Thank you everyone for such amazing responses to my goldfish disease symptoms guide. As you know, it’s very important to catch common goldfish diseases early. The guide received over 100 responses, and I was so happy to help so many goldfish hobbyists create healthier environments for their fish.
I originally wrote a follow-up article about common goldfish diseases and how to prevent them, but the article was nearly 6,000 words of content. So I decided to make this article a three-part series instead.
- The first part in the series covered goldfish disease symptoms and gave you a list of fourteen behavioral and physical signs to look for when observing sick goldfish.
- This is the second part in the goldfish disease series, and here we’ll examine seven of the most common goldfish diseases that affect freshwater aquariums and ponds.
- The third part in the series covers goldfish disease prevention and ways you can find and combat problems that may result in infection.
If your goldfish are acting strangely, rubbing against objects in the aquarium or resting listlessly at the bottom of the tank, you know something is wrong. It’s especially alarming when your goldfish start developing cotton-like growths and discolored patches along the scales and fins.
Goldfish are hardy. It is unusual for them to get sick. – David E. Boruchowitz, author of Aquarium Care of Goldfish
Some goldfish are so good at withstanding common goldfish diseases that they can safely be kept in freshwater ponds. So what’s going on?
Goldfish may be hardy, but they’re not invincible.
Goldfish will fall victim to parasites, bacterial infections, and fungal diseases if kept in poor water conditions. If not treated and left to spread, these common goldfish diseases can take over your fish until their weakened bodies have exhausted themselves fighting.
The good news: If you catch common goldfish diseases early and treat them quickly, your goldfish will thank you by staying happy and healthy for years.
But be careful! Stay observant. Never medicate the aquarium without knowing for certain what the problem is.
Are Your Goldfish Actually Sick?
Certain types of goldfish have been bred to develop strange, yet very fascinating, traits. As your goldfish mature, they may develop special characteristics specific to their breed.
But don’t confuse these qualities with common goldfish diseases!
If you don’t know what you’re getting into, you might mistake the elaborate noses of pompom goldfish for fungal infections. If you treat the poor little ones unnecessarily, you’ll stress them out and they might become infected with real goldfish diseases as a result!
Medicating the aquarium with a treatment your goldfish don’t need is stressful. This stress will then lower the immune system and your goldfish might actually start developing common goldfish diseases when they really were quite healthy before.
Know your goldfish types. Most importantly, do your research!
Below are five goldfish with qualities that might be mistaken for common goldfish diseases.
- Pompom Goldfish – Pompom goldfish (also referred to as pompon goldfish) are known for their nasal outgrowths on the right and left side of their head. The puffy growths can become so elaborate that they resemble cheerleader pom-poms. But rest easy. These outgrowths are normal. Don’t mistake them for fungal infections!
- Lionhead Goldfish – Lionhead goldfish develop a pretty impressive head growth that looks somewhat like a lion’s mane (hence the name). The head growth not only develops on the top of the head (like an oranda), but it also grows on the cheeks and gill plates. As your goldfish age, their head growths will become much more defined (and can get quite large). Again, this unique characteristic shouldn’t be confused with common goldfish diseases.
- Oranda Goldfish – Like the lionhead, oranda goldfish have fleshy raspberry-shaped growths on the top of their head. This head growth is called the wen (or hood). While normal for oranda goldfish, the wen can grow so large that it sags down over the eyes and blocks the goldfish’s vision. Some hobbyists even confuse the wen for common goldfish diseases.
- Bubble Eye Goldfish – Bubble eye goldfish are named after the fluid-filled sacs that develop beneath their eyes, similar to large but fragile balloons. You might notice that these fluid-filled sacs keep growing. Sometimes the sacs can become so enlarged that it almost appears as though the eyes are looking directly up at the aquarium lights. The sacs under their eyes can easily break if there are sharp objects or rough substrate in the aquarium.
- Telescope Eye Goldfish – Telescope eye goldfish are known for their protruding eyes that almost resemble telescope lenses. But don’t confuse these swollen eyes with a bacterial infection, one of the many common goldfish diseases that affect freshwater aquariums. Unless one eye is abnormally larger than the other, your goldfish are probably just fine.
As you keep goldfish and observe how they interact with their environment, you’ll learn more about their characteristics and traits, what they like and dislike. You’ll become so accustomed to their normal behaviors that you’ll be able to tell right away when something goes wrong.
If you’re on this page, most likely you know your goldfish are sick. And they need help.
Let’s pinpoint the problem and treat those common goldfish diseases.
Effective Treatments for Common Goldfish Diseases
Your goldfish aren’t acting the way they should. What should you do?
First, remove the sick goldfish.
Unless the whole tank is infected, quarantine sick goldfish and place them in a hospital tank. This will make treating common goldfish diseases much easier. As mentioned earlier, you don’t want to treat healthy fish unnecessarily. Doing so can cause your goldfish stress (and stress should always be avoided whenever possible).
If the goldfish disease is contagious, like white spot disease and most parasite infections, you can safely treat the infected aquarium without quarantining your fish. Of course, especially sick goldfish can still be placed in a hospital tank for special treatment if they’re in pretty bad shape.
