Help - Goldfish with Red Streaks In Tail and Bottom Fins

[LeonardoBetta]

Hello all,

I have a 14 year old goldfish that I had kept in an 960 Gallon outdoor pond all of his life until the end of this July.   At that time, it probably was 90 degrees most days outside but the pond temperatures did NOT rise into high 70s. I had noticed he stopped hanging around with the pack (3 10-16 inch koi,  and 9 other goldfish ranging in various sizes).  Then I observed he wasn’t coming up for daily feeding and still sitting at the bottom of the pond.   Also I noticed him twirling a little bit too before we scooped him out of the pond.  He wasn’t as easy to catch as I had thought either- as he knew enough to escape from one side of the pond to the other.  From what I can tell the rest of the fish in the pond seem to be doing fine, in case you were wondering.  I test the water periodically and ph is roughly 7.5, ammo close to 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 40-80ppm at times.  

My memory is a little fuzzy- but I recall in past recent years seeing little white bubbles on his tail now and again at the beginning of spring, not thinking much of that at the time.   Now I am wondering if it was ick or something???

So I put him in a 10G hospital tank with filter, no heater in the house.  Temperature is a steady 74 degrees Fahrenheit.  The first few days in the new tank, he seemed sad,  dorsal fin clamped and the red streaks or veins were showing in some white areas in his tail and  fins.  All along his appetite was very good- no twirling.   After a while  he became very friendly and perky!  I was thinking I was starting to cure him at the time.  He eats 2 times per day once at 10am and the 9:30pm.   I feed him typically 6 omega goldfish pellets and 2 pond sticks each feeding- which I soak in water for 5 minutes prior to feeding him.  He would eat more I am sure- but I am afraid to over feed with my biofilter not totally working.

 I treated him for 1-2 weeks with daily dose 1 cap Seachem Stressgard and 5 teaspoons of salt.   After that I stopped the stressgard and put him on Seachem paraguard  for another 3-4 weeks.   He seemed to improve and not sure if it was my imagination, but some of the red streaks seemed to dissipate, but not all.  When I stopped the paraguard the redness seemed to return.  I noticed the nitrites in the tank rose to 1 ppm.  All the while I was doing 15% water changes daily while trying to get to bio filter working.   As of today ammo is 0 nitrite was .5, ph 7.2, and nitrate 10-20ppm.

Anyway, I cannot figure out what the red streaks are.   I posted pictures-  now he does have his red goldfish color on his fins - that is not what I am talking about.   See the red streaks in the white areas of his tail and bottom fins. His top fin and body do NOT have blemishes and look good. Is this finrot or - I am dreading hemorrhagic septicemia.   Please send me your thoughts.   Do you think I could treat him with even more salt, melafix?   Or do you think I am wasting time and need to think about antibiotics- which I only want to use as last resort.   I read somewhere that treating older fish with harsh meds may mess up there kidneys.  He is 14 or 15.

Again as of today he is super happy, hungry and perky.  I bought him a 40G aquarium, as I    Plan to keep him inside from now on.  I am waiting to move him until I am sure he is cured.

Please send me your thoughts- any advice would be appreciated.  

[Jimfish98]

Bacterial and stress can cause this. I would ensure good water quality and use prazi or metronidazole. I would also consider erythromycin if one of the first two don't work. I believe though if you use it in combination they impact each other. Just incase you have a parasite issues, likely not the cause of this, a quick dip would be good so its only dealing with one issue at a time. I would suggest a 10 second dip in a 8 parts water to 1 part 3% Hydrogen Peroxide mix. 

[Colu]

Twirling can be caused be a bacterial or parasitic infection @Jimfish98sugguested or poor water quality as he's in a pond and your water parameters are ok I would treat with kanaplex and metroplex in food to cover against bacterial or parasitic infection

[LeonardoBetta]

Thanks Colu and Jim-

Just to be clear - he is in a 10g hospital tank- with no other fish.  

I have the following meds on hand:

kanaplex, metroplex, and focus; as well as general cure which has the metronidazole and praziquantel.

Would I better off trying to feed him than just dumping the medicine in the tank?  If you think I should go with the feeding- Should I attempt to feed him both Kanaplex and metroplex mixed together in the same meal or alternate each type of medicine meal within both of his regular daily feedings (like kanaplex meal in morning then metroplex meal at night)?
 

How much medicine goes into the feeding per day?  For example the kanaplex recipe says 1 tbsp of food mixed with meds and store for a week.  Do I give him regular food with no meds along with a little of the medicated food for each meal -during the treatment week?  
 

Should metroplex meal last for 3 weeks- as indicated in the instructions- meaning would I give him smaller dose daily than I would with the kanaplex meal(which says it will last a week)?   He’s a pretty big goldfish I would say he could be 7-8 inches from nose tip to tail.

Also-  does the salt in his tank help?   Should I leave it as it is now close to 1 tsp per gallon?  Or should I back off salt since he has been living in that mixture in the hospital tank for almost 2 months.

Thanks a lot!

[LeonardoBetta]

Hi again- sorry for the confusion. I am replying back to my message.   I just reread the recipe instructions.   So Are those recipes intended for the daily meal??   If that is the case I am still wondering do I dose him with both meds/ meals at the same time or alternate meds 1 morning and then the 1 at night? 

please share your thoughts.

[Colu]

Yes they are intended for daily meal i usually feed kanaplex once a day for 7days in the morning and metroplex once a day in the evening for up to 3weeks that how I dose it @LeonardoBetta

Edited September 20, 2021 by Colu