calico comet

Question
QUESTION: hi, i wonder if it would be possible for you to answer this question. my fish seems to be quite fat/bloated and spends most of the time staring at one corner of the tank and doesn't really swim about it seems to be eating fine though. it hasn't always been like this it just started about a month ago. water is testing o.k and all other fish in tank are fine. look forward to hearing from you soon.
thanks.

ANSWER: Hi Katie
Do you know if it's a male or female?  Kinda hard to tell with goldies, usually the females are rounder in appearance-which won't necessarily help if it's bloated....do remember what the fish was like before it bloated up?  Males when they're of breeding age, sometimes get white spots near their gill area that looks like ich.

Is the bloated confined to the stomach area, or just kind of all around?  It could be it's a she full of eggs, it could be constipation, or it could be dropsy/bloat.  I would try first feeding it(all of them) a pea or two.  Just split the pea open so they get the insides.  Do that for about 2-3 days, only feed them peas.  THen if you're not, start feeding them peas at least once a week to help clean them out.  I know you said the water was fine, as long as it's ammonia and nitrites at 0 ppm, and nitrates under 20 ppm, then that's good.  

If it is dropsy, it's usually untreatable.  There are meds out that are supposed to help, but they usually don't work.  Dropsy is an internal infection, and basically causes the fish to retain water and they swell up.  Eventually they take on a pinecone appearance-there's scales stand out.  I hate to recommend at this point to start treating for that, since medications can stress fish out, some meds will kill off your beneficial bacteria causing your tank to cycle again, and it's hard to say exactly what the problem is at this point.  One good thing though, dropsy is not contagious to the other fish.  If it's eating fine, and the other fish aren't picking on it, I would just leave it be for now and see if the peas help any.  If it does start acting sickly, I would move it to a separate quarantine tank and start treating with an antibiotic, though again, if it is dropsy, it's very very difficult to treat.  Most fish don't make it.  One thing you can try though, after doing the pea thing, get some antibacterial medicated food, and try feeding that.  At the very least, it won't hurt the fish if it's not a bacterial problem, and it won't hurt the beneficial bacteria in the tank.

Sorry, kind of confusing info I guess, it's just so hard to say with so many possibilities at this point-and no other symptoms showing.  Let me know if something else starts going on with the fish though.  Good luck, and hopefully it's just some constipation!

Christy

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

QUESTION: thanks for getting back to me christy, ive noticed today that its tails starting to fray a little bit and there's little white spots apearing on its upper body and the fins are all close top the body , tried feeding it peas but didnt show must interest in them though my other fish did lol , i dont know if its mail or female , do you think it would be best to quarintine it ? thanks katie

Answer
Hi Katie
They love to eat, and they do love the peas lol.  I'd start feeding them a pea or two once or twice a week, it's good for them.

What size tank are they in?  And how many goldfish are in it?  Usually it's recommended to have at least 15 gallons for one goldfish.  They grow huge-especially the comets, and put out a lot of ammonia through their breathing and waste.  

If you're tank & # of fish is smaller then that minimum recommendation, that may be the culprit.  With those other symptoms showing up, I'm going to guess that the bloating issue is most likely dropsy.  

Usually-not always but usually, fin/tail rot, dropsy, ich, and the clamped fins(all the symptoms/problems you mentioned) are a sign of poor water quality.  It could be from an overstocked tank to not enough water changes being done to not enough water being changed out.  Some of those issues could also be caused by parasites(ich is a parasite though) or bacterial infections, but without knowing your water quality at this point, and all those problems showing up at once, my guess would point to that. Also, those problems will usually show up in fish that are stressed-maybe being picked on by other fish, stress from over crowding, stress from poor water quality, or even the stress of moving them.  When a fish gets stressed, it leaves them open to infections like those, kind of like people.  

For treatment, usually with ich it's recommended to treat the whole tank.  But if there's no other fish showing symptoms, I would go ahead and keep an eye on the other fish for now, and move the sick fish to a quarantine tank if you can.  Dropsy is very difficult to treat, think I mentioned that above, and it's usually fatal.  But I do think you should try.  Make sure the water quality is excellent by doing frequent water changes(in both tanks).  This is kinda tricky, because you need to treat for a parasite infection(ich), and possible bacterial infections.  I think the frequent water changes will help a lot with the fraying tail, especially since it's just starting.  
I would add 1/8 tsp of epsom salt(not aquarium salt)per 5 US gallons to the tank for the bloating.  Epsom salt helps to draw out fluids.  Turn the heat up in the tank slowly to about 80 F.  Do this over the course of a day.  This will help with the ich.  I would try an antibiotic called Maracyn Plus.  It's supposed to help with dropsy and fin/tail rot.  Hopefully the water changes and the heat will take care of the ich.  I know aquarium salt will, not sure if epsom salt does though.  You don't want to use the aquarium salt though with dropsy, it tends to make them retain fluids.  The only down side here, you're adding more stress to the fish by moving it, and medications are stressful to them.  Hopefully he's still strong enough to pull through though.  

Hope that helps, and good luck with treatment.  Let me know if you have more questions.

Christy