After your goldfish are quarantined, you’re ready to begin treatment. Let’s take a brief look at 7 of the most common goldfish diseases that impact aquariums and ponds.
Goldfish Disease #1: White Spot Disease (Ich)
Very common in aquariums, white spot disease usually affects new goldfish that are stressed out after a long car ride (or shipment) home.
- Causes of Ich – White spot disease is caused by ich parasites in the water. These parasites attack stressed out goldfish with lowered immune systems, especially recently purchased fish. Anything that causes stress can make your goldfish susceptible to common goldfish diseases, so keep your aquarium water healthy and avoid drastically changing water temperatures.
- Ich Symptoms – If your goldfish are covered with what appear to be small grains of salt, the aquarium is probably infested with ich. Goldfish with white spot disease will also breathe heavily and scratch themselves against tank objects, even the aquarium walls.
- Ich Treatment – I suggest treating your goldfish with the salt and heat method mentioned in my ich treatment guide before looking into commercial medications. If you don’t notice improvement after a week of the salt and heat method, use Mardel’s CopperSafe (make sure there aren’t any invertebrates in the aquarium). You can find detailed instructions on how to treat your fish in the ich treatment guide above.
Keep up treatment for a minimum of 3 to 5 days after the last signs of white spot disease. Sometimes white spots can reappear if you stop treatment prematurely.
Goldfish Disease #2: Floating Problems (Swim Bladder Disease)
Fancy goldfish are commonly observed with buoyancy problems, and sometimes these floating problems will be incorrectly termed as swim bladder disease. Often, floating issues aren’t caused by a swim bladder problem at all and instead a result of other common goldfish diseases.
- Causes of Floating Problems – Your goldfish might experience floating problems if they are overfed, fed poor quality food, or not fed enough fiber. Dry floating pellets can sometimes cause fancy goldfish problems when the pellets absorb liquids and expand in the digestive tract. Constipated goldfish or goldfish with excess internal gas may also experience difficulty swimming. Genetic floating problems can even occur after a spawning (in this case, there is no treatment).
- Floating Symptoms – If you notice your goldfish swimming erratically, swimming sideways, or even swimming upside down, your goldfish are having buoyancy problems. Goldfish may also look physically swollen or bloated.
- Treatment for Floating Problems – Test the water and make sure the water is clean, since unhealthy water is one of the main causes of common goldfish diseases. In part three in this series, you’ll find out how to solve problems with poor water quality. After water conditions are healthy again, fast your goldfish for 3 days. If your goldfish are still having trouble swimming, try feeding them veggies and low-protein foods. I recommend frozen peas (see my guide here. Some hobbyists also recommend daphnia to treat constipation.
Complete weekly water tests with a freshwater test kit (I use API’s Master Test Kit) and keep a watchful eye on ammonia, pH, nitrite, and nitrate levels. Continue feeding veggies and daphnia to your goldfish. Your goldfish should be swimming fine within a few weeks.
Goldfish Disease #3: Fin Rot (Tail Rot)
Goldfish under a lot of stress might develop fin rot, a bacterial infection also known as tail rot. Fin rot is usually a secondary infection that may infect your fish if they’re already stressed from another goldfish disease or injury.
- Causes of Fin Rot – Stress will make your goldfish susceptible to certain types of bacteria. Common goldfish diseases, poor water quality, overcrowding, sudden temperature changes, fin nipping, or aggressive fish can all cause the immune system to lower and fin rot to develop.
- Fin Rot Symptoms – Your goldfish will show signs of fin rot if they have ragged, torn, or red-streaked fins. If allowed to get worse, the edges of torn fins will become white as bacteria eat away the fins on your goldfish. The bacteria infection might become so bad that it will completely deteriorate fins to the body tissue. If the disease is allowed to spread to the fin base, your goldfish cannot regrow their fins. So treat fin rot early!
- Fin Rot Treatment – Good water quality is a must! So test that water. Your goldfish cannot start the healing process if water quality is poor. After the water environment is healthy again, treat the water with 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon of water. If you don’t notice an improvement after 5 days, move on to commercial treatments. Before treating, take out the active carbon from the filter. I recommend Maracyn-Two. It works great for many bacterial infections and uses minocycline as an active ingredient. Once you’re done with treatment, change out 25% of the water to get rid of excess salt. Continue your weekly water changes as usual.
Treat fin rot early. Don’t allow the bacteria to completely deteriorate the fins or your goldfish will not be able to grow them back. If treated quickly, you should notice signs of healing after a couple weeks.
Goldfish Disease #4: Fungal Infection
Your goldfish may develop fungal infections if water quality is poor. Fungal diseases can also affect goldfish that are already sick from other common goldfish diseases.
- Causes of Fungus – Stress and a lowered immune system will prompt fungus to grow. Goldfish suffering from parasitic infections, ulcers, or open wounds have a higher chance of also becoming infected with a secondary fungal disease.
- Fungal Disease Symptoms – Cotton-like growths along the body and fins are sure signs of a fungal infection. Fungal infections can be fatal if given enough time, as it will spread and attack other areas on the goldfish.
