... If I were to use a higher dose of Omnipur, would the plants be affected? And another question (a little of topic), what would be the best choice (in fish terms) against algae growing on the gravel and on plant leaves. I'm kinda partial to corys and I'm not so much into plecos or otos. Are corys affective in any way against algae? I didn't have too much algae problems before, my goldfish (his name is Ticky by the way) took care of them by himself really well. Unfortunatly he "took care" of the plants as well. So, I started feeding him Spirulina tablets, I've heard that this is really healthy for him and that he will calm down and not kill plants anymore. The trick worked, but now he's not eating algae either.

[michael lai]

You can try Siamese flying fox, mollies, platies or florida flagfish. But the Oto is still by far the better choice here.

[zoli]

Hi Michael,

After more then a week of treatment my fish is improving, but a small white patch still remains. This white spot is smaller and thinner, but it has not changed for the last 4 days. Does this mean that the healing process is stalling? I'm continuing the treatment with omnipur + salt and I'm doing twice per week water changes. How long can I keep up the treatment so that my fish will not be affected by all that malachite green and other things?

[michael lai]

Hi Zoli,
As with all injuries, give it a little time. It will heal in due time. You can revert back to weekly changes. I believe it will be ok in a week and or max a week and a half.

[zoli]

Ok, I'm happy I'm on the right track. BTW, remember when we talked about the sterilization of my 40 gallons tank? I got a little carried away there. I thought there's no fish in there... so what the hell.... I've poured in that tank more than twice the recommended quantity of Omnipur, and I've almost wiped out my entire stock of valisneria. I have also some cryps and echinodorus in there and some other plant, called nucus here in Romania (I'm not sure how it's called in english), these other plants don't seem affected, but the valisneria got hit really hard. Well, this is not so good, but I guess some lessons can be learned from here...I should use some moderation...I didn't know valisneria was so susceptible to these chemicals. Do you think it was the malachite green that did it?

[michael lai]

Hmm..I suppose so but it could be a various other reasons too. Just to share also, I always switch between 2 medications so the disease don't get acclimatised to it. and always in moderation, you could also do it like using half dosage or slightly overdose when you are familiar with the products. It also pays to get medications that are safe to shrimps and plants and biological filters but they tend to be on the costlier side. When you are more experience, you will find out that there are some medications like 'Viagra' that works instantly and there are medications like 'Panadol' which cures a couple of sickness but give it time but as with all medications there are always compromises.