Suspected Ich on Gardenpond Goldfish

[Gologrol]

Hello, I'm hoping someone might be able to guide me on the best way to tackle this problem I have discovered.

I recently moved in to a new house which came with a garden pond, I was admiring the fish when I noticed a very large orange goldfish. The previous owner said it had been large for years, and that "it would float at the top, and the other fish would bump it to try and get the eggs out." Which I don't particularly believe may have been the case.

Anyway, from my basic knowledge, it seems I am dealing with a case of Dropsy (long term - Genetic???) as well as potential ich, as there are white growths on it's fins, as well as a small cloud of it, on the right eye.

This fish is currently with approximately 8 other fish, three of which are about 8 inches long, two are 4 inches long, and the remaining 3 are under 3 inches in a 200L approx raised pond. Non of the other goldfish appear to be suffering from any issues, however I know this may not be the case.
The fish swims around and eats normally with the other fish when I feed them.

I've attached some pictures which show the bloating/pinecone effect, and the growths on the fins. unfortunately I was unable to grab one of the eye, but best way to describe it, is the fibres you find in an egg white. Am I best treating the whole pond in this event?

Thank you for any advice you can give me!

 

[HomerJay]

Have you tested the water to get a current reading on your parameters? Dropsy isn't a disease in itself, rather a symptom of an internal disease. I don't really see anything from the pics that looks like ich. The spots could be breeding stars depending on where they are, or I have seen them get white spots when nitrates are high. It looks like a male from the breeding stars on the front edge of the fins so that might exclude it being egg bound.

Clean water helps a lot of problems. If treating this fish, I would treat it separately if no other fish are showing symptoms. The problem is, I don't know what you would be treating it for since it could be a many things. It almost looks like it has pop eye as well, and maybe even fungal.

 

[Gologrol]

Hello HomerJay, thanks for your response, it certainly adds a couple more questions on what this is and where I should even start.
With regard to the breeding stars, this will be my lack of knowledge, I thought those growths were a sign of illness as they look like small masses, thank you for that.

I bought a kit and tested the waters about two hours ago and got the following info:
PH - 7.4, Ammonia - 0.25ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate was about 0.10/0.20 ppm. Does this sound bad at all?

Would it be best to set up a nursing tank and gradually treat each possible cause of infection over a period of time? I don't want to risk harming him any more by taking the wrong sort of action.

 

[Tula]

Ideally Ammonia should be at or close to zero, but .25 isn't horrible. You didn't say much about your filtration, which would be helpful to know.

I would treat the fish separately away from the pond. I'm not an expert but read up on salt baths for Drospsey. Keep your pond water as good as possible, perhaps a small water change and add some type of dechlor. Also provide good aeration. Unfortunately Dropsey has a high mortality rate.

Keep us posted.

 

[HomerJay]

Those parameters aren't horrible. As Tula mentioned ammonia is best at zero, but I don't think that is the cause of the dropsy. I would keep the fish in nice clean water for as long as it looks like it's improving. Change the water daily and add dechlorinator with changes if using city water. Without knowing what to treat the fish for, you can't go wrong with clean water.