Goldfish About To Die From Whitespot Soon ?

[sangah10]

I have a average sized goldfish in my aquarium atm. Actually I have 2 goldfish, 1 black tetra, 3 pakistani loaches, 2 guppies in a about 30 litre tank. I dunno if its overstocked or not but you can scream at me later, just keep reading.

. I have yet to test my pH or anything, temp is about 28-29 degrees. (like i said im new to this and no one really told me about it when i bought my fish tank)
. With the treatment at the moment, its called VitaPet MultiCure, and it has; Malachite Green, Methlyene Blue and Acriflavine.
. Change water once a week (25%) , but with the treatment atm, it recommends i change it each time I add the treatment, which is every 3 days.
. Also have water ager in there to get rid of the chlorine.
.


I've had the fish tank for a while now and just looked after it every now and then and my dad does the cleaning etc. A little bit over a week ago, I bought some guppies (this was when i really started getting into the fish hype and raising them and all that), after I added to the tank I saw that they started to get little white spots all over their fins and head but little did I know that they were being infected with White spot. I thought of it for one second at the time but thought that couldnt be happening because they are new fish..

Anyways..At the moment one my goldfish is EXTREMELY POORLY ILL. It's fins look like they're bleeding everywhere and the fins aren't even joined together anymore. They look like they're been pulled into little strands but still attached (if you know what i mean). At the moment, one of my male guppies, 2 goldfish and a pakistani loach have whitespot. I've already been through about 6 days of treatment of the White Spot. It seems to have no effect even with following the instructions and changing the water and also increasing the temperature.

I have some pictures but they aren't really clear.

It's still alive because its still breathing and when I touch it moves around. But most of the time it just goes back there. Same with my other goldfish.

I fear the goldfish will die by tommorow or the next day and am really worried 'cause I've had these fish since my 13th birthday.

Please try not to lecture me now and tell me what I can do to save my fish asap. You can yell at me all you want later.

I dont know what the #### i was thinking when i saw those spots and didnt react in time, im seriously really mad at my self atm. Please try to give me some response on how I can possibly save them hopefully and I wish my fish the best.

Thanks a bunch you guys.

 

[Athena]

Oh dear - ok, first off I'm sorry to see your poor fish in such a bad way. Lots of people do things the wrong way when they first start out at keeping fish - simply because we trust that the people who sell us the fish and equipment would tell us if we're doing something wrong - but they don't always do this.

Anyway, my first question is regarding your water temp. As you know, goldfish are coldwater fish but you mention you've increased the temp in your tank and it's at about 28 degrees, is that right? So am I misunderstanding here or do you actually have a heater thermostat in that tank? I can't see it in the pic but for you to have said you raised the temp I am wondering how you did this...

This could be one reason your goldfish got sick - because he's in a tank that's too warm for him, causing stress... he needs to be in a coldwater tank only.

On the other hand - guppies and tetras ARE tropical fish and should be kept in a tank with a heater, ideally. So mixing goldfish and tropical fish is a problem in itself to be honest.

Ok your goldfish looks like he has a serious case of fin rot there, aside from any whitespot he may have. I have no idea if he has gone past the point of rescuing to be honest. He looks like he's suffering, though, which isn't good to leave him like that.

I've heard that some people treat whitespot on goldfish with aquarium salts and daily water changes. It normally takes much longer to clear up than in a tropical aquarium simply because it takes longer for the pustules to burst in coldwater tanks. You see, the whitespot treatment doesn't kill off the tiny parasites whilst on the fish - it kills them once they burst out of the fishies skin and are freeswimming in the tank water or on the gravel and prevents them reinfesting the fish or others in the tank.

I'm sure there are some forum notes on here somewhere that explain specifically about treating goldfish for ICH - try doing a search and see what comes up.

I'm so sorry you're having all these problem with your first tank - but hopefully all these things will serve as a learning experience for you. The more you read up on forums like this, the better fishkeeper you will become in time. Don't beat yourself up over it, though - these are very common mistakes that newbies make.

Athena

ps - just to add - since you are 6 days through your treatment, you should give it at least to the end of the 10 day suggested treatment plan before changing to anything else. Also, did you make sure you removed any carbon sponge from your filter before starting the treatment? And another thing I noticed is that the fish seemed to be gasping for air at the top - when you are using those medications you need to increase oxygen/airation in your tank - do you have an airstone on in your tank at the moment?

 

[WILDER]

Your tanks severely overstocked.
Goldfish are massive waste producers so need large tanks and good filteration.
The first goldfish alone needs 20 gallons then 10 gallons for every other one added.
Also they need double filter size to the tank.

 

[sangah10]

They're lasted years until i recently put in the new fish. and omg @ the goldfish requirements. Gonna go bed now but will be doing some maintenance tommorow.

 

[WILDER]

I doubt you will ever have good water quality will all the stocking in the tank.
Bad water quality causes stress, weakens there immune system, burns there skin and gills, blood dosn't flow right throw the blood vessels.
If you don't believe me about the goldifsh do a search, they shouldn't be in such a small tank.
They will also get stunted growth as goldfish can grow rather large.