Oranda not eating swollen mouth

Question
QUESTION: Hi am very concerned about my oranda who is not eating and hasn't eaten for 10 days.  I have noticed that her mouth appears a bit swollen.  Her mouth is moving but not as fast as the other fish.  She is swimming around very slowly and often resting.  Externally she looks perfect.  Checked the water parametres and they seem ok: Ph 7.2, Nitrite 0.2, Ammonia 0.1, Nitrate 10.  She lives in a 100gal tank with 10 other goldfish who are all very healthy.  I have been doing bi-weekly water changes of 25-30%.  Have added aquarium salt and melafix to the tank.  Very concerned as I don't know where to go from here.  Can't find any references on the web to swellings of the mouth in goldfish.

Thanks so much


ANSWER: Hi Mattie:  it is possible she swallowed something like a rock, etc. I would treat her for mouth fungus to be on the safe side.  Goldfish are prone to mouth fungus because they constantly pick things up with their mouths while looking for food.  In the meantime I would do a google search for "goldfish" and "mouth fungus" and look at the pictures... You can try to isolate her for treatment so that you are not spending a fortune treating 100 gallons.  I wouldn't treat her with Malafix I would get something like general cure or fungus cure or even triple sulfate...  keep me posted.. dave

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QUESTION: Thank you for your hel.,  I decided to get someone from the aquarium shop to have a look and he said she looked perfect, hasn't got anything stuck in her mouth, her mouth wasn't swollen (although to me it looks much thicker internally than that of the others), doesn't have fungus, or an ulcer in her mouth. Her eyes were slightly cloudy so he gave her two salt baths which he said will fix the problem. He couldn't see that she had any parasitic infection.

Having said all this, she is still not eating so am totally perplexed. Its now two weeks since she has eaten. After asking me what I feed them, he did say that I was overfeeding the fish by 30% and this has elevated the readings in the tank slightly which is not good for the fish.
Am doing daily water changes to rectify the problem.

If you have any ideas I would be grateful. Thank you so much




ANSWER: hmmm no sign of disease and she is still not eating.... What are you offering her for food... dave

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I give the goldfish a mixture of floating, sinking and flakes from the Nutrafin range.  Also vegetables such as peas, zucchini, spinach, corn and watermelon.  I put a tiny bit of garlic in the peas yesterday as I read that stimulates the fish's appetite, but she is not interested.

I notice now that her eyes are still a bit cloudy and also she has a little redness, like veins, near the top of her eyes.  I think this is a new development.

Thanks again for your help
Mattie


Answer
I would at this point treat her for cloudy eye syndrome. General Cure should do the trick. Also while you are at the fish store you should buy her some brine shrimp... frozen will be fine and a eye-dropper/worm feeder so you can place the brineshrimp in front of her.  Do a 20% water changes as well and GET YOUR WATER tested. I'd like to know from the pet store what the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are as well as the pH.  dave