- Fungal Disease Treatment – As mentioned earlier, move infected goldfish to a hospital tank before treatment. Fungal diseases are not contagious. Take out the active carbon from the filter and treat the aquarium with Methylene Blue. Methylene Blue works great on sensitive fish and can be very effective when combined with aquarium salt to help your goldfish rebuild their slime coats.
Fungal infections should clear up after a couple of weeks, as long as you continue to keep the aquarium water healthy. Feel free to move your goldfish back to the main aquarium once all signs of fungus have disappeared.
Goldfish Disease #5: Gold Dust Disease (Velvet)
Very similar to white spot disease, gold dust disease or velvet resembles small grains of dust and starts on the backs of goldfish. These small parasites are smaller than ich and can be difficult to detect.
- Causes of Velvet – Like many common goldfish diseases and parasite infections, gold dust disease is usually found in tanks where new fish are present. Your goldfish might also be susceptible to velvet if water quality is poor or your goldfish are under stress.
- Velvet Symptoms – Goldfish with velvet might have a whitish-yellow film on their skin and what might appear to be golden specks of dust. Velvet will often start on the backs of goldfish before spreading to the body and gills. Velvet causes your goldfish to scratch against objects in an attempt to get the parasites off. If allowed to get worse, it might almost appear as if the slime coats on your goldfish have thickened or are even peeling off. Affected goldfish may also have clamped fins or show signs of heavy breathing or weight loss.
- Velvet Treatment – Since velvet parasites receive a portion of their energy from photosynthesis, cover the aquarium with a blanket and turn off the aquarium lights during treatment. Raise the water temperature to 80 °F (26 °C). This will quicken the parasite’s life cycle. Add 1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon of water and remove the active carbon from the filter. Remove any invertebrates from the aquarium and treat the water with Mardel CopperSafe for 10 days. Once you’ve finished treatment, do a 25% water change and continue routine water changes as usual.
Continue treatment several days after the last signs of gold dust disease to ensure all parasites are exterminated. You should notice signs of improvement after a week of treatment.
Goldfish Disease #6: Anchor Worm (Lernaea)
Despite its name, anchor worm is not caused by a worm at all. One of the most common goldfish diseases in freshwater ponds, anchor worm is caused by Lernaea copepod crustaceans.
- Causes of Anchor Worm – Anchor worm can develop in tanks with recently purchased goldfish. If you don’t quarantine new fish or plants (purchased from tanks where fish were present), you may notice an outbreak of anchor worm after a week or two. You could also also be at risk of other common goldfish diseases if you don’t quarantine.
- Anchor Worm Symptoms – Look closely and you may notice whitish green hair-like creatures hanging from the bodies of your goldfish. The attached areas are also usually red and inflamed, often with raised ulcers around the wounds where female parasites embed themselves deep into the muscle tissue. Your goldfish may attempt to get the parasites off by rubbing against objects in the aquarium.
- Anchor Worm Treatment – Treat the aquarium with 1/2 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon. The salt will help prevent secondary infections and future parasite re-attachments. It will also guard against other common goldfish diseases. Now you’re ready for treatment.
- Remove the active carbon from the filter. Then treat the aquarium with a commercial medication to kill off the parasites and stop eggs from hatching. I recommend Parasite Guard to cure anchor worm.
- Some goldfish hobbyists also recommend using tweezers to remove Lernaea parasites from the fish. Be careful. Sometimes these parasites can burrow so deeply into the goldfish to cause harm. If using tweezers, I recommend using medication in the aquarium first to kill off the parasites before gently taking them out of the fish (gripping the parasite as close the wound as possible). Slip your goldfish underneath water every so often so they can catch their breath.
It might take a couple of weeks before signs of anchor worm disappear. Though, you may notice improvement (reduced redness and swelling) after a few days of using Parasite Guard. After treatment, change out 25% of the water to remove excess salt and continue routine water changes as normal.
Goldfish Disease #7: Fish Lice (Argulus)
Fish lice, also known as fish louse, are from the Argulus species of parasite crustaceans. They’re very common in goldfish ponds. They’re uncommon in freshwater aquariums though, unless new fish are brought in from an outside source.
- Causes of Fish Lice – Fish lice like to hop a ride on new goldfish that haven’t been treated in a quarantine tank. So make sure you always quarantine new goldfish to prevent common goldfish diseases.
- Fish Lice Symptoms – Fish lice have round greenish-brown, disk-shaped bodies. They’re often seen moving around the stomach, throat, and bases of fins. When lice attach to your fish, small red spots may be noticed around the wounds. Infected goldfish will try to rub against objects in the aquarium in an attempt to get the fish lice off.
- Fish Lice Treatment – Raise the water temperature slowly to 80 °F (26 °C) to speed up the fish lice life cycle. Add ½ rounded teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon of water to help your goldfish guard against parasite re-attachments and other common goldfish diseases. Now you can treat the aquarium with medication.
- I recommend Parasite Guard, as it works very well with external parasites. Parasite Guard includes Dflubenzuron as an active ingredient, which is very effective against fish lice.
