Urgently need goldfish medication - Anyone help?

[Steph Cowley]

Does anyone know anywhere in Coventry that sells "Sera Baktopur Direct" fish medication? (Anywhere apart from Pets At Home, Canly (who don't sell it) and Coventry Aquatics (who are closed tomorrow and Thur))

One of my orandas has dropsy, I have ordered some baktopur off the net but it's from Germany, I'm not sure how long my fish will live.

Failing that, are there any other goldfish keepers on here who have been able to get hold of medicated food (medigold etc) that you would be willing to sell to me?
It's not actually legal in the UK (apparently our goldfish don't get sick ) but I know it sometimes gets past customs when it isn't labeled right. I would risk this myself but by the time it gets here I think it would be too late. And I haven't taken the risk before because I never needed it.

Anyone able to help?

[JP]

Dropsy?

I have a goldfish (axl) who once was almost dead, floating on top but managed to give him the attention he needed to pull round (poked him every few seconds, so he would respond and keep swimming) I was there for about 2-3 hours just watching him, making sure he wouldnt give up. Miracle really.

[Steph Cowley]

Dropsy - Bacterial infection causes fluid to build up in the fish's body. It's very deadly if not treated fast and correctly. Symptoms include pine-coning (scales sticking up off the fish's body) caused by the fluid build up "bloating" the fish, eyes sunk into the fish's head, scratching, bottom-sitting and loss of appetite.
Early symptoms are pop-eye (eyes bulging out of head more than normal) and yellow around the gills and fins.

The best medication is medicated food, however it's not legal in the UK. The best thing you can get legally in the UK is Baktopur direct, the next best thing is one of the various "Anti-bacteria" water treatments you can get. That's what I'm using at the moment, but I don't see it being strong enough. I need the baktopur (or something equally as good) as soon as possible so I can begin treating him.

Ash (the one with dropsy) is smaller and weaker than Bruce (his tank-mate) and has had several illnesses that he has got through, mainly from early spotting and treating, but dropsy is as bas as it gets really. And he might be "just a fish," but as with any pet, you get attatched to them.

[marco]

There are a number of garden centres with aquatics sections like the one in Stoneleigh, or the garden centre at Church Lawford nr Rugby, the on the A452 outside Balsall Common, and the other one off the A452 going towards Coleshill from Stonebridge roundabout. Then there's Hobdays pet shop in Ball Hill and The Range might have some too, they have some strange stuff. Obviously Shirley Aquatics and A5 would be worth a telephone call if you can get to them.

PS: We haven't got any we've never had a fish with Dropsy, yet.

[Steph Cowley]

Thanks, I'll see if I can get to a few of those. Although the treatment I had to use yesterday appears to be doing some good, even if it doesn't cure it, it should keep Ash healthy enough until the baktopur arrives, and also stop Bruce getting it, who luckily isn't showing any symptoms yet.

Lucky you with never having a fish get dropsy. This is the first time any of mine have. Strange cause my last goldfish was kept in a tank that was too small and it was hardly ever cleaned out, yet he lived 5+ years in perfect health. These fish have been in a large 20 gallon tank for 5-6 months since I got them, regular cleaning out and very well looked after, yet they've had 4 or 5 illnesses (well Ash has anyway.)

[marco]

Any luck? Or are the fish floaters now?

[Steph Cowley]

The fish are a lot better. Think I will just wait for the Bak D to arrive from Germany now. Unless they get worse again anyway. Guess I caught it early enough for the weaker treatment to work.

[Lee Francis]

Just to revive this thread and let everyone know of a little true story i have regarding gold fish:

A few years back we were cleaning the tank out, and had all the fish in a bowl on the floor. Once the tank was ready for the fish again we carefully netted each fish individually to put them back in - apart from we were missing one!

We were puzzled as to how a fish could just disappear and looked everywhere on the floor for it but no luck. We were genuinely confused but really couldn't see any explanation other than we may have miscounted in the first place.

The next morning, my mum went to the shops to get the paper and a few other things. She reached into her handbag and pulled out her purse - to which the shopkeeper said "oh, that's a novelty purse" My mum was confused because as far as she was concerned it was just a plain black purse so she asked what he meant. He told her to look at the purse more carefully - she turned it over and there was the missing Goldfish!!

Apparently, it had jumped out of the bowl and landed in my mums bag on the floor, and overnight had just dried onto her purse!! I know it's a little harsh on the fish, but we laughed about it eventually!! ;D

[Steph Cowley]

Poor fish. Could never laugh about a fish, or any animal, dying a slow and painful death.

Anyway, I finally got the Bak D from Germany (with no help from DHL >:-(
The weaker anti-bacterial stuff seemed to clear up most of the infection but they are both still a little yellow so Ash will be going into the QT tank tomorrow to be treated.

Just out of interest, how many goldfish owners on here actually know how to properly look after the fish? What conditions they need to live in, how much room they need (10 gallons per fancy fish, 20 gallons per common/single tail), keeping an eye on ammonia levels etc? and not keeping them in a round "traditional" goldfish bowl?

Most people I know see goldfish as an easy-to-look-after pet that they can just keep in a tiny bowl and clean out once a month when the water starts to get a bit cloudy, sad because they really aren't, and are wonderful pets that can live years when looked after properly.

[Lee Francis]

We've got ours in a pond now. One of the Goldfish is actually 14 years old - i guess that means we kinda know how to look after them properly. Also, we have conventional Carp, some Koi Carp, an Orfe as well as the Goldfish. None of this fancy tailed, eye bulging genetically modified fish - just normal shaped fish!!

We used to have Grass Carp, and Tench too. But unfortunately, some builders killed them (long story!)

Never been a fan of Shubunkins, Orandas or Moors - they just seem so awkward when swimming around.

Fish are cool - especially when you've "trained" them enough so that they start taking their food out of your hands without getting spooked!

[Steph Cowley]

I love orandas. Mine are pretty small but swim perfectly fine. I don't object to selective breeding (cause thats what they do, not genetically modify) with fish as long as they can still live healthily and happily. It's the pearlscales etc that I object too, the ones who need 100% perfect water all the time or will die, who are even more prone to swim-bladder disorder and who really do look very awkward when they swim.

[Lee Francis]

The ones that really freak me out are the bubble eyes - just.........WHY?

[Steph Cowley]

Yeah bubble eys are my least fave after pearlscales. All it takes is one careless owner to leave something pointed in the tank and the fish's eyesight is in severe danger.
I'll stick to orandas I think, perhaps some plecos and an odd snail.

[Lee Francis]

Ah snails - we had some of them and a few fresh water mussels, but our fish went on a rampage and ate them all!

Fair play to them i suppose, pond sticks and bread do get a bit boring after a while!

[Steph Cowley]

I'm going to get an apple snail, should be fine in with 2 small orandas. They get a varied enough diet as it is.
If you only feed yours pond sticks and bread, try some frozen blood worm/brine shrimp etc, goldfish love all that stuff.