Goldfish with bubble 02/06/09 What is this bubble on my Pearlscale goldfish, "Mr Bumpy"? <Have heard/read these referred to as "viscous tumors"> It has been on the fish about a week now. The fish is normal in all respects except for this bubble. Should I leave it alone, or treat it somehow? <I would leave it as is. Often these "marks" resolve on their own. There are advocates of "popping" them, but this might lead to infection, more stress> Tank information: 55 gallon tank, two years old. Ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 15. 50% water change once a week, once a month 75%. <Good.> Temperature 68 F. Filtered by a Magnum 350 canister filter. Diet is shelled peas, cut green beans, softened cubed carrot, Nori seaweed sheets, dried river shrimp, HBH super Soft Spirulina pellets, and sometimes orange pieces (all my fish are spoiled!) Tankmates are a calico Pearlscale, moor, and a weather loach. Thank you. Sherry <Do keep us abreast of further developments Sherry. I do think all will be fine here. Bob Fenner>

Goldfish Lost it's eye 2/2/09 Good Day. Recently my mom had brought in a fancy tailed goldfish from her outdoor pond. She brings this fish in ever winter because it has an air bladder problem and she doesn't want the fish to die. The other day she put two Cichlids into the same tank as her goldfish. Well tonight when she went to feed the poor guy he was missing an eye, looked as though it had attacked. How can she treat the poor fellow so that he will survive, I would hate to see her lose him. Cheers Brett <Hello Brett. Fish lose their eyes sometimes, usually through some type of trauma, in other words fighting or rough handling when someone was netting them out. In this case, either could be the fault. When your Mom netted the fish, she might have used a coarse net or just been clumsy, causing damage to the eye. However, I suspect the cichlids are to blame. Cichlids can seem unpredictable if you don't know the species. If we're talking about a pair of territorial cichlids, then they could well have viewed the Goldfish as a threat, and very often cichlids attack the eyes as the most vulnerable part of another fish. (This is, incidentally, why so many fish have false eye "spots" on or near the tail, so that predatory or aggressive fish attack the wrong end, allowing the fish to swim away unharmed.) In any case, assuming you can separate the Goldfish from the cichlids, treatment isn't too difficult. Provide good, clean water and add an antibiotic (such as Maracyn) or an antibacterial (such as eSHa 2000) to the water. Run the full course of whichever medication you're using to prevent secondary infection. By the end of the course the skin will have healed around and over the eye, and the fish should recover. Obviously the eye won't grow back, but this doesn't seem to bother most fish. Generally fish have other, very good senses, not least of all the lateral line system that acts like a kind of radar, detecting movement and solid objects in the vicinity. Cheers, Neale.>