- In addition to medication, goldfish hobbyists recommend using tweezers to remove visible adult lice on goldfish. As with anchor worm, be careful when doing this and make sure you medicate the entire tank beforehand to exterminate free-swimming lice and prevent eggs from hatching.
A complete fish lice life cycle can take longer than that of many other parasites. So treatment for fish lice in an aquarium or outdoor pond may take up to a month. You should stop noticing signs of common goldfish diseases within a week though, often sooner.
Keep Your Goldfish Tank Disease Free
If you’ve followed the steps outlined in this article, your tank is on its way to staying completely free from common goldfish diseases. But it isn’t there yet!
You may have successfully battled nasty goldfish diseases this time around, but are you taking preventative measures to keep your goldfish safe? It’s important to determine what causes common goldfish diseases so you can take strives to prevent future tank nightmares.
We’ll talk more about this in part three of the goldfish disease series. Until then, maintain a healthy aquarium environment for your goldfish.
Remember: One or two goldfish require at least 20 gallons (75 liters) at the very minimum to thrive (read more about this in my goldfish tank guide). In addition to a large aquarium, goldfish need routine water changes, weekly water testing, a nutritional diet, and a good filter to manage all that waste.
You should also be quarantining all new fish for a minimum of two weeks before introducing them to your healthy fish. After all, you don’t want your new pet to infect all of your goldfish if parasites decided to hop a ride before the drive home.
Goldfish care shouldn’t be taken lightly. Just like any pet, your goldfish need your ongoing love and attention. If you can give your goldfish the care they crave, they’ll reward you many times over with years of enjoyment. And it will go a long way to prevent common goldfish diseases.
How Do You Treat Common Goldfish Diseases?
What is your preferred method for battling common goldfish diseases? Have you successfully treated common goldfish diseases in your aquarium? What tips can you give other goldfish hobbyists? Write your responses in the comments below!
134 comments
I have 4 goldfish 2 of which are pinning thier fins, flashing and floating around the top of the tank. As per the fish store, I treated with Azoo for bacteria removal. This did nothing. We then tried PraziPro thinking it was flukes, this did nothing.
My water levels are perfect (no ammonia, nitrates, nitrites and PH is balanced)
I dont know what to do anymore to make my fish better. Other than the above mentionned symptoms, there are no others (no visible spots, lice, worms etc.) any ideas ?
Hi Jennifer,
Since water conditions are healthy, my guess is that your goldfish are infected with parasites that have become resistant to certain treatments. If your fish are scratching against objects, you can try Parasite Guard. Many hobbyists have received great results with this medication.
However, if you still notice problems after treatment, you might want to get your goldfish professionally examined by a certified veterinarian.
My gold fish has cloudy eyes and turned white all over there bodies. Turns upside down and stays like that. 2 of them died ysterday others are also not in good health. Please help me cure my gold fish. Water in the tank turns milky. Please help me.
Dear Christina, I recently bought 2 small black moor goldfish and I have a new tank setup. One of the fish has a small white raised spot on his rear fin close to the body that seems to only be visible when I turn the aquarium light on. It doesn’t seem to be bothering him, it doesn’t seem to be behaving strangely or rubbing himself and is eating well. Both of these fish came from the same tank in the pet shop. I don’t want to treat the fish if not needed, but if I do need to, then obviously I must be sure of what I am treating. Could it be white spot or a fungus or something? Many thanks,
Cerys.
Hi Christina
I have a 55 g tank n three small goldfish. I did a gravel cleaning last week and nextday my white and orange fancy fish got white stuff visible spots on its tail. It didnt seem like ick because its been 6 days now and other 2 are not infected. I used Tetra Fungus guard on tuesday but its been two days theres no change. Now its on its head too but doesnt look like ick bcoz if it was ick he would not swim and be restless. He swims, is not gasping for air nor is it rubbing on anything. Shall i do a 40% water change and use salt treatment? I dont want to do malachite green with formalin now after one chemical treatment. Please advice.
Hi Ashy,
How large are the white spots? Do they look like fuzzy growths? Are they expanding or just spreading? If the spots aren’t small (like grains of salt) and your other goldfish don’t seem to be infected, I agree that the infection may not be ich.
If the fungus/bacteria doesn’t clear up after four days of the Fungus Guard treatment, you may want to try another medication. But don’t medicate the aquarium right away – I’d recommend changing about 35-40% of the water a day after the first treatment. Then changing 10-25% of the water for two or three more days (every other day if you’d like), just to get rid of any lingering chemicals before starting a second medication. In the meantime, you can also add aquarium salt to help slime coat development.
I’d also recommend putting your sick goldfish in a hospital tank if you haven’t already. This will just reduce stress for your other two goldfish, so they don’t have to deal with medications that they may not need. If your other goldfish do get sick with the same infection and you suspect that you do have an ich problem, I’d definitely recommend the salt/heat treatment before using any other medications. Get rid of lingering medication before turning on the heat though. You can still use aquarium salt in the meantime.
