New Oranda, cloudy eye and possible pineconing??

[D0c]

Hey, I got this gorgeous tri-color oranda about a week or so ago, he's been in quarantine since day one, the filter media is all from my main tank and the water put into the quarantine tank was all from the main tank as well, parameters are all fine, 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates, PH is between 7.4 and 7.6. Oh, the quarantine tank is 82 Litres too. I've been doing two 25% water changes a week.

Anyway I'm almost 100% certain he's pineconing, and has been since the day he arrived but he seemed perfectly healthy still, and I wasn't sure at the time if his scales were just like that or not.
Recently he developed this film on his left eye & has become horribly lethargic, I've done two doses of melafix (which has helped with white spots on his wen) but I'm very concerned about what this is and whether melafix will help or not.

He sits on the bottom of the tank either on his stomach or with his head skyward and hardly moves most of the day, but as soon as I add food to the tank he starts swimming like he's perfectly healthy, moving quickly and getting most of the food, he misses a few times but I think that's due to his eye.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be?? I'm very concerned and honestly not sure if he'll make it much longer.
I'll include pictures of his eye and scales.

 

[PeterFishKeepin]

looks like cloudy eyes, im not sure 100%, hope somebody help can help you

 

[Fae]

Hey, I got this gorgeous tri-color oranda about a week or so ago, he's been in quarantine since day one, the filter media is all from my main tank and the water put into the quarantine tank was all from the main tank as well, parameters are all fine, 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates, PH is between 7.4 and 7.6. Oh, the quarantine tank is 82 Litres too. I've been doing two 25% water changes a week.

Anyway I'm almost 100% certain he's pineconing, and has been since the day he arrived but he seemed perfectly healthy still, and I wasn't sure at the time if his scales were just like that or not.
Recently he developed this film on his left eye & has become horribly lethargic, I've done two doses of melafix (which has helped with white spots on his wen) but I'm very concerned about what this is and whether melafix will help or not.

He sits on the bottom of the tank either on his stomach or with his head skyward and hardly moves most of the day, but as soon as I add food to the tank he starts swimming like he's perfectly healthy, moving quickly and getting most of the food, he misses a few times but I think that's due to his eye.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be?? I'm very concerned and honestly not sure if he'll make it much longer.
I'll include pictures of his eye and scales.

That's very sad he probably won't make it. He's definitely pineconing, and probably suffering from internal injury to the organs, probably from a bacterial infection. Whatever it is has spread throughout the body so much that now his eyes are infected as well. I'm not sure why he's still well enough to swim excitedly after food, but goldfish aren't exactly known for being logical.

I'm sorry this happened to your super cute fish, but it's not your fault. To get this bad, it would take time, longer than you've had them for.

He is probably in a bit of pain, it's hard to say really how he feels. But, I don't think that there's any medication that would make him better... Well maybe actually, someone more experienced with goldfish will hopefully chime in. I'm used to keeping smaller fish where it's very difficult to medicate them properly, but given the larger size of your goldfish you might have better luck with medication.

If you were to try to medicate him, I would start with giving him a bath with magnesium sulfate, which is Epsom salt (medical grade). Then I would do a little bit of research on internal bacterial infections common to goldfish, I'm thinking something like kanaplex might help but definitely do some research and compare symptoms before medicating so you don't accidentally give him the wrong one and cause more problems.

But I'll be honest, pineconing that bad, they're usually beyond saving It's up to you whether you want to try to save them, leave it in peace to live out it's final days, or euthanize to ends it suffering

 

[D0c]

That's very sad he probably won't make it. He's definitely pineconing, and probably suffering from internal injury to the organs, probably from a bacterial infection. Whatever it is has spread throughout the body so much that now his eyes are infected as well. I'm not sure why he's still well enough to swim excitedly after food, but goldfish aren't exactly known for being logical.

I'm sorry this happened to your super cute fish, but it's not your fault. To get this bad, it would take time, longer than you've had them for.

He is probably in a bit of pain, it's hard to say really how he feels. But, I don't think that there's any medication that would make him better... Well maybe actually, someone more experienced with goldfish will hopefully chime in. I'm used to keeping smaller fish where it's very difficult to medicate them properly, but given the larger size of your goldfish you might have better luck with medication.

If you were to try to medicate him, I would start with giving him a bath with magnesium sulfate, which is Epsom salt (medical grade). Then I would do a little bit of research on internal bacterial infections common to goldfish, I'm thinking something like kanaplex might help but definitely do some research and compare symptoms before medicating so you don't accidentally give him the wrong one and cause more problems.