My Black Moor is losing her Black & Fantail has a crimped look on tail 1/29/09 Hi - Monica here - I'm not finding the answer in your FAQ's & I just bought a book 'Manual of Fish Health' and still have not found the same descriptions of my fishies' problems. My goldies' history: My fancy goldfish include two Fantails, each around 2-3 inches long (Figi is orange & Cheeky is white/translucent), and a Black Moor, Mombo, who is 3-4 inches. (They're Wal-mart grade) I have a 10 Gallon tank (I know - bigger tank - I'm currently saving up for it), filled with tap water, couple of caves, a handful of plastic plants, and a little more than a gallon of glass rocks/marbles at the bottom. My 3 goldies have a carbon filter and a bubble stone. I have been doing a 50% water changes at least once a month, replacing the filter and adding Start Right. (Now trying to attempt a 25% change every week - they are such dirty fishies!) Of course, I add Aquar. Salt, Stress Zyme, etc. when needed according to testing. (Have been using 5-in-1 test strips, now looking for liquid test kits as I have been told they are more accurate.) My tank has been set-up for a year now. Not a whole lot of problems so far. My fish eat shelled peas, spinach, and brine shrimp - as of late (I had a swim bladder/blockage issue with Figi about 2 months ago) and now, only occasionally, regular flake food. The water I use has a tendency to be slightly acidic, I believe that's because its very soft, in terms of hardness. Temp. is in the high 70's usually. I recently moved their tank into my bedroom, because there's more daylight esp. during these dark winter months. I also decided recently to switch from shelled peas to baby food peas, because they were have problems eating /swallowing the whole and even the halved peas. They get them in their mouths and then trying for the next 5-10 min. to choke it back out. Smooshing the peas before putting them in the tank helped... thus the baby food peas saves me some time and money. (I made sure the ingredients listed only peas and water, no artificial stuff.) Then, the bubble stone I had in the tank crumbled in my hand a couple weeks ago, while I was doing a water change. It took me about a week to get a replacement (a bubble curtain). When installing it last weekend and doing a 25% water change, I noticed that my Black Moor is losing her Black. Its not really a color change, but a loss of color under her face. I can see-through her scales in that area to a yellow-whiteness, kinda like under her belly. Also, I'm uncertain about the crimped look on Cheeky's tail. Its near the edge and sometimes looks as if there's a tiny smear of strawberry jelly along the crimp. My only thought is that it's watered-down blood? I tried to get a picture of it, but failed to capture the pink. What did I do to my fish? Please help me & Thank you for your time. <Hello Monica. Well, at least at some level the sicknesses you're dealing with are caused by environmental issues. When we say Goldfish need big tanks, we mean it! It's not because we have stock in some aquarium manufacturing company! Goldfish may be small when purchased, but they grow fast, and as they grow, they pollute the tank more, and that makes the conditions in the tank steadily worse. So the common pattern we observe is everything is fine for the first few months, and then all of a sudden, things go bad. Next up, soft water is bad for Goldfish. They need hard water. If you live in a soft water area, then putting a bag of crushed coral inside a canister filter will help buffer the pH and raise the hardness. Alternatively add some Malawi Cichlid Salts to each bucket of water (not aquarium salt!). You're aiming for pH 7.5, hardness 10+ degrees dH. Do note that pH itself isn't the issue, so adding a pH buffer isn't what we're after! It's the hardness that matters. So what are the diseases we're dealing with here? I suspect they're both bacterial, likely Finrot or Mouth Fungus, both of which cause skin tissue to die (turning white) while in the case of Finrot often causing patches of blood to appear where the blood vessels are blocked. A photograph would help confirm this analysis. Anyway, assuming this to be the case, treat with an antibiotic such as Maracyn (or Maracyn 2 if that doesn't work). Alternatively, a reliable antibacterial like eSHa 2000 could be used. By the way, the "Manual of Fish Health" is an excellent book and a very sound purchase; well done! Cheers, Neale.>

Goldfish health 1/26/09 Hello WWM volunteers, hope you're all having a good weekend! <Thank you Sarah... sorry for the delay in this response> I'm emailing you with a question about one of my three goldfish, who has recently been showing occasional signs of floatiness and gasping at the top of the tank. I've had him for two years (he's around 4 inches long) and he has generally been in good health, though always showing some tendency to gasp at the top of the tank (even in water conditions with no nitrite/ammonia/nitrate and good oxygen saturation). He currently shares a 30 (UK) gallon tank with two other goldfish, one of whom is an inch long and the other around two inches (tail not included). These two are mostly unaffected, although the smaller one also gasps occasionally. The two-inch fish never does. <Mmm...> I think the gasping may be due to insufficient oxygen saturation (due to needing a bigger tank, which they should be getting in 7 weeks or so). <Good> As for the floatiness, I don't know what is causing it. I know a common cause is too much processed food in the diet, but all my goldfish live off peas and the very occasional couple of flakes (feeding of flakes is not temporally correlated with the symptoms). <There is a strong "genetic component" with some "breeds" and lines of goldfish... a tendency to float if you will> They currently have run out of plants to eat but some freshly de-quarantined Elodea will be going in the tank in ten days. Water tests show no ammonia/nitrite and well under 5mg/l nitrate, even soon after feeding when the symptoms are at their worst. The floatiness does not seem to occur after every feed, although it is hard to tell as the floatiness is not currently sufficient to make swimming difficult for the fish. He is still eating enthusiastically and scavenging for hours after each feed; he seems entirely normal apart from these symptoms. He does not appear stressed and neither do the other two fish. <Good> If you could let me know what you think could be the cause of these symptoms, I would be greatly appreciative. Thank you very much for your time and for all the great work you at WWM do for fish and their keepers! Sarah <Again, you are most welcome. I am guessing that the one goldfish is more "roundish"... and hence of the kind that is given to such troubles. I would not be overly concerned, as there is naught one can do (other than what you have... adequate surroundings, low protein feeding...) to better the situation. You do regular water changes? I remove (gravel vacuum) and replace a good quarter of the water with my goldfish weekly... And do check, assure that a "film" is not forming, persisting on the tank-water surface... as this can be a source of dissolved gas impediment. Dipping out some surface water during change-outs can usually solve this issue. Cheers, Bob Fenner>

