Help! Treating Bacterial Infection In Goldfish

I'm a new member and really appreciate any help. I have a sick goldfish and am looking for some advice. Thank you in advance!

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? Main: 55 gallons Hospital: 10 gallons
How long has the tank been running? Main: 3+ years Hospital : 1 week
Does it have a filter? Main: Large Fluval Canister Hospital: Small HOB, air pump w/air stone
Does it have a heater? No
What is the water temperature? Main: 77 Hospital: 75
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) Main: 1 large fancy long fin goldfish, two small fantails, one bristlenose pleco.

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Some water daily
How much of the water do you change? Main tank: <10% daily when vacuuming sand. Hospital tank: 30% -50% daily
What do you use to treat your water? Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Vacuum

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Main: yes Hospital: No
What do you use to test the water? API Master Test Kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: Main: 0 Hospital .50 ppm (using AmmoLock)
Nitrite: Main: .25 ppm Hospital: 0
Nitrate: Zero, both tanks.
pH: 7.6 both tanks

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Twice a day
How much do you feed your fish? Small amount - they consume immediately
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Rapashy Super Gold and Fluval Bug Bites, occasional peas, goldfish nibble on zucchinI and algae tabs I feed pleco
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 3 years
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 1 week ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Red streaks in tail, red sores on outside of gills
Have you started any treatment for the illness? One cycle of Furan-2 and Kanoplex
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Behavior is normal

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

I have a large fancy fantail goldfish and two small fantails in a 55 gallon tank with a bristlenose pleco. I've had the tank up and running for about three years.

A couple of weeks ago I did a typical water change, and cleaned the canister filter. A couple of days later I removed the plastic plants and cleaned them in hot water to remove algae. About a week later I noticed red streaks on the big fish's tail and red sores on the outside of his gills. I tested the water and there was a huge ammonia spike, apparently I removed too much bacteria when I cleaned the tank. Moved the sick fish to a 10 gallon hospital tank and started treating with Furan-2 and Kanaplex.

The tank was not cycled so I've been doing water changes every time I redose the Kanaplex, but there was still too much ammonia so I've added Ammo Lock.
The treatment is complete, and the red spots over the gills are much improved, and the red streaks in the tail are all but gone. There is now some black along the edges of the fins. Fish is active and has a hearty appetite. But I'm struggling with the ammonia. I know the tank is way too small for the fish and it is not cycled. The ammonia in the big tank seems to have cycled, but nitrites are still measurable. My question is what should I do now?
Should I leave the fish in the too-small tank and do daily water changes, dosing with AmmoLock (nitrites are zero), or should I return the fish to the big tank while it continues to heal and keep an eagle eye on the water parameters? I'm still not positive that it won't need another round of antibiotics.
Sorry this is so long. I love this fish and feel terrible that I've caused it to get sick. I vacuum the sand in the big tank daily, which amounts to a little less than a 10% water change. Big water change once a week.

 

Are you sure it’s not an ammonia burn? Look up pics of ammonia burns on fish and compare. If not post a pic of ur fish on the forum

 

Are you sure it’s not an ammonia burn? Look up pics of ammonia burns on fish and compare. If not post a pic of ur fish on the forum

I think the black on the edges of the fins may have been ammonia burns, but I don't think the big red lesions on the gill covers and in the tail were from ammonia. The treatment has cleared up the most of the red stuff, just a small patch remains over one gill and a couple of fading streaks in the tail fins. It is all rapidly improving now. I have the water parameters under control and am watching them closely, I'm just not sure what would be the best thing to do from here. Leave the fish in the hospital tank or return it to the main tank? The other two small goldfish seem to be fine. My biggest issue with leaving it in quarantine is having to constantly dose it with AmmoLock.

 

I think the black on the edges of the fins may have been ammonia burns, but I don't think the big red lesions on the gill covers and in the tail were from ammonia. The treatment has cleared up the most of the red stuff, just a small patch remains over one gill and a couple of fading streaks in the tail fins. It is all rapidly improving now. I have the water parameters under control and am watching them closely, I'm just not sure what would be the best thing to do from here. Leave the fish in the hospital tank or return it to the main tank? The other two small goldfish seem to be fine. My biggest issue with leaving it in quarantine is having to constantly dose it with AmmoLock. View attachment 580001 View attachment 580002 View attachment 580001 View attachment 580002 View attachment 580001 View attachment 580002 View attachment 580001 View attachment 580002

It looks great. Leave it in hospital until you’re 100% certain it is healed. And just very closely watch the rest of the fish because the bacteria/virus/or fungus was introduced there too. I’d also do a good water change before you put the sick goldfish back in there to be sure the water is great quality. Good luck! Hope everything ends great.

And with the ammo lock, just do frequent water changes on the hospital tank.

 

Nitrite: Main: .25 ppm

Well, that's a concern. Your main tank hasn't finished re-cycling then. I think it might be better to move her back to the main tank if you think she's healthy again as the little bit of nitrite in a large aquarium is, to me, preferable to a larger amount of ammonia in a small tank.

 

nitrite is less toxic than ammonia, its probably better to move it back to the main tank.

as far as cleaning the canister, did you clean with old tank water or dechlorinated tap water? I clean mine out once per month with old tank water and never had a crash.

along with the 10% water change during daily vacuuming, you should also do a large 50-75% weekly water change.

 

nitrite is less toxic than ammonia, its probably better to move it back to the main tank.

as far as cleaning the canister, did you clean with old tank water or dechlorinated tap water? I clean mine out once per month with old tank water and never had a crash.

along with the 10% water change during daily vacuuming, you should also do a large 50-75% weekly water change.

Thanks!! I use old tank water to clean filters. I do a large weekly water change, I've never had this happen before. All I can think is that cleaning the filter as well as removing the bacteria from the plastic plants caused too drastic of a drop in the capacity of the bio filter. I just don't want to do anything to cause my fish more stress now.

 

All I can think is that cleaning the filter as well as removing the bacteria from the plastic plants caused too drastic of a drop in the capacity of the bio filter. I just don't want to do anything to cause my fish more stress now

Yep, that was probably what happened. Rinsing in old tank water shouldn't really remove too much BB, though... What kind of media do you use?

 

I use a Fluval 406 canister. It has 4 media trays plus a separate tray that filters the intake through sponges. From bottom up the trays contain a heavy coarse sponge, ceramic rings, bio balls then a double layer of bonded filter padding. The top tray is replaced with new filter pads when I clean the canister, everything else is just rinsed. I ordered a sponge filter to put in the tank so I can use it in the quarantine tank if I ever need to. Plus, it will provide more filtration. I probably shouldn't have cleaned the canister then the plastic plants so soon afterwards. I was blindsided by this - I've kept fresh water fish for 20+ years and have never had this happen. And I'm finding out that goldfish are hard to care for.

 

The top tray is replaced with new filter pads when I clean the canister, everything else is just rinsed.

Hm. Do you replace the filter pads and rinse the rest at the same time? If so, maybe for this tank it'd be better not to.

And I'm finding out that goldfish are hard to care for.

Yeah, it seems they can be tricky. I've never had big goldfish, but I hear all the time how messy they are and how they have big bioloads. They also seem prone to health issues like Popeye and swim bladder problems.