But I'll be honest, pineconing that bad, they're usually beyond saving It's up to you whether you want to try to save them, leave it in peace to live out it's final days, or euthanize to ends it suffering

Man thanks for the kind words
I'm going to pick up some epsom salt tomorrow while I'm out before work if he's still kicking in the morning.
I've upped the temp in his tank by another 2 degrees C.

It is so weird to me that he's still so enthusiastic about food yeah, he'll lay on his side on the bottom for two hours straight, then as soon as the food is in the tank he'll be alert and acting fine until the food is gone.

I am aware of how bad pineconing is though... If he seems too uncomfortable I'll put him down for sure, I don't want him hurting too bad... might pick up some clove oil tomorrow too

 

[D0c]

Update: Been treating with Melafix for 3 days and his eye has cleared up nicely so I no longer have to help him eat as he can see the food in front of him, he's been much more active tonight as well, still sitting still for long periods of time but he hasn't swam this much in a few days. Still *very* excited at food time.
He's currently picking through the gravel in his tank.

His pineconing is still there and very obvious, I'm not sure if there's been any improvement because I'm watching him every moment I'm not at work so it's hard to tell. I'm picking up some epsom salt after work tomorrow and starting him on salt baths.
It's so hard to get my hands on kanoplex or metroplex here :/ None of the local pet stores carry it and I can only order it in from the states which will take too long, I'll have to email the aquarium store about an hour out and see if they carry either before I drive down there.
Anyway I am not getting my hopes up at all as he is still pineconing. But I'm happy to see him able to feed himself again.

I've heard of people saying they've "cured their fish's dropsy" but I've also heard it's a reoccurring issue, if in the 1% he does get better, would he ever be able to be introduced to a tank with other fish??

 

[cdwag29]

The people who have "cured" their fish of dropsy usually will loose the fish in a reoccurring battle with it. I've never heard of a case where it was entirely gone. I don't see why you couldn't be able to reintroduce him into an aquarium if it does get better, although IMO I would feel safer keeping him by himself, just incase anything goes wrong with the other fish, as if he recovers it's likely he'll already have a weakened immune system. I've also seen mixed results about if dropsy is infectious or not. Since it's organ failure, it's hard to put an exact pin point on the cause of it, and some people claim to have seen it transferred from fish to fish when caused by bacteria.

Wishing you the best of luck.

 

[sunflower430]

Update: Been treating with Melafix for 3 days and his eye has cleared up nicely so I no longer have to help him eat as he can see the food in front of him, he's been much more active tonight as well, still sitting still for long periods of time but he hasn't swam this much in a few days. Still *very* excited at food time.
He's currently picking through the gravel in his tank.

His pineconing is still there and very obvious, I'm not sure if there's been any improvement because I'm watching him every moment I'm not at work so it's hard to tell. I'm picking up some epsom salt after work tomorrow and starting him on salt baths.
It's so hard to get my hands on kanoplex or metroplex here :/ None of the local pet stores carry it and I can only order it in from the states which will take too long, I'll have to email the aquarium store about an hour out and see if they carry either before I drive down there.
Anyway I am not getting my hopes up at all as he is still pineconing. But I'm happy to see him able to feed himself again.

I've heard of people saying they've "cured their fish's dropsy" but I've also heard it's a reoccurring issue, if in the 1% he does get better, would he ever be able to be introduced to a tank with other fish??

You can keep taking daily pics to try to get a better sense of improvements/decline over time. That helps when you are looking at them constantly. Hope he pulls through for you!

 

[D0c]

Update again: Thank you to everyone for the kind words/advice.
He was seeming a bit more like his old self (old self being how he was when I got him a week ago haha) again yesterday but ended up passing away early this morning
Sometime between me going to bed at 3 and waking at 7.
He seemed much more comfortable though yesterday which is all I could ask for I suppose.

 

[Fae]

Update again: Thank you to everyone for the kind words/advice.
He was seeming a bit more like his old self (old self being how he was when I got him a week ago haha) again yesterday but ended up passing away early this morning
Sometime between me going to bed at 3 and waking at 7.
He seemed much more comfortable though yesterday which is all I could ask for I suppose.

I'm sorry to hear that thank you for taking such good care of him and trying your best, it's all we can do. It's heartening to know he felt better before he passed. That means you really did make a difference, even if you couldn't save him. I'd liken it to healing the flu or cold of a cancer patient, but being unable to heal the cancer. You made him feel well enough to swim happily, even if ultimately he didn't make it in the end <3