Sick Goldfish (2-gallon tank likely has something to do with it...) 1/24/09 I have a orange headed goldfish that is laying on the bottom a lot. <Clearly sick. How big is the tank? What are the water quality and water chemistry parameters? Almost always, Goldfish get sick because of bad environmental conditions.> I have noticed scales missing on his sides. <Bad; scales are the first line of defence, and while they grow back, in the meantime the fish is more vulnerable to opportunistic infections.> He is eating and pooing fine. I have aquarium salt in tank. <Why use salt? What book told you to add salt? Is this a marine goldfish? No. It's a freshwater fish, ergo, no salt.> I have treated him with QuickCure for Ick. <Why? Did he have Ick?> I have treated him with Pima fix but still no difference. <Again, why? Pimafix (supposedly) treats Fungus. It's a pretty crummy medication at the best of times, about on par with chicken soup curing flu. If your fish are sick with a disease, use a medication tested as valid by vets, i.e., NOT Melafix or Pimafix, neither of which have been tested or proven to work.> What else could this be? <Many, many things. Give me some facts and I'll do my best to help!> He is in a 2 gallon 360 tank that I do a 50% water change on weekly. <Tank is approximately one-fifteenth of the minimum size suitable for Goldfish. So there's one good reason why this fish is sick/will die. Two gallon tanks are suitable for cut flowers or brewing beer. Nothing else. Certainly not Goldfish. Whoever sold you that "sold you a bill of goods", taking advantage of the fact you (presumably) hadn't read anything about what Goldfish need. These are SOCIAL, MESSY, and above all BIG fish that need a LOT of space. A 30-gallon tank is about right for 2-3 adult fancy Goldfish. You also need a decent filter, because they will pollute the water rapidly. Unless you want sick fish in murky water, choose something with a turnover 6 times the volume of the tank, i.e., for a 30 gallon tank, get a filter rated at 6 x 30 = 180 gallons per hour. Trust me on this; anything smaller will be overwhelmed and you'll regret being cheap.> I have tested the water and in comes back good. <Define "good". For me, this is zero ammonia, zero nitrite, a pH around 7.5-8, and 10+ degrees dH.> Any other ideas? <Lots. Start here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/goldfish101art.htm > thank you <You are most welcome. Cheers, Neale.>

White pimples on the head of my goldfish 1/24/09 Hi, I have 4 goldfish in an 80 litre tank, each fish is about 7-8cm long. Recently one fish developed a white spot on it's head that looked like a pimple. Thinking it was Whitespot I treated the tank as per the instructions on the bottle but that didn't help. I asked at the Petshop and was told to treat them with triple sulphur and wait for a week to see if it cleared up, which I did with no results. The symptoms have been there for about 2 weeks now and the fish has since developed more pimples in the same area on it's head. The sores are white with what looks like pus in the centre, and ringed with a reddish colour around the outside. The fish is still active and eating but he does seem slower than usual, and while taking these photos to send to you I noticed that one eye is significantly larger than the other one. None of the other fish show any symptoms. I keep the tank clean with regular water changes but 3 weeks ago I introduced some new plants into the aquarium, could that have anything to do with it? I have searched the internet for information but can't find any descriptions which match these symptoms, so any help you can give me would be appreciated. Thanks very much. <Whitespot (Ick) doesn't normally appear in aquaria unless a new fish has been added to the tank, but it is possible for plants to carry the free-living Whitespot parasite if the tanks have been held in a tank (or system of connected tanks) with fish present. But these "pits" look too big to be caused by Whitespot. Finrot and Mouth Fungus (both bacterial infections) do appear on Goldfish exposed to poor water conditions, but normally Finrot attacks the fins first, and Mouth Fungus appears around the mouth. Either way, a good antibiotic or anti-bacterial should clear them up. Ulcers are quite common on Goldfish kept in small tanks (which yours is, far too small for Goldfish). Again, these are opportunistic and will be fixed with anti-bacterial or antibiotic medications. If the spots grow or seep white pus, there's a good chance these are ulcers. However, confusing the situation is that male Goldfish develop tubercles on the face, gill covers and pectoral fins. While your fish are a bit young to be showing these, it's not impossible. In any case, your main jobs are these: review water quality and pH stability. Examine the white spots closely and see if they're symmetrically distributed over the fish (if they are, more or less, they're likely spawning tubercles). If there is any sign of dead tissue, blood, or pus, then assume a bacterial infection and treat accordingly. From the photos, I think there are bacterial and need treating with something like eSHa 2000 (in the EU) or Maracyn (in the US). But I would keep my mind open to both ulcers and breeding tubercles. Cheers, Neale.>

