Hello,

I have come home today to find a white spot on my goldfish's fin. There is just one and the other goldfish has nothing on him. I have hopefully attached a picture - the best I could get - he won't stay still.

I am not sure if it is white spot as he doesn't look like he has been sprinkled with salt so I am wondering if it is a fungus?

Anyway he is still eating and swimming about as normal. I can get to a pet store tomorrow and buy another small tank to isolate him if necessary but just wanted any advice I could get on what exactly it is.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi

Can you supply some more details please:

How big is the tank?
How many fish in there, what species?
How long has the tank been running and was it cycled first?
How often do you do a partial water change and how much each time?
Anything new added recently - fish, plants, decor etc?
Current test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and (if known) water hardness?
Temperature of water?

Hi

Sorry should have said.

Just two small goldfish in there - fan tails. Tank has been running since October. Not cycled correctly before they were put in there (my fault) as seemed to cycle again when they were introduced.

pH is 7.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 5.0
Temp - 21 - 22 degrees
Not sure about water hardness sorry but think Scotland generally has soft water.

Today is the day I usually do a water change and try to take about 25% of the water out weekly.

Recent changes - Over Xmas I did a water change before I left and then did one when I came back a week and a half later - had an electronic feeder while we were away. The readings at that time were Ammonia - 0, Nitrites -0 and Nitrates - 10.0. I am back to just feeding them myself now.

How big is the tank?

If you have very soft water that can be a problem for some fancy goldfish and can cause them numerous health issue including a tendency towards developing fungus/fin rot. Get yourself one of these test kits, perform both tests (gH and kH) and post up the results. We'll take a look and if necessary advise on how to raise the hardness (not too difficult or expensive).

Ok ordered so hopefully have it in the next few days and let you know. Should I be taking him out away from the other goldfish at this stage?

The tank is only 60ltrs at the moment and know I need to increase tank size since reading more on this site.

Thanks for your help with this.

No don't move him as I assume you don't have another cycled tank and being in a smaller volume of uncycled water will make him worse.

Given the water may be soft and the tank is very small that is the most likely cause of the problem. The condition isn't likely to be contagious as such, though it may appear on the other fish simply because the conditions aren't ideal.

For now, keep the water as clean as you possible can and try treating with aquarium salt which should be available from your local fish shop.

When you get the kH/gH test kit, test the levels of both in our tank and in your tap water and post the results here. I would start saving now for a 180 litre 3ft tank as that's what they'll need as soon as possible. Check eBay regularly as there are often some very good bargains in used tanks on there if you happen to find on close enough to collect.

Ok,

Water change done and treated with aquarium salt.

Will keep you posted on the results of the water hardness test when it comes.

Thanks

My orange fancy, Custard, displayed a similar spot or two when young. I too am in a very soft water area and have to buffer the tank and all new water for weekly water changes to suit my cold water stock. pH runs now at around 7.6 or so and my GH about 10.

Naturally my tap water pH would fall to a pH of 6 after 24 hours due to low KH (read that as 1 drop so 1dKH) and a GH of about 3. Once you have some results, buffering is fairly easy.

There are fancy goldfish compounds you can buy (aka Seachem Gold Trace etc) but I've reverted back to Bicarb of Soda - which raises temporary hardness, referred to as KH, thus pH, and Epsom Salts to raise GH.

As Fishlady said, we can advise once we have a bit more info

P.s. I have just the two very fat fancies in a 180 litre BTW

Kit came today so have just finished the tests.

Tank Water
GH - 53.7 or 3 drops
KH - 35.8 or 2 drops

Tap Water
GH - 35.8 or 2 drops
KH - 17.9 or 1 drop

So have Bicarb of Soda in the house but no Epsom salts but should be able to pick that up at Boots.

How much should I be adding for every litre of water?

Sorry violet just wanting to check that you do a full replacement of your tank water every week?

Thanks for your help

Researched changing water hardness and added Epsom Salt and Bicard of Soda. Did 20% water change today and readings of GH - 11 drops and KH - 9 drops so think those are within limits. My pH looks to be around 7.4 so think that is within range too.

Hopefully they will feel the benefits soon.

Thanks for your help