Goldfish Help

[cryptly]

One month ago a strange infection showed up in my goldfish tank. It looked like ick, but only on the fins. The white spots never spread past the fins. I thought fin rot, but the fins weren't ragged or tattered looking. I treated for both ick, and fungal/bacterial infections, which seemed to have helped. I lost one fish, and the rest seemed to have recovered.

Now, the strange spots are back, and for the life of me, I can't figure out what it is. Again, just the spots, starting along the edges of the fins. No opaque spots, redness or other signs of fungal infections. No spots on the body. They seem a bit more lethargic than usual, but no other changes in behavior. No fin clamping, floating, gasping, scratching or sudden dashing about.

The water is fine. Good ph levels and all of that. No new additions to the tank.

I'm at a loss. I don't want to loose another fish, but I haven't a clue how to treat this. Anybody else seen anything like this?

 

[OldHag]

It could be ich again. They are a parasite. They will lay eggs and after your done treating and killing the adult parasites the eggs hatch and you have another infestation. Try treating for a while til your sure the adult ich'ses arent reproducing.

It does sound a bit strange that theyre only on the fins. Probably not ich but....if it is reinfestation is common.

 

[ta2edpop]

It is a parasitic infection. Along with a good parasite med ( I like Quick-cure ) make sure you use some salt. Use aquarium or rock salt, not marine. And while it sounds stupid keep the tank as dark as possible for the duration of the treatment. It will help shorten (stun actually) the lifespan of the parasite. Please insert 2 cents now. Hope that helps.

 

[OldHag]

I keep salt in with my "carp" species anyway! An ounce of prevention....blablabla

 

[cryptly]

Thanks for the advice!

I got the Quick-Cure, and salt. Treatment has already started.

Gonna keep a little salt in the water from now on. Had these fish for 8 years (the fantail for almost 10), never had anything like this happen before. Learning the hard way sucks.

 

[Arlius]

Arent goldfish the only animal thats cheaper to buy new then to feed?
I imagine you dont have common goldfish though...

 

[cryptly]

I actually don't spend too much on food. About 7 bucks for a large can. Lasts well over a month. Occasional treats like earth worms or dried shrimp every once in awhile doesn't add too much more to feeding costs.

The fish themselves aren't rare or costly. The fantail I won at a fair (everybody said would die in a week and it's now going on 10 years old ). Two red cap orandas and a black moore. The fish I lost last month was fantail. Nothing fancy, but I've had them forever and have grown quite attatched.

 

[wicked]

Oh I loved my goldfish too. When I was living in CA I had a tank of Orandas, boy do I miss those fish. One of these days I will get another tank and get them again.
If it is ich raising the water temp for a short time may help as well, along with salt and or meds.

I know how easy it is to get attached to a fish and price has nothing to do with it. Last summer I had an accident when I was cleaning the horse tank, started transferring the feeder goldfish I keep in the tank into a bucket and did not double check the water temp <dumb dumb dumb> Long story short the fish went into shock and was pretty much belly up when I saw it. Only one thing came to mind, CPR! So there I was, holding this fish on its back giving it little chest compressions then submerging it in cold water spalshing around then more compressions and crying the whole time <my kids are going to need serious therapy> The kids helped me get all the emergency supplies and we set it up in a hospital tank with an airstone and gave it vigorous oxygen therapy for an hour. It went from dead, to swimming funny to fine. Two hours later it was back in the tank, but sadly the damage had been done and it died that night All this for a 29 cent feeder fish

 

[mo_2]

I agree with wicked, the major problem with goldfish and ick is that they both thrive in colder temperatures. if you raise the temp. to about 75-78 it will probably not affect the goldfish in the short term. if they were tropical fish I would recomend a temp of 81-83 farenheight but gold fish don't like it that hot. I must say that I am SOOO happy to hear about a goldfish that is over a year old, goldfish live from 20-40 years, you sound like a person who is those fishes angel (I have a soft spot for goldfish despite the fact that I only keep tropicals). Ick will keep reacuring until you can get the nymphs killed (the nymphs are free swimming so you don't see them on the fish).

Good luck!

 

[cryptly]

Thank you for all the help.

While the spots aren't gone yet, they haven't spread like they did the last time. The last time the spots got really bad really quick, to the point where it looked like their fins were dipped in salt. The fish even perked up a bit. A few more days and I should know if they're going to pull through or not.

Goldfish are great little critters. The only critters in my house that are happy to see me when I come home from work. I've gone to great lengths to save a fish once. One of my orandas picked up a bit of gravel that was too large for it's mouth, and the gravel got stuck. I must've been quite a sight, standing over a bowl of water, trying to hold onto a panicked fish with one hand, while trying to use tweezers to remove the gravel with the other hand. Luckily the gravel didn't get lodged too deep, and the fish didn't choke.

 

[druid8783]

More goldfish lovers! I have goldfish too! I love them to death. My oldest one is six.

Good luck with your treatment. If you need any more goldfish pointers there is a really good goldfish forum. Kokos Goldfish World

 

[mo_2]

I am really ticked at myself I forgot to say something very important. You can't kill the cysts when they are on the fish you have to keep treating Aafter all the spots are gone. the cysts are impenetrable to all medications thats why you raise the temp., it speeds up the life cycle of the parasite so that they become free swimming and you can kill them. also you have to remove the carbon from your filter as it will remove the medications. feel free to send me a private message if you have more questions I can try to help as much as possible.

 

[Crunchie]

I love my goldfish too, I have a huge comet I got at the fair 15 years ago and she's near enough a foot long.