Hi Christina
I used Tetra Fungus guard and waited four days but the med didnt work. My other goldfish are fine except for my infected one. But my infected goldfish still swims and eats food. The white fuzzy stuff is now visible on top of its eye. I have been doing water changes everyday for the past 5 days as m adding Aquarium salt to my tank. I put 6 tblsp in 55g tank but then for the last 3 days i added only 3 tablespoons with water changes. I do not have a spare tank as yet. Should i use methylene blue and salt bath on him? I have a big bucket and im thinking to dip him with meds and salt for 30 minutes. I will appreciate any advice you give me. Thanks.
Hi Ashyy,
Be careful with baths, as these can be very stressful for fish. I did a search and Kordon provides detailed treatment information for Methylene Blue, including how to give your fish a bath. The company seems to not recommend keeping your fish in the bath solution for longer than 10 seconds. Methylene Blue can be used safely with aquarium salt.
If you decide not to go the bath route, you can use your bucket as a hospital tank of sorts to keep your sick goldfish separated from your healthy fish. You’ll just need to make sure the water surface receives agitation to keep oxygen levels up. You may also want to put an air stone in the bucket to help with this.
I hope this helps!
Hi Christina
Rather than giving my goldfish a dip or a bath, should i quarantine him in a 10g tank that Im thinking to buy and then use the API fungus cure powder medication? I dont want to medicate my main tank as my other goldfish are fine.
Hi Ashyy,
You should definitely quarantine your goldfish if your other fish are healthy. Fungal infections aren’t contagious so you shouldn’t need to treat the whole aquarium.
Good luck!
Hi Christina
I went to the petsmart to buy the $10 g tank so I could quarantine my sick fish but the person there said you have to run the filter for a week with a filter than use it. I dont have that kinda patience to wait for another week as its already been 2 weeks since my goldfish been infected with the fungus so I bought the API fungus cure. And I will now have to medicate my whole tank as I have no choice. I hope everything goes fine.. 🙁
Ashyy,
You can also use old filter media in the hospital tank – many fish hobbyists keep spare filters on their tanks for this reason, so they can just move the filter to another tank when they need to speed up cycling.
If you have only one filter, you can use half the filter media in the hospital tank. Don’t just move the whole filter to the hospital tank though, since this may restart the cycle for your main aquarium.
There are products like API Quick Start, but you’ll need to be careful with these kind of additives. Some people have problems with them not even starting the nitrogen cycle and sometimes the nitrogen cycle won’t start instantly like the product claims. It might be worth looking into though. If you do decide to use API Quick Start, you should frequently test the water to make sure ammonia, pH, nitrite, and nitrate don’t get out of hand.
If none of these are an option, you may have to medicate the whole aquarium. Keep in mind though that this will stress out your other fish. Some medications also may impact the biological filter, so you should remove any filter media during medication. You can reduce stress by maintaining healthy water conditions during treatment. As long as you keep water conditions up, your other fish might be okay. I’ve had to medicate an entire tank before and my fish had turned out fine after treatment was over.
Two weeks is a long time for any fish to stay sick, so you want to deal with that fungus as soon as possible – if you wait too long, fungal infections can become more difficult to treat.
Hi Christina,
I put the API FUNGUS CURE in the main tank and the water turned green. The API fungus cure has Victoria green B and Acriflavine. My goldfish has become very weak and doesnt swim at all, only floats and then just falls on the gravel floor, one sided. Its so sad to see him like. Im not able to figure out if its the meds that made him feel so sick, before this he was swimming very little and would just afloat but now its lost its strength. Is it ok if I can put Aquarium salt in my already ,medicated tank? The salt might give him some energy and electrolytes? My question is, is it safe to put Aquarium salt while the tank is medicated with API FUNGUS POWDER? I put the med yesterday, so i have to wait 48 hours before i do a water change and second round, which will be tomorrow but i want to put the salt now with a partial water change. 🙁 🙁 🙁
Hi Ashy,
Are all of your goldfish sick or just the one with the fungus? When did you first notice your goldfish becoming listless (since using the medication)?
I’ve never personally used API Fungus Cure, but the aquarium salt should be able to be used safely with medication as long as you sprinkle in the recommended dosage (and don’t put too much). I believe with API aquarium salt, the recommended dosage is 1/2 rounded teaspoon per gallon for goldfish, but you should read the instructions on the carton to confirm this. Out of all my years of fish keeping, I’ve never had a problem with using aquarium salt at the same time with medication. If you’re worried, you can put in half the recommended dosage – this should still help ease stress. You definitely don’t want to use high concentrations of salt with medication.
Also, are you sure your fish have fungus? Since the infection was first noticed on the tail, there’s a good possibility your fish might have a bacterial infection and not fungus. If that’s the case, all the fungus meds you’re using are probably just causing even more stress. This might explain why you haven’t noticed an improvement yet. Would it be possible to link me a picture?
You can upload a picture on an image hosting service like http://tinypic.com/ (it’s free and you don’t need to register) and link me the url it generates, then respond here with the link. Or, you can send me an attached file to my email: Christina@completegoldfishcare.com.
If your goldfish has a bacterial infection, fungus medications won’t do him any good.
