Goldfish with huge belly but no pineconing of scales

[Litzi1964]

If you can get a copy of the Manual of Fish Health, do so. I recently got a copy and it contains a lot of useful information. Your fish reminds me of some examples they showed of fish with intestinal parasites. Your local pet supply store should have treatments available.

Regarding euthanasia, two common techniques are anesthesia OD and blunt head trauma. I'm not sure if you can get the anesthesia without a veterinarian, and to me bashing an animal's skull in is horrible and barbaric. One possibility is putting the fish and a bit of water in a plastic bag and placing in the freezer. Supposedly hypothermia isn't a bad way to go, and for a cold blooded animal their metabolism shuts down. My heart is with you. It's a terrible feeling to watch an animal suffer and feel powerless to do anything about it.

 

[Dave 54]

First off could you let us know all your water prameters Ammonia, Nitrite Nitrate Ph and Kh ?When was the lasst time you did a waterchange ?Can you take a photo of the fish and post it please?Can you look at the fishes vent please,is the area around the vent red and swollen ?Alott of questions I know but its the best way we can get to help you with the problemrgrdsDave

 

[Gardengirl911]

So whatever became of this gold fish? I have the same issue with one of my pond fish. I'll try to post pictures. I do feed with peas, alternating with pellets and blood worms, but the fish is so big it can't swim around. I moved it near a bubbler so that it gets air but like the previous poster, I don't know what to do!!!

 

[Mmathis]

Like Dave said, PLEASE post more information about your water parameters, size of pond, number & size of fish, symptoms (and for how long). The more information we have, the better.

I think what's happened, is someone has responded to a year-old thread, then someone else has piggy-backed on as well. The OP's fish didn't make it, but sounds like we have 2 other, separate fish that DO still need help.

In fact, it might be a good idea to re-post.

 

[Dave 54]

So whatever became of this gold fish? I have the same issue with one of my pond fish. I'll try to post pictures. I do feed with peas, alternating with pellets and blood worms, but the fish is so big it can't swim around. I moved it near a bubbler so that it gets air but like the previous poster, I don't know what to do!!!

Wow that is some serious swelling , no wonder the poor thing cant swim around to be honest I've never come across a fish with this big a swelling .
My personal thoughts about ths fish .....I have a feeling that this has come about over time and that it should have been put online many months ago to see if someone knew what was happening here.
I've a stromg feeling that this fish is suffering what is known as a fatty liver /egg impaction or possibly cystic kidneys if you have a fish vet in your area surgery is recomended .
This is the problem with Fancy goldfish man has changed the fish, sometimes with bodies so sqaushed together that alsorts of problems can arise nines out of ten they are swimbladder related.
Peas and earthworm (chopped) can be used to releave the pressure somewhat because they have a laxative effect on the goldfish .
But I doubt this would happen here, however you never know till you try it .
You must also ask yourself a question here , does this Goldfish have any quality of life the way it is ?
Would it perhaps be a kindness to put the poor fish to sleep ?
We cant answer these problems for you these are the ones allbeit hard I know but sometimes you have to let go.
If you decide to do the right thing by this goldfish buy some oil of cloves and add 10-20ml to your QT tank and let the goldfsh peacefully pass away.that way.
Or you can buy MS222 online and is our anesthetic of choice........

rgrds

Dave

 

[Gardengirl911]

Dave,

Thank you for responding. As I feared, I found my fish deceased this morning. Upon opening her up, so was impacted with eggs, her body was filled with fluid and as you suspected, the liver was enlarged. It may sound silly to say that I live my fish, but this loss has provided me a learning experience should I have similar symptoms with my other fish. I've very familiar with swim bladder issues and have successfully resolved them with the peas treatment, but this fish never demonstrated an inability to remain upright or move about until the last couple if days. She was responsive and lived the peas, but now I know to look for other clues for problems.

 

[Dave 54]

May I suggest two really good books for you to buy GardenGirl which will help you identify potential problems such as Parasite Bacterial and Viral diseases .
The first is the first book Val bought me at the start of our hobby and thats the Ibterpet Manual of Fish Health ISBN 1842860674 by Dr Chris Andrews, Adrian Exell and Dr Neville Carrington.
The other Being Fancy Goldfish "A complete guide to care and collecting" ISBN 1859749577 by Dr Erik Johnson DVM and Richard E Hess photo's by Fred Rosenzweig.
Even though I dont keep Goldfish I bought this one to understand them and their health issues a little more.
You can find both on Amazon.

rgrds

Dave

 

[Sysiphish]

I am finding this thread some 5 years after the original post, and I was so impressed with it that I had to sign up and comment. I was looking for information on conditions other than dropsy that could explain one of our fish’s absurdly round belly.

She has been that way for well over a year, albeit it does seem to grow very gradually, and, like the OP’s mother’s goldfish, she is normal in all other respects. She is also the only fish among the total population with this issue. I did isolate her and treat with Epsom salts some months ago, but it didn’t help, she didn’t worsen over that period, and I coming to the same conclusions as WB (really appreciated your contributions), I returned her to the pond, where she carried on swimmingly (*groan*). I decided to keep a watch on her. Like Meg (your posts were so wonderful, and I am sorry for your heartache, outside the fact that your ability to make an attachment to such a creature is the first wondefulness), I figured I’d be contemplating humane options for euthanasia (thank you to a variety of posters for the suggestion of anesthesia and the name, as well as the clove oil suggestion).

