Help- Wounded goldfish

[woof99]

Hi guys!

Tonight I say one of my GF was stuck in a hole of a piece of driftwood and by the time I managed to get him out, he has scales missing and has a torn fin that is a little bloody.  The weird thing is that a few weeks ago I noticed he had scales missing in same spots, so I guess he had done that before but managed to get out.  He was starting to heal but now he is worse than ever! Obviously, I removed the piece of wood but in the meantime is there anything I can do to help him heal. 
I do have some Medi-Gold but I don't know if I should use that or if I should get something to add in the water.
Any help would be great!
Thanks
Carole-Anne

[KLKelly]

I wouldn't treat unless you see signs of infection and keep the water pristine.  Check for clamped fins (fins held close to the body) dorsal fin down, if he is still eating and swimming this is all good.  Look for angry redness in the fins and around the area or signs of infection.

On the goldfish forum (the gab.org) we recommend salting the tank as opposed to unnecessary antibiotics but you have lots of other fish in the tank so that might not be the best course of action. 

Often pleco's cause big wounds on goldfish.  Some members have used polysporin on big wounds.  One was burnt by a heater and made a complete recovery.  I had a moor that completely split her fin and it healed well.

Do you have a quarantine tank in case he needs to be treated?

[KLKelly]

I wonder why he was going into the driftwood.  Does he have swimbladder issues or are other fish picking on him?

[woof99]

Thanks for the advice that is great.  I do not have a quarantine tank...got rid of it recently...typical!  I'll be sure to do lot's of water changes over the next little while and I won't do anything for now.  I was wondering about those solutions that are supposed to help coat the fish or something like that.
As for why he was going in there, I am not sure but I think he was going for food.  He is a regular GF without any swimming bladder issues (that's my other one!) and he is one of the biggest, no one is chasing him, except for the normal little chasing they do amongst themselves that only lasts a few minutes.
I have another question though.  I was given a bag of frozed GF food a while ago by a member when I bought his tank, he said it was made by another member.  I would like to buy some more, any thoughts who makes it?  It seems to be the only thing that won't make my other GF float. 
Thanks again!

[KLKelly]

I wouldn't use anything with additives unless you have to - because you have other fish.

Was it green food by chance?  It was maybe DarkDep maybe?

I hear you about the floaty fish.  One of my orandas can't have anything but bloodworms, mysis shrimp, peas and kale (on a clip) so far.  If he gets any other food he's stuck up at the top - most often upright but sad when he's belly up.

In my pearlscale tank I have one that wedges himself in the javamoss and stays ultra still to avoid floating.  Thats why I thought maybe swimbladder.

[woof99]

Thanks again and of course I have been staring at the tank and noticed that sure enough as you thought, he is being chased by the other GF in the tank.   
They are fairly aggressive about it but it only lasts a few minutes...but I wonder if he was trying to get away.  What do you suggest for helping in those situations?  I think it time to increase to a 55g tank.  Currently I have 2 fancy and 2 commets in a 33-34g tall tank.
What do you think?

[babblefish1960]

Mixing comets with fancy goldfish is never a good idea, as there is such a disparity in escape velocity.

Do you have anything at all that you could put the injured fish into, even a soup tureen would be good.

[KLKelly]

I think the fancies and the comets should be in different tanks.  Especially if they are a mix of males and females.  A male comet chasing a female fancy - could mean a pretty beat up fancy. Comets are very fast and could out-compete others in the tank for food - especially the moor.

We recommend at least 10 gallons per fancy goldfish (more for commons and comets).  Not sure who you'd pick for a new tank - if you put the fancies in a new tank you could control the food the floater gets better.

Here's a link to the swimbladder article on the forum: http://thegab.org/Articles/Buoyancy.html

[woof99]

The strange thing is that it is comet that is being chased... He is chased by the other comet and one of the Ruykin (He does well for his size!)-  Both Ruykins are being left alone, I am glad for that at least!  Not sure what I will do... Thank you so much for everything!

[KLKelly]

Poor thing

[dan2x38]

How big is the injured goldie? I can loan you a 2.2 tank, live in Centertown area... I got a small Nano HOB filter for it...

[Laura]

I'm guessing the comet being chased is a female.  Goldies can be randy persistent fish.....

[squeeker]

I have used polysporin on goldfish wounds, and it works really well.  Just be sure to use the clear gel, and not the white cream type.

I, too, recommend moving up to a larger tank.  Comets should have 20g each, and fancies 10g each minimum, so you should technically have your fish in a 60g tank.