Bent & sluggish fish :-(

[TeePee]

Hi Everyone,

I have a comet in my pond who (since some time last fall) appears to have a bent rear one third of

his body length & is extremely sluggish & spends a lot of his time parked on the bottom of the

pond. If you prod at him, he will swim off ok (albeit somewhat awkwardly) & park himself somewhere

else. Several years ago I had a similar experience with another comet. But he mysteriously

disapppeared one day... I suspect because he stayed too near the edge of the pond for too long.

(We do have a cat!) Does anyone have any idea what's wrong & what might be done to help this poor

guy?

Thnx,

TeePee

 

[HARO]

A stray electrical current can have that effect on fish. Have you had any pumps short out?
John

 

[Priscilla]

I've seen that in my aquarium with the neon tetras. The bad news is, they normally die after that. I don't know what caused it, although a quick google turned up something called neon tetra disease.

 

[HARO]

Old fish will often develop a 'humpback', much as humans can. A neon's lifespan is something like two years, whereas a goldfish can easily live ten times that! Btw, If I memember correctly, neon tetra disease involves a loss of pigment along the sides of the fish, I think in this case, it's more likely senility.
John

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome TP. As others have said, sadly that particular fish is fatally diseased. I believe fish suffer when ill so my respectful recommendation is that you pull it out and euthanize. So sorry.

 

[TeePee]

OK, thnx everyone, for your comments & suggestions. I did actually pull him out of the pond earlier this PM & put him in a bowl for closer observation. He's pretty pathetic, I'm afraid. I was just waiting to see if anyone had any miracle cures, but really wasn't holding my breath. I agree with Big Lou. Looks like I'd better put him out of his misery & help him on his way to that big pond in the sky...

 

[Big Lou]

I am so sorry.

 

[Priscilla]

I'm so sorry.

 

[Mmathis]

Sorry to hear, as well.

But from you other guys, is this just something that "can happen," or is it significant that TeePee has had this happen on 2 occasions?

 

[mtpond]

I have a koi that I bought when I first started my pond and coming into its first spring it's tail turned over to one side and it looked deformed. It laid on the bottom of the pond most of the time but still moved around some. Come dinner time it was right up to the top of the pond grabby food. I Didn't think it would make it very long but two more winters later it is still with me. Until I see a problem where it isn't eating and it's getting skinny I won't euthanize it.

 

[Dave 54]

There are many things that can bring about a condition like this.
The first is brought about by malnutrition "shock horror" ............., no I'm not accusing you of starving your fish you may not have known you've done it but after a while food becomes deviod of the life giving vitamins that the food companies have put in them so they are infact malnurished.
Sadly if this is the case for this guy then he'll never go straight again and will be deformed for the rest of his shortend life span so always throw away any old food at the end of a season and buy in new at the start of a new season
Stray leakage , you can get stray leakage of electrics from your equipment this can also cause your fish to develope it's bend again it cant be cured but you can yrack down that leakage.
Last and not least , a lightening strike on your pond will also cause a fiish damage again like that your seeing but dead fish are often found at the same time again the damage is permanent so two you can act on and do something about it, the third I'm affraid is an act of god .....


Dave

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Lack of vitamin C can cause bent spine as well as illness.

Have you tested your pond water lately?