# My Goldfish's Bum



## rgrling

I've had a large calico ryukin in quarantine for over a week now because of a red swollen bump on its anus. Water parameters are fine and I've added salt, paraguard, kanaplex, and anti-bacterial fish food without improvement. Could anyone take a look at the pictures and tell me what I'm dealing with here? (be warned the closeups are graphic)

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AkttRaEZJwjTiPIpOEfpPHDDVUNTrdMVzHtXmgqmZCQ?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/UK7y8yivpDCq7oF3mHaPsHDDVUNTrdMVzHtXmgqmZCQ?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iFKukT7qKwebPs6vi-eZLnDDVUNTrdMVzHtXmgqmZCQ?feat=directlink

From what I've read, the possibilities are:

1. Camallanus worms (although there are no worms sticking out at the moment)
2. Internal bacterial infection
3. Constipation (to the point that the food is rotting inside)
4. Prolapse (where the intestine is pushed out of the anus)

For what it's worth, the fish seems pretty content; dorsal fin is erect, swims around actively, decent appetite. there is very little poop coming out of him, and only white stringy stuff when it does appear.

can anyone please help with a diagnosis?


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## Ebonbolt

White and stringy despite eating well = almost always a sign of parasites. Camallanus would be my 1st choice. medicate some food with an antiparasitic and feed it to him and see what happens; camallanus is tricky tho, so you'll need to do a bit of research to find the right type of med 4 it. I've never had 2 deal with it (*sigh of relief, knock on wood...), so I can't tell you which med to use, but there are tons of sites on google tht'll tell u 

Also, if it is constipation, i think starving him for a day or two then feeding mashed peas will clear the blockage.


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## rgrling

I thought white stringy poop was indicative of internal bacteria infection? 

I picked up some levamisole from Pat and dosed it last night. No changes in the redness or size of the bump as of this morning, will monitor after work.

The fish is a picky eater; it refused to eat my homemade gel-based food containing Hikari BiFuran medication but gobbles up Jungle Anti-Bacterial Food. Here are the meds I have in my arsenal right now:

- Seachem Kanaplex
- Seachem Paraguard
- HIkari BiFuran
- Jungle Anti-Bacterial Food
- Levamisole

The tank currently contains salt, Kanaplex, and Levamisole. Should I soak the Jungle food in Levamisole before feeding? And do I need to look into other anti-parasitic meds or food (i.e. PraziPro?)


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## Elle

Looks like when our guppies had callamanus. How long have you been dosing with Levamisole? You might try Prazi in case it's something like callamanus but not...


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## rgrling

I added the levamisole last night so I will go home and check on the status after work today.

Probably gonna stock up on prazi for prophylactic treatment as I will be getting more new goldfish from April anyways.


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## Elle

yup, I'm going to be setting up the QT tank for my new guys pretty shortly as well! What did you end up getting? I've got a blue oranda and a pom pom coming...


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## bingerz

looks a little bit like what my acei had. =/ unfortunately...he passed. hope your big guy pulls thru!


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## gklaw

Roger:

Mykiss should be a good resource close to you. He should have the med as well. April is pretty good with her goldfish as well.


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## rgrling

@ Elle: the photos of blue oranda and pom poms looked great! I have 6 fish coming in via April, so it's really important that the quarantine procedure goes well. Cannot afford to lose any fish to these worms or other pathogens. 

@ gklaw: thanks for the sump, it's hooked up and running well on my tank

thanks all, I got my levamisole from Pat and he has been very helpful. I'm praying that the levimisole will be enough to take care of this once and for all, but am also researching other possible medications should things escalate.

can anyone comment on soaking food in the levamisole solution? Is there any chance of over-dosing this way?


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## gklaw

rgrling said:


> @ gklaw: thanks for the sump, it's hooked up and running well on my tank


Sure beat the DIY for sure, Now I only have a 45g tank when I need one 

Hope your goldfish get well soon.


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## Rastapus

rgrling said:


> @ Elle: the photos of blue oranda and pom poms looked great! I have 6 fish coming in via April, so it's really important that the quarantine procedure goes well. Cannot afford to lose any fish to these worms or other pathogens.
> 
> @ gklaw: thanks for the sump, it's hooked up and running well on my tank
> 
> thanks all, I got my levamisole from Pat and he has been very helpful. I'm praying that the levimisole will be enough to take care of this once and for all, but am also researching other possible medications should things escalate.
> 
> can anyone comment on soaking food in the levamisole solution? Is there any chance of over-dosing this way?


Within reason no. Overdosing might just affect the appetite.


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## rgrling

Took a closer look at the swollen bump today, the size and color have not improved. If anything, I would say that the bump has become more pronounced. I also did not see any red worms hanging out of the anal vent, nor any dead worms on the bottom of the tank. Not sure if this means that the levamisole needs more time to work, or if the camallanus worm diagnosis is negative.

There was another long, white string of poop in the water. The swollen site also released a small blob of blood that floated to the water surface. Are things getting worse? Should I continue with only the levamisole, or try something else?

I'm kind of at a loss over what to do here :-(


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## gklaw

I had a case of infected fish purchase from a member. From what I observed, never bothered to find out what it actually is, the worm/parasite literally grew inside the tetra until it pops out through the body - some kind of body fluke ?


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## Elle

Roger, any updates? You might try metronidazole.


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## rgrling

Hi Elle, thanks for the suggestion. 

