Egg bound?

Jan 3, 2006
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#1
I just bought a goldfish and i think she might be egg bound... their were two other goldfish in the tank with her when i bought her... i noticed she has a slight cut under her fin, and is HUGE... i mean, HUGE -- so i'm wondering if she wasn't getting ready to spawn when i got her, and if so, what do i do now? i know to get her in some melafix for her cut, but what about the eggs?
 

Seleya

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Nov 22, 2004
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#2
First, what sort of goldfish is she? Is she uniformly round or is it more or less obviously concentrated in one location? Are you sure it's a she? How large is she? (length) Where did she cut herself? How is she acting otherwise? Could you tell me a bit about her tank (occupants, size, parameters....)
 

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Jan 3, 2006
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#3
the goldfish is a "Pearl Scale" (i don't know much about the breed) it was in with two lionheads when i bought it yesterday. It was in a 10 gal. Ummm... its maybe 1 1/2" long maybe and the cut is under the pectoral fin -- behavior wise it seems to be acting fine-- but i haven't really had it long enough to know for sure.
 

Jan 3, 2006
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#4
oh, i almost forgot, i'm not sure if its a she or not, its just when i found out the stuff about fish being egg bound, i assumed... ummm, and as far as how big she is, she's real round in one area, conglomerated... like, for just an example, it looks like she swallowed a small basketball and it got lodged in her belly
 

Seleya

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Nov 22, 2004
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#5
Pearlies are normally ROUND -- they usually look like they ate a beachball. If she's acting normally otherwise, she's probably just a typical pearlscale. A picture would be great, btw. Next to lionheads, she will look pretty darn huge girthwise, that's for sure!

For the cut, I would suggest pristine water above all else. You have a testing kit? Some Melafix wouldn't hurt either. Pearlscales aren't the most coordinated things -- she may have collided with something. Keep an eye on the spot to make sure it's not getting worse or other things are cropping up.

As for your tank.... You'll want to upgrade this tank sooner than later. 3 goldfish in a 10 gallon will only work for the briefest of times even with the best of situations. Is this a new tank? Has it been cycled? How? Ideally, so your fish will achieve it's optimum growth and lifespan, a minimum of 40 gallons for this trio is needed. In that size tank with good food, maintenance, etc they could grow as much as 1"/month.
 

Jan 3, 2006
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#6
Oh, no i didn't mean the 10 gal. was mine, it was the petstores--- i had just bought the fish like the day i posted, and then began to worry that their was something wrong with it, but, if pearl scales are supposed to be like that then i guess she's fine--- (but wow, those fish would REALLY be big if they did have eggs!):) thanks for the help