My black Moor which is now in a tank, alone, is changing color, to what looks like silver. Is this normal or may it be from the injury from the other fish in the pond.

Can you post a photo or send one to me? If so, I can tell you more if I think it's a normal color change. Goldfish are always changing color. One person had a black moor turn bronze, another went white I think! Sometimes the black moors aren't purebred so they may change colors. Is the silver all over the black moor or in patches? Is it truly silver or more white which might be more of a concern? I had a blue oranda that started out all blue and then got splotches of bronze. Here is a photo of him (Quinn) on the bottom left from 10 years ago.

Hi Robyn,

I took "ethel" to the place where I bought her today to find out the problem. Apparently the larger goldfish in my pond beat her up, probably while they tried to mate with her. Also, they must have killed the other one. ( :( )
She is really beat up, fins ripped, whitish, shiny (scales damaged/missing) chunk missing from chin and head. Gary feels she'll recover in a few months time (3-4). He told me to contine with the tetracycline for 4 more days (total 10) and up the salt in her tank to .12. All of which I have done. She is eating and swimming, so the prognosis is good. Oh and a water change (25% twice weekly).

I will email you a picture of her.

I'm sorry she was so beat up. In that case, a color change from stress would be to expected. Changing to silver though sounds different.

Ethel's missing head "chunk" is healing. However, the white has begun circling her right eye. :( Instead of a "dark circle" (like humans get), she is getting a white circle and it is progressing.

Robyn, you mentioned trying another antibiotic after the tetracycline. Do you have any recommendations? I have research Maracyn Plus. What do you think of that?
Also, I have switched her from Melafix to Pimafix.

The ammonia went up to 1.0, because of the meds, her poo and no carbon in the filter. I did a water change then used ammo lock and got it down to .25.
I will continue to test daily.

I worry about her all the time but she seems to be hanging in there.

edit: After doing alot of research, she definately has fin rot and it seems to have formed a fungus on her body. Help.

I've used Maracyn I and II many times. One is for gram positive and one for gram negative. Unlike some antibiotics, those two (erythromycin and minocycline) have not killed off my tanks' good bacteria. The PimaFix should help with the fungus. If it doesn't do enough, then you may need a fungal medication like MarOxy by Mardel. Keep an eye on that ammonia because they will really bother her when it's high. You may need to go almost daily small water changes. Of course, that does lower the effectiveness of the medications.

Me again. :o

My Petsmart did not have, well actually, Maracyn was not in stock...so I purchased Fungus Cure, by API. It ia 3 mg. Victoria green B and 30 mg. Acriflavine...So, here is my plan. Finish with the tetracycline tomorrow. (Tuesday)

HER LEFT EYE HAS BLOOD IN IT! HELP!

I'm sorry about her eye. I don't know what I can do here or even if I was there. It could be hemorraghing. That normally only happens after blunt trauma. Treatment would probably be antibiotics as you've been doing.

A guy last month had a bubble-eyed goldfish who had blood in its eye sacks. The photos are pretty ghastly. See http://www.fishpondinfo.com/health5.htm#bubble
The guy decided to chop off the eye sacks! That was a horrible move. I haven't heard from him since.

The green dye (I've not heard of Victoria green; it's usually malachite green) and yellow dye (acriflavin) are pretty strong "medications" that will help kill both bacteria and fungus.

I feel your frustration. I am so frustrated too that I can't help her. I'm sorry that I have not been on here for two days. I went with my family to an amusement park yesterday in the 90 degree heat. We had fun but I didn't have time to get on the computer at all yesterday. That was probably the only fun (vacation) day I'll have this year. I'm sorry that my advise has not helped.

ROBYN, Your advice has helped. Perhaps she was sicker than I thought. She is my first fish.
You are entitled to go away! Don't feel bad.

I am going to do a water change tomorrow. I am afraid to give her any more meds. Perhaps she just needs time, rest and salt. She has only been in the aquarium for 10 days. I am not going to give up on her tho.

I saw those eye sacks. Yikes, how sad for the fish.

I will be in touch. Have a nice night. :D

I am happy to report that Ethel looks better! :) We finished the treatments yesterday. So she is off everything except Melafix and Pimafix. I called the company and I can use them both together.

She has regained most of her color. Her fins do not look as ragged, although there is one that has not grown back. I suppose that will take awhile.
She still has a slight fungal infection around her left eye. The blood in her left eye also looks better.

Thanks for ALL your help Robyn! :) :D

Karen

I'm so glad she's better!

Hi Robyn and Everyone,

While I was away in FL. helping my parents for 3 weeks, Ethel had really responded well to all the treatments. SHe has gotten bigger and is almost fully recovered. Her left bottom fin is beginning to grow back.

I think she is ready for a bigger tank! How do I tranfer her over? I remember reading I have to run the new tank for a while?

ALso I would like to get her a black Moor friend. Will she adjust to a buddy?

20 gallons for 2 fish?

Thanks,
Karen

When I set up a new tank, I normally let it run for a day to be sure the filter is running, there are no leaks, and the tank is well aerated. Be sure to add dechlorinator if you have city water and perhaps some aquarium salt (a tablespoon per 5 gallons). If the tank's fine after running for a day, then net the goldfish to the new tank. Some will say to coax the fish into a small jar or something under water but that's easier said than done. If there are established bacteria in the filter of the old tank, you can move the biological portion of that filter into the new tank's filter.

Two black moors in a 20 gallon should be fine. You may want to quarantine the new fish. You can use your extra tank for that. A quarantine of two weeks is fine with longer even better. I remember seeing black moors at a fish store a decade ago that had anchor worms all over them. Those parasites are obvious but you may not know what other problems a new fish might have.

To reduce problems, try to get another goldfish or similar size as the one you have. If you know the sex of the goldfish (you suspect she's female), try to get one of the same sex. Otherwise, there'll be chasing and possible damage usually to the female. My three fantails in my 65 gallon tank luckily turned out to be boys so I don't have to worry about dealing with eggs, chasing, egg binding, etc.