I'm pretty sure that it's not camallanus worms as it's currently the 3rd day of levamisole treatment and I have yet to see any worms protruding from the anus. Also, upon closer inspection, the swollen bump is not on the anal vent itself but to the left of it.

The size of the bump is about the same but the color is turning darker, almost black. This may be a good thing as I understand that black is the color of healing (whereas red and white = active infection). But it's impossible to tell what's going on under the surface.

The goldfish is still active and sassy but continues to produce thin white stringy poop.

I've ordered metro and prazi. My goal is to combine these medications with the surplus levamisole to create an anti-parasite gel food. I'll also dose the water with Prazi and feed anti-bacterial foods if necessary. Any thoughts?


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## April

I'd be careful about mixing all those. I have metro and prazzi. For now if you think it's bloated use Epsom salt and peas for food. It's a laxative. 
Hope he gets better.

---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=49.274989,-122.835406


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## rgrling

things aren't looking so good. The bump has evolved into a sore resembling a big pimple the size of a nickel. It's white in the center and red in the edges and oozes blood whenever I touch it. It looks like it might pop open any day now and I'm terrified of what will come out. If it becomes a wide open hemorrhage then the goldfish will probably die. 

I'm suspecting that there's some type of blockage in the intestines that's growing a bacterial infection. I've added the epsom salts, fasted the fish for 3 days, then tried to feed peas, but it won't eat the peas. Meanwhile, only thin white poop comes out. Can the fish be constipated and emit the white poop simultaneously? Or does the white poop mean it's not constipated?

So, my dilemma is: Do I keep starving the fish and try to clear the blockage with peas (if there is one?) Or do I feed the anti-bacteria food and hope for the best?

The fish's appearance and behavior is still pretty normal: dorsal fin up, not bottom sitting or gasping for air, no bloating or pine-coning. I did notice some slight septicemia though (blood streaks all over the fish)


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## bingerz

sorry to hear it hasn't gotten better. reading these posts, sounds exactly like what happened to my acei. i still don't know what happened. here are two posts of when it happened to me. compare the pictures. my fish was still swimming fine, acting normal, eating...other than the physical appearance, it looked normal. i ended up freezing him/her. here are two links...same pictures on both, but i tried posting on other forums, trying to find a solution to this.

Pls. Help....Fish hemmoroids? - Page 3

PLS help...should I euthanize? - Page 2 - Canadian Aquarium Connection - Canada's Fish Community - Based in BC


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## djamm

When you feed pea's, do you nuke'm a little first, then smash them up into smaller bits?

Really hope your fish starts to turn around...And yeah, and try and only feed pea's...if it is hungry, it will eat them! (Duckweed will also work!)

Cheers


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## Ebonbolt

Might it be bloat....? I've never heard of bloat on anything except cichlids, and Africans at that, but maybe that's possible, even if it's highly unlikely?


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## rgrling

Huzzah! My goldfish has been pooping normally since the weekend! 

So that takes care of the potential food blockage, but the red sore remains. I'm feeding it a medicated gel food with Kanaplex and Metro. Fingers crossed that the medication will be effective on the infection.

Behavior-wise, the fish is slightly less active than before. It's often sitting on the bottom of the tank. I've checked the water and the parameters are fine. The septecemia from before is pretty much gone too. Perhaps it's saving its energy to battle the infection?


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## hp10BII

That's good to hear! Poop "looks" normal?


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## rgrling

the poop is the same color as the food, which is a good sign. However, there's still the occasional thin white poop here and there.

So the red sore has developed into a full blown ulcer. Along with feeding the medicated food, I think I need to medicate the water to fight the infection both internally and externally. Here's what I have on hand:

- Bifuran 
- Metro
- Kanaplex
- Polyguard
- Paraguard
- Salt (regular and Epsom)

Does anyone know which one is most effective against ulcers? This website says Paraguard is good enough for ulcers, but is it necessary/safe to combine medications?

And can I assume that the beneficial bacteria in my hospital tank's filter is wiped out by the meds by now? I should do daily water changes, right?


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## Elle

I don't even bother cycling my QT tank. I break it down and completely disinfect between uses and store the tank and components dry - less chance of cross-contamination that way.

A lot of meds will kill your biofilter, so daily water changes may be a better option depending on the meds you're using. Just ensure that there is nothing like carbon or purigen in the filter. You need to be careful that you're not changing the water so much that it's removing the meds as well - some meds tell you not to change the water while dosing. As a compromise, you could just vacuum out any waste on a daily or 2x/daily basis.

I'd use salt and Paraguard, but some of the other members will be able to give more advice.


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## rgrling

update: the ulcer is slowly healing. It's not as bloody red as before and I'm seeing more light pink and white (which should mean that it's improving...)

I'm gonna have to do a happy dance once all this is over


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## djamm

Glad it is on the mend!


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## rgrling

Bad news: the goldfish died yesterday. Things were looking better for a while, but then the ulcer came back with a vengeance. We also had two long power outages in richmond recently, which cut the filtration and probably stressed out the weakened fish.

Thanks to everyone for your help, here's a short clip of the little guy during better days:


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## djamm

Very sorry to hear of your loss. I was hoping it had pulled though. Very nice looking fish!

Cheers

Drew


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## gklaw

Sorry about your loss. My goldfish and discus, well and my SW, are the only fish I got attached to. They got so much personality.


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## Elle

Sorry for your loss. He looked like a gorgeous fish, and it really sucks to lose them.


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