sick goldfish, shaking, hiding, white poop

Question
I have been trying to get my goldfish well. She is a 4.5" fantail in a 10 gallon tank by herself. I have had her for 2 years and I do a gallon water change every day because I am trying to cycle a 20 gallon tank for her. I had a filter malfunction and had a large amount of "gunk" come out of the filter and into the tank. I put in a completely new filter unit and did a large water change. This was 7 days ago. She seemed to perk up but over the last 5 days she has been hiding under the filter and today, she began shaking. She also did a stringy white poop today. I began antibiotic food for internal and external infections today. I plan to try and feed this to her twice a day (am and pm). Should I use epsom salts- how do I do this? How much, how long do I leave it in the water before doing a change? I would appreciate any advice as well as any brand of medication you think is better than another. I am using Jungle antibacterial food. I also put in about a teaspoon of epsom salts because I was afraid to over do it and will leave that over night and hope I see her swimming in the am.

Lori B.

Answer
Hi Delores,
White poop is concerning. It can either be a sign of internal parasites but more often stress. Internal parasites are characterized by symptoms like rapid weight with or without eating and the fish's color may fade overall.

More likely her's is a stress symptom. Her other symptoms point to stress most likely due to poor water quality. Goldfish can pollute their aquarium very fast and really it wouldn't hurt to do tests for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Or to continue large water changes everyday. Small water changes often don't have much an impact on their pollution capabilities.

The antibiotic wouldn't hurt and its great if she is eating it. Most goldfish don't like it. I don't think epsom salt is necessary unless she seems constipated. If so, about 1/8 teaspoon per 5 gallons is typically the usual dosage. You can typically treat for as long as the fish has symptoms.

It's difficult to say what to treat her with being given just a general description of her symptoms. I'd say water changes, water changes, water changes, and feed a little of the antibiotic food. I might add some -aquarium- salt instead of epsom salt. This can help fish sometimes when they are ailing. And its quite safe, just be sure to predissolve it first.

I really hope this helps and best of luck!
Karen~

This is a great goldfish website, might help you out-

www.thegab.org