Could be nothing, but input please

[capewind]

It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that I am obcessed with our little finned pets, but saw something not right, and I am of course worrying. I can't get a picture, so hopefully I do a good job describing the issue.

On the fish's face, inline with, between her left eye, and left nostril, she has a HOLE in her face. I mean an actual hole, and not just a mark. I would bet from the looks of it, it could potentially go right through the roof of her mouth. Behavior is normal. Swimming, interested in me being out there, and when I threw a few pellets into the water, she wanted it (I need to switch to fall food, so not feeding today other than a treat).

We dont generally get predators at the pond being so close to the house... I cant imagine anything in the pond that could cause such an injury... dont want to rule anything out.

Checked the water quality ... most of the results that we can get are ok, but PH is low (usually runs 7.4 to 7.6). Using 2 test kits (ran out of some of the liquid tests, and got strips as an only option... So will list both sets of results.

LIQUID/STRIP...
PH - 6.5-7.0/6.0-6.5 (it is normal for the strip results to run about half a point lower than the liquid results)
Ammonia - 0 with both tests (same as always)
Nitrite - 0 with liquid, 0-0,5 with strip (same as always)
Nitrate - 0 with liquid, 0-0,5 with strip (same as always)
Phoshates - 0 - 0.25 with liquid (if I had to guess, the color result would be in the middle, about 0.13) We never test this one.

KH/GH were done with strips, that previously gave numbers that didnt make sense (too high for what it should be). These results were LOW... KH this time came out about 40, and GH was about 30.

Water temp: 60F

Going to add some Stress Coat+ to the water "just because"... aka have had a good deal of rain, as well as have stolen pond water for other ponds, and simply added water from the hose, and havent done it for awhile. When I say steal water, it is usually only 30-200 gallons (out of close to a 9000 gallon system), but we did just take 600+ gallons this last week setting up another pond... probably irrelevent.

Any thoughts on the "hole" or the best way to get the PH back up and stable?

 

[callingcolleen1]

Some tropical fish can get this disease called "hole in the head" and that's for real. Look it up on the internet, see what it says, I know that Oscars, Silver Dollars, and other tropical fish are prone to this, but never new goldfish could get it. Good luck!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Looked it up, have seen this before in my sister's Oscar fish years ago, not pretty, and I just looked it up now, disease is contagious, isolate fish immediately!

 

[JohnHuff]

From the fishchannel.com website: "These are likely present at low levels in the intestines of many aquarium fish where they do no harm. It is only when the fish is weakened in some way that the parasites can multiply rapidly and spread into the rest of the fish’s body"

It looks like many fish diseases such as fungus or fin rot, it has to do with the water quality and stress. If the fish is stressed, then bad things can happen. Thinking about it, how different is that from humans? When we are vulnerable, we can come down with sickness than healthy people can withstand...

 

[capewind]

Thanks... trying to research "hole in head" and a bit confused... fish is acting normal, eating, no loss of pigment, nitrites/nitrates are at zero, pond isnt over crowded, no white trailing stuff... after noon PH up about 0.5 over this morning... still lower than normal, but dont think it is low enough to cause distress? Back to reading...

Going to isolate to be safe, and will try to get a good pic while netted...

 

[capewind]

Good news... went up to see the koi guy we see when in doubt... he said no to hole in head disease Still going to QT and treat with metronidazole to make sure we dont end up with a secondary problem due to the wound. He also made me feel better that the drop in PH is simply due to all the rain we've had.

 

[Fishylove]

Oh well that's good! phew!

 

[callingcolleen1]

It's good to hear that it's not "hole in the head" disease, I know when my sisters big Oscar got "that hole" and we were told it was a disease, we were young and more than a little "freaked out" cause you tend to get frightened at the thought. My sister's fish looked and acted normal, just had this big hole in his head that just kept getting bigger, he still ate and looked OK so long as you didn't look at the hole. I think it freaked her out so bad, ha ha ha, sorry.... had to laugh cause come to think about it I never saw that fish again...... ha ha ha, sorry, it's funny to me cause it was over 27 years ago and I trying to imagine what she did with it..... old memory making me split my gut laughing to myself, I'll have to ask how she "did away" with it.

 

[capewind]

I am a worry wart about all of our pets, and whereas I spend so much time with them, I really do know when a fish is missing (slow) to come over when I am out there, or has a mild scrape from a rock. We've had "Charlene" (started out as Charlie til SHE plumped up with eggs LOL) since she was about 3"... now, still under 12" but has to be getting close. There is no way I would have missed this mark for more than a couple of days (most days they are hand fed), and he said it would even take more than a week for a wound this big to get so bad if it had been hole in head disease. Even tho I am pretty insistent about the lack of predators this close to the house, he was mentioning a funky migration pattern of certain birds, I asked about the correct med JUST IN CASE, and he didnt have it in stock (said it always expires before he can sell it) but was willing to order it... since he was so insistent that it wasnt that, I asked what he would advise in QT to prevent a secondary infection, and he gave us the metronidazole, so tomorrow, hubby can have the fun of catching her LOL. It is amazing how friendly a fish can be til they see that net!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes and they don't forget the net quickly either! Sometime I swear my two big 20 year old Koi can recognize me. They act more aggressive around strangers too, they will appear mad and swim fast and throw water over the edge with their tails. Those two big guys have not been netted since they were babies, they are going to hate me when I have to re-fix their pond with new liner.... it's been so many years now it's just about time to upgrade their living quarters. I had better do it next spring, going to keep my eye out for a new liner.

Oh, which reminds me I did also have a goldfish once long time ago, and I had accidentally broke a water glass in the tank, and their was still a sharp glass "shard" that I missed, and he must have poked himself with it while eating off the bottom of the tank, cause suddenly his eye popped out, that was also freaky too!

Good luck with that fish, hope heals fast too!

 

[capewind]

Thanks... and good luck with moving those big kids! Me thinkith they outgrew their original net;-)

 

[callingcolleen1]

I'd have to lower the water level first, then catch them with a big pillow case or make a "sling" not sure how much they weigh, but they are very very big!

 

[sissy]

my aggie has a hole in her face and has had it for over 8 years with no problems .When I got her she had it and it has been over 8 years now not sure if you can see it in these pics

 

[sissy]

You can see it clearly

 

[callingcolleen1]

She still looks just beautiful! Looks happy to eat out of your hand Fish get hurt or sick just like humans, and they can recover and still live a long healthy life, and thats just a amazing happy fish story Sissy!!