Zits on my goldfish

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I have a 2 year old goldfish that has developed "zits" for lack of a better word. It has been about 2 weeks and the pop and then new ones appear. Have 2 other goldfish in the tank that are fine. 30 gallon planted tank.
Attached is the best picture I could get.
Any ideas?
 

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Need a clear picture but it could be the start of Goldfish Ulcer Disease. The fish develops a small white bump that looks like a pimple. After a week or two the white stuff goes and the area develops a red ulcerate sore. You need medicated food to treat this. However, it depends on how long the fish has had the white bit for.

It could also just be a sore from scratching itself on something.

I would try salt first and see how it goes over the next 2 weeks. If it gets worse then post more pictures.

Before you add salt, clean the filter and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
 
I have a 2 year old goldfish that has developed "zits" for lack of a better word. It has been about 2 weeks and the pop and then new ones appear. Have 2 other goldfish in the tank that are fine. 30 gallon planted tank.
Attached is the best picture I could get.
Any ideas?
Hello Many. Goldfish are heavy waste producers, so you need a lot of water to sustain them. 30 gallons isn't nearly large enough even for smaller fish of this kind. I keep three Goldfish in a minimum of 55 gallons of water. It's likely that the water in your tank isn't clean enough and this makes for a good environment for parasites or some type of pathogen to infect the fish. Goldfish in general aren't the healthiest fish. They're kept in large numbers and small tanks at the local fish store. I'd suggest increasing the amount of water you change and reduce the amount you feed these fish. Keep the tank exceptionally clean and add some Spirulina to your fishes' diet. The food addition, should help boost the fishes' immune system.

10 Tanks (Now 11)
 
Last edited:
I have a 2 year old goldfish that has developed "zits" for lack of a better word. It has been about 2 weeks and the pop and then new ones appear. Have 2 other goldfish in the tank that are fine. 30 gallon planted tank.
Attached is the best picture I could get.
Any ideas?
In the photo there is a bright white thing on the fish, Is that there in real life?
 
In the photo there is a bright white thing on the fish, Is that there in real life?
Yes that is the "zit" this is the 4th one he has had. The white part will fall off and a few days later another appears. I don't think it is a parasite. Nothing new has been added to the tank since the goldfish about 2 years ago.
 
Does the white thing re-appear in the same spot or somewhere else on the body?
 
Isn’t there a thing that Goldfish get on them like this that’s normal ? A little bump type protuberance ? Perhaps only on older fish .
Male goldfish develop small white dots on their gill covers and the edge of the pectoral (side) fins when they come into breeding condition.
 
Does the white thing re-appear in the same spot or somewhere else on the body?
It reappears on both sides of rhe fish in basically the same spots. First he looks lumpy and then the white part stick out for a few days. Then it falls off? And is gone. He is active and eating fine.
 
No idea. Could be an infection that is leaking puss out of the body but if the fish is eating and acting normally and this has been going on for a while, then that's unlikely. Normally an infection like that would make the fish weaker and eventually kill it.

It could be a parasitic worm living in the muscle tissue and it is releasing bits of itself to spread.

At this stage I would document and record everything. Take pictures of both sides of the fish each time this happens.

Try thew salt and maybe try deworming the fish with Praziquantel or Flubendazole.

Section 3 of the following link has info on deworming fish.
 

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