Please can anyone help me try to save my afore mentioned "water burned" Lionhead Goldfish.

On Tuesday, I treated the tank with Interpet Fungus&finrot No 8, as i noticed the Lionhead was starting to develop fungus, probably because of the burns. I had to remove my filter at this point.The treatment lasts 7 days.

I have tried to kick start the 'cycling' process by adding lots of water and weed from a long established and very healthy tank, to try to help the Lionhead. But the fungus is getting worse. It is even coming out of it's gills in small tufts.
I seperated the Lionhead into a hospital tank for a day but this stressed the fish, so i put him back in the tank, as the other fish have been in with a fish with mouth fungus before and have not got fungus themselves.

Now he just floats to the surface and hardly moves, he has also stopped eating.
I can't re-dose the water til next Tuesday and now i think i can see white slime patchs on the Sarasa Comet.

What can i do? Please Help! I don't know what else to do

I have uploaded a pic of my Lionhead, before he developed fungus and was behaving normally.

By "remove the filter" I'm hoping you mean just the carbon part of it - this is the only bit that needs removing (if you have carbon in your filter) when you treat a tank. Removing the filter completely will only worsen the problem as hightly toxic ammonia will build up in the tank and burn the gills of the fish therein, so there will be no chance of recovering from a disease.
I'm afraid it doesn't look too good for your Lionhead - he sounds very sick. When a fish gets to that stage it's time for fairly drastic measures - I would perform a decent sized water change (up to 50%, but make sure the water going back in is at the same temperature as the tank and properly dechlorinated) and add some "Melafix" to the tank - this natural antibacterial remedy (you should be able to find it in any good Pet Shop/Aquatic Centre) can sometimes work miracles on fish which seem to be beyond hope, but it's by no means guaranteed. Be careful not to overdose as you already have some medication in the tank. Another good idea is to increase the aeration in the tank - adding medication reduces the oxygen levels which can cause havoc with the fish's recovery process.

Hope that helps a bit - good luck!

Unfortunatley, it is a small filter which is a all-in-one job.
Why can't i put the carbon bit back in?

Will try to get some of the remedy if he makes it through the night.

I am scared of overdosing these fish as i have added the Interpet in the last few days.

I have an airstone to put in with the filter, but can't put it in to increase the aeration as i can't put the filter back yet.

I don't want to change more water as i'm trying to get this 'cycling' business going.

Hi linsay by taking the filter out of the tank completely the good bacteria will die off and it will have to start the cycle all over again, as marc said you only needed to take the carbon out as that will absorb any treatment you put in the tank not the filter itself.

Did you get any test strips at all if so what was the result.

Hiya,

The cycling thing takes weeks to get going. At the moment it's likely the ammonia levels are going up and the only way to reduce them is to change some water. Changing water will have very little effect on the cycling process.

Fishadmin

You can use Interpet aquarium salt or aqualibrium salt safely with the fungus treatment and this should help.

Unfortunatley, the Lionhead did not make it through the night.
Thank you for all your advice, i think he was just too sick at that stage.

Will not be keeping any other fish until i get this cycling process sorted and have tested the water to check it's right for them.

Just going to keep the Sarasa Comet and Shibunkin, who don't seem affected.

:(

Hi linsay sorry your lionhead didn't make it at least you know what to do now and can make a good home for your other 2 fish, out of curiousity what happend to your red cap oranda did that die too

The other two still seem fine today.

Unfortunatley, the tiny Red Cap Oranda, just died out of the blue, but as i mentioned before, he look a bit of a runt when i got him, he was differently shaped to all the others and i felt a bit sorry for him.

Strangley enough, i went back to the garden centre where i bought the Lionhead a few weeks ago to get some brineshrimp and 2 of the 4 Lionheads left were water burned. How strange is that?
The tank had around 10 in when i bought mine, none were blackened like this??