Nupital tubercles

Mouth rot, Goldfish -- 1/20/09 Hi Sorry to trouble you with fishy woes. I have a comet goldfish that was in my coldwater aquarium with 2 other goldfish (20+ gallons), I removed it at the beginning of October and put in a separate hospital tank, as it was showing signs of mouth rot. I have been treating with aquarium salt, 3 tsp per gall, home-made Melafix (tea-tree) 5%, 1 ml in 4 galls, and Fungi Stop by Tetra Medica. Fish initially started improving, but then as I medicated less frequently signs of rot returned. I resumed treatment and have been treating continually ever since, now being January, and symptoms are spreading. Big gash in one side of mouth, nearly as far as below eye. Mouth very distorted. I have filter and air. I change 1/3 of water every few days and add new treatment. I am concerned as this fish is now not improving and I do not wish it to suffer. Should I be treating it differently -- any suggestions? Is it kinder to put it out of it's misery? If it survives will it ever be able to go back with the other fish - the intention was one day to release into my pond. Is this a fungus? Whole side of face seems to be white and fibrous. Any advice appreciated. Thanks Vanessa <Hello Vanessa. Your fish likely has Columnaris, a BACTERIAL infection despite being known as Mouth Fungus, alongside any other problems. As such, it needs to be treated with an antibiotic. Salt is useless for this type of infection, and indeed should only be used therapeutically for a very specific set of problems, and certainly not fungal or bacterial infections. Tea-tree oil remedies might have some marginal effect on fungal infections but they have zero impact on bacterial infections, and even in the best of moods, vets and doctors consider tea-tree oil an unreliable medication not worth relying on. You really need to be using an antibiotic such as Maracyn (or Maracyn 2 if the former doesn't work, the two treating different sets of bacteria) or else a reliable antibacterial such as eSHa 2000. Do remember to remove carbon from the filter while medicating. It is important to be able to tell Finrot, Fungus, and Mouth Fungus apart, but it's also important to realise that they can occur at the same time (and often do). Finrot typically reveals itself as red, bloody patches of skin and fin with white dead tissue. Fungus looks like cotton wool. Mouth Fungus is slimy and tends to develop on the face. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwdistrbshtart.htm One last thing. Do understand that all three diseases come about either because of water quality issues or else because of physical trauma. We can discount trauma, since Goldfish are peaceful animals, but water quality in a 20 gallon tank could very easily be chronically poor. If you treat your fish but don't fix the water quality, they will never get better. Cheers, Neale.>

Floaty-bloaty Goldfish...on one side only. ~ 01/09/09 Hello, <Hi there Hillary> I've had my Bubble-eye goldfish (Teddy, after Theodore Roosevelt) for about a year now; unfortunately when I bought him I was entirely mislead. He was about one inch long, and I was told that I could keep him in a bowl. Within a day, I bought a 2.5 gallon tank for him because he was gasping for air. About four-five months ago I bought him a 5 gallon tank when he came down with Swim-bladder disease. Unfortunately, this is as large as I can go with the tank right now, but I plan on getting a 10-gallon as soon as possible. <... which won't be adequate> I have two questions; first, he is ill again and I need advice. He has no appetite, sits on the bottom of his tank, and one side of his stomach is very swollen. I have changed the water, and will be doing partial water changes over the next few days (that saved him the last time he got sick), and added 1/2 tablespoon of Epsom salt. I am not feeding him until he starts swimming again, and I got him peas to eat when he can. I have been feeding him pellet goldfish food (which after I read the Floaty-Bloaty article I know now that they should only be used as treats). The food is why I was thinking it's malnutrition, but is it normal for them to only be bloated on one side? As his scales do not stand out. <Less common that this condition/syndrome is unilateral than bi-... but can/could be "other than gas bladder involvement" here... Gut blockage, or gonadal, tumor...> Next, I also learned from your site that goldfish should live in groups; so of course now I feel like a dog for having mine by himself. With a five gallon tank though, I do not think it would be possible to get another goldfish. Would it be possible if I were to do frequent water changes? <Not really, no> Finally, I'd just like to say that I hate pet stores for being so misleading. <Such is the human condition... too easy to "buy" w/o sufficient understanding, relating> Thanks for your help, Hillary <Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Fantail goldfish in trouble. 1/8/09 Hello. I have looked through your website and cannot find a solution to the problem that my four year old fantail is having so I have decided to ask for some help. The fish managed to take a large, flat, round glass 'stone' into its mouth when it was feeding, on Christmas Eve. I did not check to see if there was an obstruction in her mouth because she did not exhibit any signs that would prompt me to think to do it. She turned upside down & stayed that way. <All at once> I treated her for swim bladder disease & once she had righted herself again, I added Epson salts to the water. I was positive that she was constipated; within a few days, she started to pass feces. Her mouth then opened wide & it was plain to see that she could not shut it. We lifted her out of the water & after close inspection, saw what was causing the problem and gently removed it. <Ah, good> It has now been almost a week since the removal of the stone & she is unable to completely close her mouth. As a result, she cannot eat. She tries but the food just floats back out. She is not passing any feces either. Is there anything that you can suggest that will help? <Mmm... lowering the water depth (take care to keep the heater submersed and the filter intake as well), to help in swimming, searching for food... is about it... The mouths of goldfishes are distensible, able to repair... I do hope yours does in time> I don't know what the inside of her mouth is suppose to look like so I can't tell if anything is swollen. Any suggestions at all would be appreciated; I don't want to lose this fish but I don't want it to suffer either. Thanks for your time; I really appreciate it. Marianne <There may be some possibility in "force-feeding" this fish as well... with food made pasty (by liquefying, rolling twixt fingers, pressing into the mouth... gently... with a "Q-tip" or such), holding the fish in ones hand... Bob Fenner>

Hello... Goldfish, dropsy 12/16/08 Hello my fellow wet web media I have two question so I'll make them fast and simple. First one is, I have a Oranda that has the case of dropsy and what can I do to treat it? <Antibiotics such as Maracyn (Erythromycin) and Maracyn-Two (Minocycline) are the best tools for this, either alone or in conjunction with Epsom salt (1 teaspoon per 5-10 US gallons).> Finally I been breeding my goldfish but most of the time the eggs gets fertilized but the day after most of them get fungus on them. I herd putting Methylene blue in the water help...does this really? <Yes, it does help. Try a half dose first, and if that doesn't work, next time she spawns, use a full dose. Either way, combine the anti-fungus medication (any based on Methylene blue will do) with increased aeration, because the water movement past the eggs is part of the "fix". Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Sick Goldfish 12/07/08 Hi Neale, Sorry to bother you again. To help you remember our son's goldfish Goldie is in 29 gallon tank with a filter and bubble wand and she is about 2.5 inches long with tail, has grown half a inch in just last week. The water in the tank has no nitrates, no nitrites, no ammonia and pH is 7.5, the water has high hardness as I had put Epsom salt in it about 1Ts/10 gallon. Today just suddenly she has started ..... how should I put it .... she started growing fat and if she is surprised then she is unable to control her movement it is as if she is then being pulled up by her tail, it stresses her out immensely and it takes her time to balance herself again and she is yawning a lot too. <Sounds like "floaty, bloaty goldfish" syndrome; do see here for comments, cures: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/gldfshmalnut.htm> Today she ate 3 Spirulina algae flakes by Nutrafin in the morning and yesterday had a pea and one floating pellet (bought pellet food about a month ago per LFS suggestion but didn't get around to trying them out as a treat till yesterday, put 5 pellets in the water but when she refused to eat them gave her a pea, removed four pellets from the tank later on). She usually gets Spirulina algae flakes twice daily with peas every third day (she doesn't like spinach or lettuce and haven't tried fresh plants as yet). <Let her starve a week or two: she'll eat the plants. Remember, Goldfish in ponds don't eat for three or four MONTHS, so starving them a little in aquaria isn't stressful or bad for them.> Now can see a small, black patch on her left side as if something is pressing against the skin from inside specially when she bends her tail. My question is can she have swallowed gas with the flakes and that has become the problem here or is she getting dropsy. She doesn't have any raised scales as yet but is starting to hang around the bottom of the tank and is not swimming much. Would not have bothered you if I had found something about that black patch. Thank you very much for such a wonderful website and for all of your help. Best Regards, Midhat. <For now, assume it's constipation; stop feeding anything other than fresh plant material; add Epsom salt; wait! Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Sick Goldfish 12/07/08 Hi Neale, Thank you very much for such a quick response. Just wanted to update Goldie's condition, she has some raised fins on the side she has that black patch and it has gotten slightly bigger in size and has spread towards her belly where it joins the tail, otherwise she is swimming as usual looking for food just like she is completely healthy and happy. <Hmm... the black patch could just be normal "discolouration", quite common among Goldfish. But if the dark patch isn't simply metallic green-black, but rather textured, slimy or covered with mucous or bloody sores, then get back to us, and we'll discuss further.> She still has the balance problem if something surprises her she is all over the tank and it looks horrible. <Do check the environment, in particular pH and nitrite; fish become nervous when something isn't right.> I have made 25% water change today and have added the Epsom salt, she ate one of the Epsom salt crystal is that alright. <No! Not all right! If this wasn't clear, please make a mental note this time around: dissolve all salts (Epsom, table salt, whatever) in jugs of warm water and only add to the tank once fully dissolved.> She hasn't passed any feces since yesterday or day before yesterday as there is very small amount of gravel in the tank for her to pick at so it can be seen lying around. Now should it be treated as dropsy because of the raised fins. <No; fins by themselves don't imply Dropsy. When a fish has Dropsy, it usually exhibits scales raised up from the body, so when viewed from above the fish looks like a pine cone. In addition, fish with Dropsy tend to have poor (faint) colour and generally stop feeding. Much on WWM about Dropsy and its treatment.> I would attach a picture of the black patch but she is not co-operating. Don't want to add medication if its only constipation. Thank you. Best Regard, Midhat. <A picture would help. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Sick Goldfish 12/7/08 Hi, I am sorry for the mistake I made in the email, it is raised scales on Goldie not fins. <Ah, that is bad. Sounds like Dropsy. Assume an bacterial infection, and use some sort of antibiotic. Run through something gram-positive first, gram-negative next; Maracyn, then Maracyn 2 should do the trick.> I was a little preoccupied by the way she was behaving. If somebody goes close to the tank she looses her balance and its like her tail is pulling her around and it appears horrible, she really struggles to get her balance back. Water has zero Ammonia, zero Nitrates, zero Nitrites and pH of 7.5. <In theory sounds fine, but clearly something is amiss.> The black patch is at the end of the place where she is most rounded. <Odd.> Again I am really sorry for the mistake. I won't be able to send the picture as going close to the tank is stressing her. Thank you very much for all your help. Best Regards, Midhat. <Cheers, Neale.>

Bubble eyed goldfish, hlth... no data, reading 12/5/08 Hi, I have a bubble eyed goldfish and I think something might be wrong with it but I am not sure. <What's the environment? Almost all sick Goldfish are sick because they're kept in the wrong conditions. Can we assume you have a 30+ gallon tank, with good filtration, zero ammonia/nitrite, and water with a moderately high hardness level? If not, then whatever you're doing wrong is why this fish is sick or stressed.> My fish sometimes starts spazzing <Not a very nice word to use; in England at least, considered very insulting towards those with cerebral palsy.> out such as swimming around super fast and also he'll swim upside down or sometime he'll just stay in one place. It looks like he's dead half the time but he's not! I don't know what that means? thank you, Lauren <Do see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/goldfish101art.htm Cheers, Neale.>

Goldfish in need of help!!! questions? 12/3/08 Mr. Fenner I have had this goldfish for about ten years now. My wife and I just recently were married and in the process moved from her mothers converted garage to a new apartment. during the move had left behind my goldfish (buddy) to watched over by my mother in-law. While buddy was being watched over I was getting a new and bigger tank ready for him at are new place, Buddy developed a weird condition he has red streaks through his caudal and pectoral fins, also a dark spot (almost black) on his body under his head by the pectoral fin. <I see this/these in your excellent photos> I thought it was fin rot at first, but after reading your FAQs I am not sure. Any thoughts and suggestions on what it is and how to treat it? attached are some pic's that might help explain it better. Thanks for your time and help on this matter. Forever Thankful, Brian Fisher <The bloody marks and roughness/missing scales on this fish are almost assuredly a direct consequence of the vagaries of being moved, changes/diminishment in water quality... the petecchia maybe secondarily associated with bacteria/septicemia... The "cure" here is a return to optimized, stable conditions, and really nothing else. That is, there is no need, rationale to expose this fish to chemical treatment ("medicine"). It will improve over time (weeks to months) with good water quality and feeding. Bob Fenner>

Thank you for your help) RE: Goldfish in need of help!!! questions? 12/3/08 thank you for your help time, Ill keep an eye on him thanks again Brian Fisher <Welcome... service, life to you. BobF> New Print and eBook on Amazon Goldfish Success What it takes to keep goldfish healthy long-term by Robert (Bob) Fenner