Is it ok to put sick fish in a tank in total darkness to treat them?
Hi Tia,
That’s completely fine! Some parasite infections depend on darkness for treatment (like velvet disease). However, unless the treatment calls for total darkness, I wouldn’t recommend it. You don’t want to stress out your fish unnecessarily!
If you do need to turn off the lights, make sure you do so gradually to reduce shock. For example, you can turn off the aquarium light, wait about 10 minutes, and then turn off the room light (or place a blanket over the tank). When you turn the lights back on, you should also turn them on gradually like you did before.
Good luck!
Thanks for your reply Christina.
My goldfish lives at work, and has been in the hospital tank by herself over the weekend. I increased the size of the hospital tank to a 25L tank.
She’s had nothing to eat all weekend except duckweed.
This morning (Monday) I came to work and found her swimming happily around the tank; nearly all the bloating has gone, the fin rot is also clearing up and she was back to her cheeky little self. I was very happy!!
So now I wonder what the cause was. Perhaps she feels crowded with 10 platys in her tank? Is it possible that the fertilisers I am using for the plants could disagree with her? She is getting better now and I’m reluctant to put her back in her tank with the platys so am wondering what to do next.
Anyway, thanks very much for your help. If she has a relapse I’ll try the maracyn treatments.
Jenny
I have had my common goldfish for about 5 years, and she lives with 10 platys in a 80L tank. I perform weekly tests and 50% water changes. Ammonia is consistently 0ppm, Nitrites 0ppm, Nitrates less than 40ppm. pH is 7.4. The tank is quite heavily planted with anubias, java fern and java moss, and Goldie gets on really well with the platys, so I’m not worried about them nipping her.
Recently Goldie has had a few incidents of dropsy which I’ve cured by feeding peas and adding some MgSO4 to the water. Now she is sick again, but also has fin rot. Fin Rot AND dropsy together. To me it says bacterial infection so I have isolated her in a 5L pure distilled water and added 1tsp MgSO4 and 0.75ml Stress coat and 0.75ml melafix and a tiny pinch of sea salt as I know fish need ions in their water. She is still eating, today she has had 1 pea, a tiny corner of algae grazer pellet, and a tiny lump of shrimp pellet. She is not looking happy at all and her tail is getting more bloodstreaked by the hour. Please tell me what to do!!!
Thank you. Jenny
Hi Jenny,
That does indeed sound like a bacterial infection. Peas won’t help in this case, since peas will only cure constipation. I’ve also found Melafix not to be as effective as other medications (based on my experience, Melafix does very little as a treatment). Some even advise against Melafix, recommending it only as a mild preventative rather than a treatment. Depending on the medication you use, not all treatments will work if they aren’t designed for the type of bacteria infecting your fish (gram-negative or gram-positive). Since gram-negative bacteria is the most common in aquariums, I’d recommend using a medication that treats this first (like Maracyn-Two). Maracyn (which includes different active ingredients from Maracyn-Two) treats gram-positive bacteria. Both Maracyn-Two and Maracyn can be used at the same time if you’re unsure about which bacteria is infecting your fish (but as mentioned earlier, gram-negative is the most common).
If you do decide to treat with another medication, I’d recommend first doing a 40% water change to remove some of the Melafix (or 25% for a couple of days). You should also keep the water oxygenated (increase surface agitation, use an air pump, or drop in a couple of air stones). Continue adding salt with each water change (depending on how much water was removed).
Your water parameters all look healthy, so keep up with the tank maintenance. Something, though, did cause your fish stress (or else lowered the immune system) for your fish to get sick, so this might be worth looking into. Maybe there was a sudden temperature change? I hope your goldfish starts feeling better soon. Let me know if the conditions worsen.
Thanks for your reply Christina.
My goldfish lives at work, and has been in the hospital tank by herself over the weekend. I increased the size of the hospital tank to a 25L tank.
She’s had nothing to eat all weekend except duckweed.
This morning (Monday) I came to work and found her swimming happily around the tank; nearly all the bloating has gone, the fin rot is also clearing up and she was back to her cheeky little self. I was very happy!!
So now I wonder what the cause was. Perhaps she feels crowded with 10 platys in her tank? Is it possible that the fertilisers I am using for the plants could disagree with her? She is getting better now and I’m reluctant to put her back in her tank with the platys so am wondering what to do next.
Anyway, thanks very much for your help. If she has a relapse I’ll try the maracyn treatments.
Jenny
hello 🙂
Okay I need your help guys. In my aquarium I only have 1 goldfish let’s name it “Golda”. my mom and I decided to buy additional goldfishes cause originally i have 7 of them but the 6 died. we bought 3 common goldfishes, i goldfish that has a bred of goldfish and carp (let’s name it Carla), and 2 angel fishes.
now, when I placed my new fishes in the aquarium it seemes that Golda became hyper. so as the 4 new goldfishes. and also they seemed to bite each other.
(we bought my new fishes 3 dats ago)
early this morning I checked my fishes then I found out that Golda already has wounds on its scales and fins. now I’m worried. what’s happening with my Golda? does the new fishes to blame?