Yesterday, I returned after 2 weeks away, and my husband said he thought she looked a little rounder and seemed to turn on herself. I don’t see the latter, but I decided to take a look online again. Egg impaction, tumor, fluid issues... swim bladder... and what else, eventually? I have cured a goldfish of dropsy, and given that the same treatment didn’t help in this case, and that the eyes and scales are normal, I got curious again. Also, clearly not contagious. In nearly 20 years, we have only had 3 “sick” fish in a population of some 40 fish, so conditions are not the problem. I will also add that we have no filtration system, no pump, only plants and water in an old fountain basin. The size and number of the goldfish is determined by the pond. Frogs have come to live there, a heron feeds in them (we have “lost” some favorites), and even a water snake called it home and “our” frogs his or her source of alimentation. I have saved more than one.

I’d like to thank Dave for the book recommendations. Do they provide information on how to help expluse any impacted eggs? We have males, but whoever knows. My husband is an ob/gyn, specializing in infertility and medically assisted pregnancy, but he honestly has no idea how to remove eggs from a fish.

If I come up with nothing, I will also open her after she dies and post.

This being said, can anyone tell me what becomes of fish who die of natural causes in a fish pond that is not so vast that I’d never see them? I have only once seen a dead fish, and my sick one that didn’t make it died in isolation. Other than that, we have had fish who have been with us since before I arrived 16 years ago, and a rotation, given some disappearances (some of which I attribute to the heron) and new babies every year. For some reason, the frogs are far lower in number, and I no longer see tadpoles.

Thanks, and cheers!

PS: She is even finally turning a lovely gold.

 

[j.w]

@Sysiphish I had one just like that for years. It started swimming upside down eventually. It ate and swam around but just kept getting fatter. I eventually took it out of my big pond and put it in my bathtub pond w/3 other small goldfish. I just took the 3 goldfish out recently and put them back in the big pond. No sign of the fat one. Nothing could get at it in that tub either as I had chicken wire over the top w/another heavy screen over that. I think it just must have passed away and dissolved. I couldn't bear to kill it so I just let it live out it's life in the tub.

 

[Lisak1]

She is indeed absurdly round! I guess if she continued to swim and eat I would just leave her be.

Welcome to the GPF by the way! We'd love to hear more about this little pond of yours - fountain basin you say? And no filtration for all these years - I'd love to see some pictures! I've seen a few goldfish ponds over the years that were similar - just plants, fish and water and everyone lived happy and healthy. Do you feed the fish?

And I must say, if my husband were an ob/gyn I'd tell him to apply his craft and figure it out! haha!

 

[Mmathis]

There are videos on YouTube that instruct one on “releasing eggs,” but it’s something I would only recommend for someone who’s had previous experience. Not done properly and you can cause serious damage. Then, too, you’d want to be sure it was egg-binding to begin with. There is a good video — somewhere — that goes into how to tell the difference between an egg-bound female, dropsy (I think), and a tumor. Very educational. Maybe someone on here knows the one I’m talking about and can post it.

 

[Sysiphish]

She is indeed absurdly round! I guess if she continued to swim and eat I would just leave her be.

Welcome to the GPF by the way! We'd love to hear more about this little pond of yours - fountain basin you say? And no filtration for all these years - I'd love to see some pictures! I've seen a few goldfish ponds over the years that were similar - just plants, fish and water and everyone lived happy and healthy. Do you feed the fish?

And I must say, if my husband were an ob/gyn I'd tell him to apply his craft and figure it out! haha!

Hello, and thank you! Funny how my husband is attached to them and does absolutely nothing besides encourage my efforts! LOL

I am back to tending to her because I found her floating upside down a couple days ago, but still alive. I can turn her around and guide her to food, and she'll eat a little. I began Googling again, and found my way back here. I am on a deadline, but I will return and post some photos. This "pond" is in the basin of a fountain. No filtration, just plants and fish and frogs that have come to make it home, a garden snake (sometimes, but not for a year or two now -- really made my husband angry! LOL), and a heron, who comes up from the Seine to feed sometimes. We think. We have had a few adventures, but really never related to the water quality. I try to think to check pH now and again, and I sometimes do a general Tetris Medibath (I believe it is, green). We do feed most days (flakes and sticks), but they do fine if we don't as well. I try to keep the plants (water lilies, reeds, and elodea densa) to a reasonable quantity so that hey have plenty of space to swim about in and don't get overcrowded. They have a sort of shelter, as well, which they seem to appreciate. It's like a mini Giverny, with the water lilies. Essentially, they self-manage in terms of growth size, number, with a little help from the foodchain Mother Nature thought best to provide.

 

[Olivesnowman]

Is she egg bound .

 

[Olivesnowman]

I think my fish is egg bound. Much bigger on one side to start with, now really big all over. Spends most of her time on the bottom of the pond but slowly makes it to the surface when I sprinkle food granules in. From being orange all over she is now all white underneath. She also has some wart-like lumps on her back.
Do pond fish need lily pads to lay their eggs under?

 

[Lisak1]

Do pond fish need lily pads to lay their eggs under?

Good golly no. But this is a very old thread - you'd do better to start your own posting. Include details like the size of your pond, the type of filtration, how many fish and what kind you have, when you started noticing the problem, etc. Pictures are always helpful.