My goldfish has a really swollen mouth..

Question
Hi,
I've had 2 goldfish for atleast 1 year and a half. One of the goldfish (sugar) started to grow rapidly and was soon much bigger than the other fish (spice). Sugar is now about 7 times bigger than spice, and seems perfectly healthy. So i moved my healthy big fish into a new tank, double the size of the old one, and i kept my little fish in the small tank to see how it got on. When they were together in a tank, the little fish seemed intimidated by the big one, and it didn't eat atall. Ever since i've had the fish, i've noticed that gradually my little fish's mouth has become really swollen/big, it doesn't close fully atall, and the opening of its mouth is extremely tiny, no wonder it can't eat properly. Also, it seems to hover much more near the surface than the bottom of the tank and it's tail fin is angled upwards. It has to keep in rapid fin movement otherwise it floats to the top by its tail. And lastly when you look full on to it's face, it's eyes look cloudy and swollen too.

I've just moved the little fish into the new tank with the big one. But i'm worried there's something really wrong with it. Can you help?

Sophie

Answer
Hi Sophie;

It sounds like a bacterial infection in his head. I would put the sick one back in the smaller tank again so it can be treated. Use a product called "Maracyn Two" along with aquarium salt and another product called "Melafix". They are available at most fish stores. Maracyn Two treats infections that are inside of fish. Others treat only the outside. The Melafix helps soothe damaged tissues. The salt helps inhibit the growth of infectious bacteria and so does Melafix.

Also keep his smaller tank very clean. Replace 25% of the water every day while treating so his immune system will be built up. It's perfectly okay to do water changes while treating with medicine. The Maracyn Two and Melafix are added once a day so do the 25% water change right before every day's dosage. The medicine gets old in the tank after several hours so don't worry that you are removing anything useful when you do the daily change.

The salt is a different story and stays in the water unless you actually replace the water. Add the first initial salt dosage of 1/2 teaspoon per gallon to the tank. Every time you make a 25% change, add back only enough salt to treat the replaced water. For instance, if you remove 2 gallons of water, add back one teaspoon of aquarium salt to the new 2 gallons of fresh water. This keeps the salt concentration the same all the time. When adding salt to a tank, dissolve the proper salt dosage in some water in a separate container and then slowly pour the salted concentrate into the tank, or just dissolve it in the new water before pouring the new water in. Don't pour the salt or the salt solution into the filter though. It will kill some of the beneficial bacteria in the filter that keeps your tank healthy.

I hope he feels better soon...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins