Goldfish Problem

surfboy

Hi All,

Maybe someone here will be able to tell me what's going on.

I 'had' 3 goldfish up to 2 weeks ago. Over the last 2 weeks 2 have died. I noticed some little white spots on the tail fin yesterday on the last fella. Looked it up on the net and it may be ick? How the hell do you get rid of it.

The tank is approx 2.5ft x 1 ft. I also have a filter in the tank, and regualrly change the water. I also have about 5 white clouds in the tank? Would this make a difference?

Any ideas? Also would ick have killed the other 2 goldfish that quickly?

Thanks!

Nala

Yes it is probably ich, also known as white spot disease. You can get medication for this in a pet shop. You could also have too many fish in your tank which means the water could be very polluted with fish waste, poisoning the fish.

surfboy

Ill check out the pet shop on the way home so.

Also how do you know if you need a bigger tank? I've had them all for the last 9 months with no problmes at all until now.

Cheers!

Nala

Have a look at http://www.honors.montana.edu/~weif/firsttank/capacity.phtml

and

http://www.solodvds.com/beginner/fish_calculator.asp

to work out how many fish you can keep.

boroughmal

White spot is one of the most common of fish diseases. It comes in many forms such as ich. Early treatment is most essential. White spot is easy to see. Treat within 3 days and your fish will survive. 4 or 5 days and your fish deteriorate by losing fins and un-repairable damage.

It is essential to keep an eye on your fish at all times. Most diseases you can see - loss of fins, loss of scales, redness. It doesn't take long for the diseases to wipe out the whole stock of fish you keep.

surfboy

Hi I got some treatment for White spot at the weekend (It turns the water blue for quite a while). I just put another 10 drops in this morning, and I have to repeat every 48 hours until it's gone. Hopefully this will sort the problem.

Cheers

tovalee

it does take awhile to clear up. the medicine works by interupting the life cycle of the parasite. those little white spots will drop off and break open and the tiny organisms will get in the water and start the cycle again. the medicine gets them at that phase. warming your water up a bit will speed up the life cycle of the ick and get it cleared up a little quicker. ( just went through this with our tank! )

surfboy

Thanks for all the info. I just checked this morning and the spots are still there, so will put more in this evening. He's looking a bit healthier though, which is good.

Cheers

boroughmal

When you use any type of treatment is usually has some adverse affect on your tank/system. Having cured one desease check your water for the next few weeks untill your filter matures. A little salt (proper aquarium salt 0.03%) is a good disinfectant & hardens any soft wounds in your fish. Commonly known as a buffer disolve the salt before adding to your tank. This should keep you clear untill your filter matures. The most common additive to most remedies are methalyne blue & malachite green that is what gives the treatment its colour, Its been refined these days and comes diluted at the strength for adding to your aquarium.
Last & not least.Good water quality = stress free fish . keep checking.
p.s. now you can turn the tempreture down a bit now.

surfboy

Hi All,

Just an FYI! Even the white clouds that I have are nearly all gone. 2 are left and not looking too good at all. Looks like they're all going to be wiped out! And this was doing everything I could.

One question, how to the fish get white spot? Does there have to be an infected fish but into the tank??

Thanks!

boroughmal

these little blighters are just like the bacteria in our bodies & they only go mad when the right circumstances prevail.Such as,
Water too warm,
Fish passing through a bad spell in thier life such as bad water or ammonia poisoning,
Dirty filters Dirty meaning blocked up or not working efficiently
In order to avoid this see the note i wrote before on water quality
Regards