Kelsta

Woah, that sounds pretty radical!! Shedding stomach lining?! Oh well as long as they seem happy and un-stressed. I'll just let things take their course now. Cheers

Thanks so much, that's great. Will just assume it's either parasites being expelled or something else harmless. Will just continue with the Droncit and vacuuming and hope for the best Also, thanks Jolliolli - will try the stuff you mentioned if symptoms persist after the Droncit treatment.

Could be aye. I know when you worm cats and dogs their dead tape worms get pooped out. I do indeed hope that's what's happening. Maybe the fish had tape worms. Gross, the poor things! My neighbour's cat once pooped out a live tape worm! It was disgusting. I assume that if they're being pooped out they'll be dead, and therefore no threat to the fish? If there's anything left that didn't get sucked up the filter intake it will hopefully be vacuumed out, but not for a fews more days.

Hey! Could internal parasites cause float problems?! Maybe that's why Flossie has had such bad issues with float, and now she seems a bit better since the prazi...? Just an un-educated guess...?

Oh my... will the prazi be getting rid of them or is there something else you have to use for internal parasites?

Cheers

Actually!! Man, I'm blond - memory like a seive... Last night when I got home from work, all the goldfish were doing poos that were really really long and white and thin and stringy. Not like normal food-coloured pooop. Fish didn't seem concerned and were behaving totally normal. What could this mean? Should I worry about it ignore it?

Oh thank you Caryl, you are such a godsend! I am so glad I got hubby on board with the prazi. Hopefully this will be the solution. We have been salting as well, so I was pleased to read that's the right thing to do. They've had three treatments now with thorough vacuuming and water changes etc. The goldies are looking happy. Still go to the surface now and again to 'breathe' but not for long. Sometimes I catch them yawning. But the float probs are gone, and the ripped fin isn't getting any worse. Fingers crossed aye! The borneo suckers are remarkably happy and healthy looking now too. They must've had the gill flukes as well.

Well, Flossie has stopped "hanging" at the surface, although she does swim up there a lot still and still 'pipes' or gulps in air from the surface. Interestingly, she used to have bad float problems, but this seems to have improved markedly. I have not noticed Flipper doing his dolphin dives - although it's only been 8 days. We have so far done two treatments, 4 days apart. Due for another good vacuum and re-dose tonight. Perhaps it will take some time to notice a major improvement. Sometimes the fish still look like they're chewing.

Yeah I have Borneo Suckers in my un-heated tank with my goldies. They're doing well

Hey guys, just updating... Firslty, I've finally convinced hubby to treat with Prazi and we did it last night!! Woohoo!! :bounce: I've also been doing some serious research - having the day off work helps! - and found a couple of things. I found out my fish had a few symptoms I hadn't even noticed as abnormal... Doc Johnson (www.koivet.com) says split fins can actually be a secondary stress indicator of parasites, such as gill flukes. I also discovered that the "injected fins" (red veins in the tail fins) I had asked about are a stress response. Can also be due to various things but the only thing it could be in my case is parasites or bacterial sepsis as the water tests are all good. Assuming it's flukes. Jumping, can also be a symptoms of either poor water conditions (irritants) like high ir low pH, ammonia etc, or else it can be parasites. Once again, because water tests are god, assuming it's flukes. Also hanging at the surface (leaning up, head to surface) can be low pH or else gill probloems - bacterial infection in gills or flukes. Once again, assume it's flukes as no outward sign of bacterial infection in the gills. So, armed with all the info we have treated with prazi for flukes, and will see of that stops the symptoms. Id so, we've found the problem. Thanks everyone for your help and support

Thanks everybody! Hubby and I treated our tank with Prazi last night!! Woohoo!!! That took about 6 months of persuasion... :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

I use a very good one that tests for everything - I'm sorry I haven't got the name on me just now, but it's a dropper test with bottles of testing solution for ammonia, nirtite, nitrate, pH, etc. It comes with test tubes and an instruction leaflet and I find it very accurate and it lasts for ages. I got it at Animates but they don't always have them in stock - just pop in and take a look. You really want a kit that tests everything to get a full picture of the water quality. It cost about $75 but it was totally worth it. Hope this helps

Hi I have goldfish in a cold water tank that gets up to 25 sometimes in the hight of summer. My goldfish seem just as happy in the warmer temps, however I do try and bring those temps down using ice packs when it gets above 22-23. Goldfish are usually more active warmer temperatures, and also eat more, which means they produce more waste, so you have to be very diligent about keeping the water quality good and doing heaps of changes. Because goldfish are a cold water species, they tend to thrive better in cooler temperatures, but they are also very good at acclimatising as long as the there aren't sudden drastic changes in temperature. Something esle to bear in mind is that there is less dissolved oxygen in warmer water, so you'd need to makre sure the tank is not overcrowded in the first place, and ensure there is lots of aeration as well. Just keep an eye out for yawning and hovering at the surface for air.

Oh thank you! That's wonderful! I'll take it home to him and see what he says