PLEASEEEEEEE HELP MEEEEE. 🙁
Hi Jane,
Angelfish can sometimes get very aggressive, so your two angelfish might have picked on Golda. Also, how large is the aquarium? Three common goldfish alone should be kept in at least a 60-gallon aquarium at the very minimum once they mature. If you have five common goldfish, you’ll need at least a 100-gallon aquarium. So the wounds could have been caused by ammonia poisoning from an overstocked tank.
If the angelfish are picking on your goldfish, I recommend separating them immediately (or buying a tank divider). If overstocking is the problem, you may want to upgrade the aquarium (each goldfish needs 20 gallons – so add 20 gallons for each additional goldfish) or buy another aquarium to put your angelfish in. In addition to a large tank, you’ll also need to do weekly 25% water changes to keep nitrates under control.
Depending on what caused the wounds (ammonia or fin nipping) will determine the treatment. If ammonia is the problem, you may need to change 25%-40% of the water every other day or daily (depending on how bad the ammonia is) until you can upgrade your aquarium. If your goldfish received those wounds from aggressive tank mates, your goldfish will heal with a bit of aquarium salt (follow the directions on the carton – don’t use table salt) as long as he’s no longer harassed by the other fish and water conditions stay healthy.
To determine whether water quality is the problem, you should test for ammonia, pH, and nitrite with a freshwater test kit (available at most pet stores). Ammonia and nitrite levels should be at 0 ppm. pH levels should be around 7.5 ppm.
I wish poor Golda a fast recovery. Let me know if the problem gets worse!
but the person in charge of the pet store where we bought the new goldfishes said that the angelfish are fishes that gets the lice of the goldfish. in other words it is like a doctor to the goldfishes. it it true? i’m already confused.
thnx 🙂
Hi Christina
I have a 20 gallon tank with two goldfish in it, a Black Moor and an Oranda. I received the Black Moor from a friend because her tank was too small for him and she could no longer take care of it.
Recently the Black Moor has been suffering from on again and off again floating problems. I’ve treated the water and he seems to be doing fine now. I’ve stopped feeding them the poor quality food I bought at my local Pet Value and tried your suggestion of veggies.
My problem is that the Black Moor won’t eat the veggies. At first I tried feeding them lettuce which neither of them ate. Then I tried feeding them de-skined peas and again it was a no go. I’ve also tried feeding them carrots and only the Oranda will eat them. The Black Moor will get them in his mouth but then spit them back out and won’t try to eat them again. I’ve also made sure that the pieces were small enough.
What should I do? Should I go back to feeding him the food I originally was feeding him, he ate that no problem.
Hi! I need help! We got a goldfish from a seller who has had it for 2 years. Weve had it over 3 months and there has been no problems since recently. Our tank was very dirty so we bought a suckerfish and it didnt bother the golfish but suddenly the suckerfish died! Immediatly after it died we noticed a huge white puffy cut on one side of the goldfish and the other side looks like its about to burst open!!! He was naturally fat but we have been cutting back on his food and it is still very unusually large on one side! We are very concerned!! Please help!!
Hi! I have a 16 year old solitary goldfish in a 74 litre capacity tank. In the last 3 months he has stopped eating or demanding food and now just sits at the bottom of the tank and does not respond to me as he used to. He gasps all the time and just “treads water” in the same spot. However, the most distressing symptom is what can only be described as “seizures” where he will suddenly seem to throw himself around the tank violently including trying to jump out of the water. He also seems to be suddenly sensitive to light and reacts violently if I turn the house lights on suddenly and it’s almost like he has been sleeping and woken with a jolt. I’m currently keeping his tank light off. He was a very active and responsive fish before this and I’ve tried swim bladder treatment, Sterazin for possible internal parasites, Myxazin for bacterial infections and used salt and a general tonic (all used separately with intervals in between). I am reluctant to medicate further but am at a loss as to how to improve his quality of life as he seems to be suffering. He has become pale and has a few tiny bubbles around his mouth at times but no other obvious or visible symptoms. He had a couple of black spots on his head but they seem to have gone. I know he his an old fish but I don’t know how he is surviving without food. I am placing food in his tank used for when I have to go away for any length of time so I don’t know if he gets any benefit from that dissolving in the water. I change about a 1/3 of the water on a regular basis and have two air pumps which I alternate at each water change. The water is clear and well aerated. Any further advice would be much appreciated. Many thanks, Pam
hi
the fish is really sick now, he can’t move and he’s breathing really heavily. he seems really stressed out. the other fish doesn’t seem too happy about it either. please, do you know what might be wrong with him and how i can treat him? he has had terrible floating problems lately and i think it’s constapation. would that have anything to do with why he’s so sick
from Alannah
christina. according to your discriptions of velvet it sounds like that may be what two of my fish are suffering from. One looks like it has the symptoms of finrot. its my baby fantail gold fish and she has very small rips in her fins. and it looks like you can see some of her veins under the scales. she has a white body so the streaks of red are pretty bright. they are on her sides. her top fin is close to her back like its folded down. she is quite healthy acting. swims fast and furious and minds her own buisness and is a loner. My other fish has been showing more signs because she,s been sick longer. she has a milky white film on her back and started to move down her sides. it,s not patchy its more like a thin clearish whitish film. she has fins that look like thery are cramped down close to the top of her head and now she,s starting to look a little lumpy on her sides. like she,s been in a fight and has vbruises. . she has been acting fine considering everything. she,s active and friendly and eating fine. I,ve been stumped by her behavoir because she looks pathetic ,but doesn,t act like she,s sick. I know something is up with her because of the white film. she has a few light red spots starting to show on her side and she just looks like a bruiser. My little one also eats fine but doesn,t seem to grow. she,s got missing scales on one side of her body. . my little one is finncess because she has black tips on her fins and has a white body with a red patch on her head. she looks like a little princess with perfect markings. Hence the name Finncess. and my older fish is millifluouse(means Golden) Milly for short. she is the color of a penny. a real gold color. not like the common orange color but a beautiful real gold color. and now she,s looking pale and frail. they are both fantails and Ihave 9 in total in a thirty three gallon tank. they all get along fine and they all have different personalities, and I never knew that I could love my fish as much as I have grown to love them. It makes me real sad when one or in my case two of the family arn,t doing well. I could not picture them dying and not being in my fishy family. help me does it sound like velvet to you and is my little one showing early signs of it too as she isn,t yet covered in a film yet.
