diseased goldfish

[bonjqvi]

i have a small pond with 15 fish i have noticed one of them has a white jump that sticks out quite a bit it also has disease on its head other also don't seem in perfect condition what could it be ?its the uppermost fish with its tail on the right

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome! I do see the bump on your fish - looks like koi pox to me, but I'm not a fish health expert. His head looks OK - are you referring to the discoloration? Fish sometimes lose color naturally, so that may be nothing to worry about.

Tell us a bit more about your pond - how big is it, how many gallons, do you have filtration, how old is it, etc. It could be that 15 fish is a few too many, depending how "small" your small pond is!

 

[sissy]

welcome and do you test your pond water

 

[bonjqvi]

changed water last week as we had a rat dig a hole and pushed soil into pond , so changed water to clean it ,so i doubt it is the water .i spoke to fish expert when i first set the pond up and they stated 20 fish max , and i have a fantastic filtration system one that is big enough for a pond 5 times mine

 

[Dave 54]

Welcome to the forum the photo is a tad on the small side but it looks as though you do have Fish pox or Carp pox if this were a koi...
Carp and Fish pox are one and the same , they are caused by a viral infection, however you have however nothing to worry about this viral infection ,why ..... As it will normally only infect only one fish in your pond and no others ....
Now having said that , there is no quick cure for the fish with infected by it ether , be they Koi or Goldfish we cant treat the virus at all.
Thankfully however It's within the fish to cure itself but the viral infection can take time to disappear, with some extreme cases even longer.
As he weather warms so does the water and as the temperature rises then the pox marks gradually disappear..
However as the weather cools down again then the pox comes back .
After a few years of this the virus becomes inactive and the pox marks disappear for good
As I said the photo is a tad on the small side could you take another snap of this fish please closer up .
Plus could you also ask a moderator too for you, or post this in the illness and disease forum

Dave 54

 

[callingcolleen1]

You said you changed the water last week. Did you move the fish out cause I was thinking that one may have got injured in the process or stressed out. I hate to catch or move my koi as they can get injured and stressed so I only add water and excess water goes down stream and out the overflow.
Sometimes if it is an injury they can heal themselves in ideal water conditions. Good luck and hopefully your fish recovers quick!

 

[Lisak1]

so changed water to clean it ,so i doubt it is the water

Just so you know - fresh water doesn't necessarily mean good pond water. Your source water can contain things that are harmful to your fish, like chlorine or chloramines. Also water changes in and of themselves can cause stress, especially large changes. I'm not saying any of this the case with your fish - just something to think about for the future.

And was this "fish expert" someone working at a pond or fish store by any chance? Those experts are often not as expert at they purport themselves to be. Recommendations for the number of fish you can stock in a pond is one area where they frequently get it wrong. We've seen ponds with 250 gallons stocked with koi because the owner was told "10 gallons per inch of fish" or whatever other erroneous formula the fish "expert" was using. 15 small fish is a whole different ball game than 15 full grown fish. Over time, a pond that was once functioning well will suddenly develop problems as the fish continue to grow and put more stress on the system.

It seems you don't want to share details (a "fantastic filtration system" good for a pond "5 times mine" doesn't really give us much to work with) but that's fine. The advice you get will be more generalized and less specific to your actual pond.