Injured Lionhead Goldfish

Hi,
I have a orange lionhead goldfish and it looks like he has scraped himself somehow. He use to have this toy treetrunk in his tank that he could go inside, but since it looked like he could be scraping himself on that I took it out. I cleaned out his tank this morning and tested it for ammonia but the levels all turned out fine. Since I live in the country and use well water, I always put Bottled Water in his tank, and also use a conditioner called NovAqua. It is also suppose to protect their skin coating.
My lionhead looks like hes been beat up. He's bloody on his side and back and tail and he's even injured around his eyes a little bit, but his eyes look a little better. It's just his sides and tail just look horrible and I think it's hurting him. He use to be an extremely active fish but within the last couple days he just sits on top of the gravel and doesn't move too much. I've only been keeping fish for about 6 months now, and he is my first fish, he means so much to me. I don't know where to turn. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

hmmm, does it have cuts all over the body or does it look more like blood is soaking all over the body on the inside and is starting to get soaked up through the skin?

 

Is it housed with any other fish that could be attacking it.

 

hmmm, not really sure b/c I've never seen another injured fish. I don't see any deep cuts, I just see blood on a part of his side and back. It's not like all over. He is kept in a tank by himself b/c I use to have another lionhead with him around April but then I bought an oranda goldfish, and the oranda attacked my other lionhead and killed him, so they've been separated since April. So it couldn't be another fish injuring him. Another thing that I'm wondering about is if his filter could be hurting him. He has a Wisper filter and it has a little space between the bottom of where it ends and where the gravel starts, and sometimes my lionhead likes to wedge just a small portion of his head under there to keep himself down, I guess while he sleeps. So I'm wondering if it's possible that the filter may have "sucked" some of his scales off. Again, I'm kinda just a beginner and not really sure what to do. Right now he doesn't have any toys in his tank, just gravel, a filter and water. So unless the filter is the problem, he shouldn't be able to hurt himself any further. Do any kind of fish diseases have these symptoms? Thanks again!

 

well, i dont know what it could be but hopefully chelle or kc5gvn will see this and answer whats wrong.

 

What are your readings for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte?

Are there any decorations in the tank now?

-Chelle

 

Hey,
There are NO decorations in the tank now, only gravel, water and a filter. I have an ammonia test kit and the readings are only YELLOW: Safe, no water change and GREEN: Water change required, and I tested it and it came out a Yellow, which means safe. The brand of the Ammonia test is Virbac Freshwater Small Bowl Test Kit. I don't have anything to test Nitrate or Nitrite. But I can go get one real fast, could that be causing the bleeding?

 

well, high nitrates and nitrites wouldnt help, i can tell u that much

 

You really do need tests for nitrItes and nitrAtes. I also suggest getting a better ammonia test that shows actually shows a range of how much is present. I recommend the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals tests.

-Chelle

 

Hi aflack03, Is the blood in patches or in a straight streak? Can you actually see a cut or just the blood? Your description of the fish and the environment sounds more like a bacterial infection, unless you can actually see the cuts.

 

Hi kc5gvn,
The blood is in patches, I can't really see any cuts that is why I thought he could have scraped himself. The patches don't look as red today and he was swimming around a little more last night. If it was a bacterial infection, how would I clear that up? Thanks!

 

Does the red look like it's below the surface (like internal bleeding) or on the surface?

-Chelle

 

Hey!
The patches of bleeding appear to be just on the surface. Like an hour ago I went to this fish expert in my area and asked him what he thought. He said that it seems like my fish scraped himself on something in the tank (his old toy tree trunk) and that an infection probably got into the wound. So he sold me two tablets of this medication and told me since I have Squeak (my fish's name) in a small tank (about 3 gallons) to put 1/4 of a tablet in every other day until the 2 tablets are gone. And he also told me that I should be feeding him some vegetables, and I told him that I've tried but Squeak won't eat them, so I also got some vegetable fish flakes to feed him sometimes too. Let me know if you think this is a good path to be on. I really appreciate everyones help and advice!!!

 

Sounds okay. Do you know what the name of the tablets is?

-Chelle

 

Hey,
I'm not sure what the name of the tablets were b/c since I only have a 3 gallon tank, and each tablet was made for a 10 gallon tank, he didn't see any reason for me to buy a whole box of 20 tablets so he sold me 2 tablets for $1.50. So he just cut them out of the box. I'm not sure, but it sounded like he knew what he was talking about and he has a pretty good reputation in the area. I hope he's right. Thanks again!

 

Good luck with your fish and keep us updated!

 

Hi aflack03
The person at your LFS is going to be your best source if he really is knowledgeable. He has seen your fish and can tell more accurately what is wrong with your fish than we can from a description. The dosage of the medication that he is giving you to treat the tank is consistent with most antibiotics and should work whether it is an infection from a scrape or an internal bacterial infection. Just follow the dosage closely. It would be advisable to ask the person at you LFS the most appropriate time to do your water changes with this medication, and how much water should you change, since many antibiotics can build up and become toxic over time. Good Luck with your Lionhead.