can I put both of my sickies in the same hospital tank?
does a hospital tank need to have the filter and bubbles pumped in? or is it okay to let them go in with just bubbles. I don,t like the way my old small filter works. and I thought goldfish are okay without a filter and pump. . my hospital tank is a giant glass cookie jar it,s about 5-7 gallons big, and its round. I used it as a giant fish bowl as my fish graduated from a small bowl to the cookie jar to a 8 gallon long tank to a 10 gallon to now a thirty three gallon. I still have both of my smaller tanks but its the space thats lacking now that I have a big tank going I figured the big bowl would make a good hospital. do you agree with that.. also does the hospital tank need any rocks or medium in the bottom or can it just be clear with nothing but the glass. and how often do you change the water when they are in it. also how long is a fishy hospital stay on average. do gold fish miss their buddies. do they realize they,ve been seperated or don,t they care about that. any special food needed and how often do you feed them.when they are hospitalized. will my other fish notice them gone and will they remember them when their back. I am still quite a novice as my fish have always been healthy so this is all new for me.. curious about this as well. is it okay to have 9 fish in thirty three gallons it seems to be alot of space and they seem to be happy i I have 7 about 2 inches and 2 about one inch . i
Hi, I was hoping to get some help with my sick goldfish. He’s (no idea is it’s really a ‘he’, but anyway) a standard goldfish shape, although is a brownish silver colour rather than gold. The only one like that in the pet shop, so I bought him! I tended to think he was some kind of throwback, having this drab colour. He’s been in very good health for three years. There are three more goldfish in the tank (of 65litres), two of which are standard goldfish around ten years old and going strong. The other is a comet, about three years old with no problems.
About two weeks ago he started swimming on his side occasionally, then about a week ago it was most of the time. Since then he’s developed a permanent sideways a twist in his back, almost bent double. I thought it might be swim bladder, although I gather this is rare in the non-fancy types. In any case I’ve recently cut out the flake food and been feeding them first insect larvae from the petshop and, more recently, chopped-up peas. I also recently picked up some ‘Interpet fish health treatment 13- Swim Bladder treatment’. Nasty stuff I think. It’s four doses at 4-day intervals, so far only the first has been applied.
My tank is 65 litres, so about 17 gallons. Too small for four goldfish? I change half of the water fairly regularly and have a decent filter.
He’s still in the tank with the other fish, who aren’t bothering him, and he seems just about able to feed but spends a lot of time propped up in the weeds or on his side at the bottom (he’s prone to sink rather than float). A few times I thought he was dead but he’s still pretty lively when the food goes in.
If anyone can think of anything else I can do I’d love to know. Perhaps this is just a genetic problem that comes on with age? Is it likely that the fish will recover from this handicapped state? I’ve seen advice to euthanise a sick fish but I can’t countenance that right now. I seem to remember having a bent goldfish for some years when I was a child, which adapted to its injury and (I think) even reproduced.
Ok so my daughters goldfish has started acting strang swimming only at the botton and seems to be moving backward and keeps getting stuck in the corner he also has a cloudy looking thing in top of his head!! Please help what can it be??
Hi Christina,
My sick oranda first has a small red spot it then developed big and kind of eating the wen. I though maybe i fed him too much high protein food (hikari/new life). I stopped feeding him foe about 1 week then only fed him peas & veggies so far but it does not improve and his now got another red one on the othr side of the wen. My water is good (PH 7.2 – 7.5; nitrie-0; nitrate:0; amonia:0). I’m wondering whether it is fungus or parasites. The fish is still eating but not active. My thought now is about parasites and intend to use malachie blue but really unsure it’s right to use. Pls help thanks.
My gold fish have black marks on them what should I do to help