Septicemia: Goldfish Have Blood Streaks

Q: Almost all my goldfish have blood streaks on their tail and fins. This started only recently. Is this disease curable? What should I do? I also notice that they are always swimming upside down. Is this behavior normal or it’s with the condition they are having now?

Septicemia in Goldfish

Blood streaks on fins and tail is usually a sign of septicemia. Although septicemia isn’t contagious by itself but poor water quality can result in causing other fish in your tank suffer the same condition. Having said, septicemia is a deadly disease and becomes incurable if no proper remedies are given immediately.

Septicemia in goldfish usually indicate a nitrite buildup in the water due to an increased concentration of waste material. Either your tank is too small or you’ve been overfeeding your fish.

What I would suggest is:

• quarantine your affected fish.
• do a 25-30% water change.
• medicate both tanks with Maracyn Plus.
• remove all carbon from your filter.
• nourish your fish with medicated food and antibiotics.

Make sure you do not overcompensate your fish with too much of the medicated food just to speed up the process. This isn’t how it works. Once you notice improvement, cut down the feeding just a little and change the water regularly.

Goldfish Swim Upside Down

Goldfish also tend to have swim bladder problems. The swim bladder controls the buoyancy of the fish. If it doesn’t function well, the fish either swims on its sides and back, or sinks to the bottom of the tank. Unfortunately, there’s no cure for this.

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