Severe swim bladder

[Rumbleroar]

1. Test results for the following:
    Ammonia Level? 0
    Nitrite Level? 0
    Nitrate Level (Before and After WC's)? Don't have a kit at the moment
    Ph (in tank and out of tap)?  Between 6.8 and 7
    GH and KH? Unknown

2. Tank Size?  How long has it been running?  How many gallons?

220L tank (just over 55g I think), running for over 6 months.

3. Name and size of your filters?

AquaOne Nautilus 2700UVC (2700L/hr)

4. How many fish in the tank?  Their size?

4 - 1 large ryukin, 1 medium oranda, 2 small orandas

5. How often and how much water do you change?

Weekly change of about 20-25%

6. Water additives or conditioners used?

Seachem Prime water conditioner, I sometimes add plant nutrient stuff as well.

7. What do you feed your fish?

USed to be pellets and peas, but have switched to gel food within the past 2 weeks (very similar to the swim bladder recipe on this site)

8. Any medications added to the tank?

Yes, antibiotic medication from vet (lincospectin)

9. Any new fish added to the tank?  When?

Not within the last couple of months

10. Any new plants added to the tank?

No

11. Any unusual behavior from the fish?
     
Fish floating upside down.
     
Fish have ulcers, lumps, or brown spots (red marks that look almost like grazes, or burst vessels under the surface)
   
12. Well, city or RO water used for WC's?

City

13. Tank/Pond Temperature?

Guessing about 24 Celsius

Hey guys. SO my ryukin has been having a bit of trouble with his swim bladder for a while, but in the past couple of weeks it's gotten really bad. He floats upside down right at the top of his tank with his belly popping out. He can no longer even reach the bottom to get food, so I've been hand feeding him. I've tried fasting and feeding peas, as well as changing to a homemade gel food, but am not seeing any improvement. Lowering the water level also doesn't seem to make any difference. I recently spoke to a vet who suggested I treat with antibiotics. I started that treatment a few days ago. However, when I fed them this morning I saw that the ryukin's stomach (the part which has been out of the water) looks all red. It looks like he's grazed it really badly (that's not possible given his position, just trying to give an idea of the injury) or like several blood vessels have burst under the surface throughout that area.

Is there anything else I can do to try and get him back underwater? Or anything I can do about the red stomach? In the past couple of days he's started to look more lethargic, and this morning he just doesn't look happy at all  :sad: I just don't want him to be hurting.

[Lolafish]

Please put a thermometer in your tank as they are very very inexpensive. You do need to know at all times what your temperature is.
 
First things first, your PH is way too low.  Bump it up to around 8.  Why is it so low?  Goldfish need it more in the mid 7 range, which is why I like to keep it closer to 8 in case of any gradual dropping inbetween WC's.  Also, bump up those WC's to around 50%.  You aren't changing enough water.
 
Can you move your fish to a hospital tank for seperate treatment?  He doesn't sound like he's in good shape at all. 
 
Your vet is right. He needs antibiotics.  What is the lincospectin treatment you are using?  Is it an injection or antibiotic food? 
 
I'd also have him in .3% salt to get that sore to heal.  He needs plenty of aeration as well until he can start swimming again.
 
 
 
 

[Rumbleroar]

I'm not sure why it's so low. What's the best way to raise it (I don't have any pH up).

I do have a separate tank, but it's not fully cycled at the moment. Shoudl I still try separating him or would that be too stressful? I ahve some Seachem Stability, to help the cycle along and keep ammonia in check if I do move him.

He's already in .3% salt, and the lincospectin goes into the water (medicated foods aren't available in Australia). The problem is that the part that's all red isn't in the water, because of how floaty he is.


Edit: I just had another look at him and he's now in a spot where I can see that his stomach is really distended. His width hasn't increased, but stomach looks severely stretched downwards (think pregnant woman). I'm wondering if maybe this stretching has caused the redness?

[Rumbleroar]

Just updating. The poor thing was getting worse as I watched, so I called my vet. But when he had a look he said that, considering the treatments we'd done already, he thought it most likely the fish had a tumour or internal abscess that was causing this. He said the best thing to do would be consider euthanasia.

 *( I'll miss him, but I don't want him to be in pain. My brave little fishie  *(

[Hanna]

His belly is red and because it sticks out of the water and damages the normally healthy slimecoat. Your little darling is completely stressed and perhaps some external infection on its way to come too due to the lack of the slime coat on its belly.

As you live in Australia, I recommend to use products especially designed for our Australian water: as conditioner SuperChlor, as filter media Macropore. People here know of the excellent quality. You can get the products online: http://gandklloydjones.com.au/
... besides, they are less expensive than Prime, Purigen etc

Did you have the salinity tested?
How do you use the salt?

[Lolafish]

I'm sorry to hear your patient is not doing well. Luckily Hanna has some great advice for you being in the same country. It's really hard to treat antibacterial infections unless you can do it internally. Most water treatments are ineffective unfortunately.

Keep your Ph stable with baking soda. There's a sticky on it's use. Use it every water change.

You can swab hydrogen peroxide on open sores on goldfish once or twice a day to clear up external infection. Its possible that nothing you did caused this though. Our Goldie's are susceptible to sbd issues and sometimes all you can do is treat the symptoms. It is really important though to keep their water in the best shape possible, so follow Hanna's suggestions since she's familiar with your water supply.

I hope he makes it!