Mistakes Were Made

[AndiJade]

Hello,

I could really use some sound advice on what to do next. This all started with my goldie being diagnosed with flukes...months ago now. I followed recommend treatment of Rid Inch, but 2-3 days in, fin rot had already started, so we moved to praziquantel powder. I didn't see any positive results from it and all symptoms remain unchanged, but alas...no fin rot. Another online group suggested Fluke-M, which I tried, but again 6 days in, fin rot with white raised bumps on her tail with stringy thread like stuff coming out. One of the bumps turned blood red on the circumference and I tried just daily water changes for a few days that didn't seem to help, then tried MinnFinn. Oh and all the fluke symptoms came back within 3-4 days of stopping Fluke-M. The bumps on the tail and the fin rot slowly disappeared with repeated MinnFinn treatments, but my tank had had it by that point and I lost my cycle completely. If you've ever used MinnFinn, then you may already know that that stuff basically sterilizes you tank...and everything in it kind of dies and sloughs off into your water. I had no choice but to tear down the tank completely and give it a good scrub. I had hoped maybe the flukes and eggs would be gone too.

Not so. 3-4 days later, all the fluke symptoms back again. This mean hanging in the filter outlet, flashing a lot, scraping against everything, fin twitching, head shaking, totally peaceful one second and then darting around like someone lit her on fire the next, clearing being bitten by something and reddened areas on body directly after those episodes.

I moved her then to a 40 gallon tank thinking it was time to upgrade anyway due to her size, and maybe the whole tank swap will help with the flukes. So I treated for another week with MinnFinn, did the tank swap....and you guessed it..back again, not as severe yet, but on the way. 

This is when I saw Cory's trio video and thought maybe I'd try that route because if I don't do something this fish will suffocate to death slowly. 3 days ago I decided to throw in some more MinnFinn to hopefully reduce back some of the flukes while we waited for delivery, but I forgot about the how the tank like molts on the inside and was left with some nasty water. I immediately changed 60% of it and wiped down the walls, but alot got into the water and my fish was in the water with a white bump already showing up again on her tail. By the next day, the white bump was blood red all around it and white stringy stuff was coming off of it and by yesterday evening it must have burst because it was just this big red sore, with more bumps developing. I did have some API Erythromycin on hand and put a does of that in, along with some aquarium salt for the first time. Low dosed on that since it was our first time salting of 1tbsp/5 gallons for a 40gallon tank. 

Since this morning, my fish has being doing a bit better but the water just looked dirty still, so I went ahead and did a 100% WC, but hit a snag when I didn't quite have 40gallons of cooled water to put back in. Was about 10 short. I live in AZ and our water is HOT coming out of the tap. About 90ish. Anyway, it takes almost a day to cool 30-40gallons of water to 72, where my tank has been sitting. Her tail has now a much larger patch of red up and down it, looks just terrible! And idk what to do next.. .?

I have more API Erythromycin, aquarium salt, and low and behold I do have a bottle of Ich-X unopened I bought a few months ago. The trio isn't arriving until tomorrow. Idk if I should just go ahead and dose the two, add some salt also...no salt..does just the antibiotic? The tank should be ammonia free for a few days with just the one goldfish in there with really light feeding, but I will have to do water changes anyway...I use Prime also to bind ammonia and nitrite every 24-48 hours as necessary.

Could someone help advise me on what direction I should take next?

 

Thank you!

[Cory]

Wow a lot going on there.  To start from the beginning, how were the gill flukes diagnosed? Under a microscope? 

 

I'd make sure my water was at least 7.2 pH currently. I'd be using 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon and letting that soak without feeding the fish, watching for ammonia. If ammonia got above 0.5ppm, I'd do large water change, redose the salt and let this fish rest for at least 7-10 days. The salt will keep any fungus/bacterial at bay and is quite hard on flukes but likely won't kill it for you. But enough to let that fish rest up before bringing on more meds. 

 

I'd wager that the high dose of salt and making sure water parameters are good, PH being the most important will lead to a recovery. 

[AndiJade]

Hi Cory,

I actually took her to our local aquatic vet. Diagnosed by clippings and scrapes, under a scope yes. A lot of $. I followed the vet's advice for quite a while, up until I switched to the Fluke-M as I just became really discouraged with the direction everything was moving.

My pH is 8.2 out of the tap...pretty much stays at 8.2 with the river rock I have in there. So good on that end.

I have no idea why...but salt makes me pretty nervous. I know...makes no sense with all the other meds I've dumped in the tank, but they all make me super nervous. Should I just go for that large dose immediately, or can I or should I raise it up over some time?

Thank you very much for the reply!

Andi

[Cory]

I tell everyone this. You can do whatever you want. I only tell people what I would do. I'd go straight to 1 tablespoon per gallon. This comes from 10 years of treating goldfish like this every week in a commercial setting. Most people are afraid to kill a fish from too many meds, not realizing that by not doing enough you're doing the same damage. Honestly this fish's organs need a break from all the meds and salt isn't a med but will help with the problems it's having. 

I'm of the opinion that if I've treated 10k goldfish with 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon, it would be likely that this random fish will handle it as well. However you will lose fish, it's like being a doctor, just cause you can save someone's live doesn't mean you're successful every single time. You go by the odds. Odds are, salt will help this fish. 

[AndiJade]

Thank you Cory. Everything you said makes perfect logical sense and I thank you for taking the time to say it. I actually just measured out the salt and am prepared for whatever the outcome is. I've got a pretty tough cookie here, so hopefully all will be well. This has been a rough road, as I am the only fish keeper I know and it's only been one and a half years with just this fish that kind of landed in my lap. I knew zero about fish when I started. So your experienced advice is very welcome. I feel better and not so alone in knowing this community forum exists. Thank you for your efforts.

Much appreciated,

Andi