Pet Forum / Aquaria / Goldfish / September 2007

Well first off how much money do you want to spend on gas and
unecessary supplies as well as wear and tear on a vehicle. Are yuo
capable of taking an insult without getting yur panties all wadded
up?
First off do not pay those a.sholes any attention in PETDUMB  or
DEATHCO. You did not say how big the tank is that you have the fish
in, but if itsonly 2" for now even a gold fish bowl will suffice, but
to be honest, godies need a large tanka dn a larger yet filtration
system as compared to tropical fish. A goldie is not a tropical
fish.......Do a water change and keep doping a water change dialey of
at least 50% for now. Its going to be hard to do water changes and be
up on how much salt you have as well, but you need to take the salt
level up on the tank as well.  Also if your gonna keep fish, at least
invest inthe proper test kits.................Look for some malachite
green / formalin mix. It sounds like the fish has a fungal infection
or rot. They also make a product sold by MARACYN (Blue and white
packages) in Petsdumb and Deathco.with a variety of meds to treat
various diseases. Do your self a favor. go to one of those stroes,
find a package of meds and open it up and pull out that little
information phamplet and give it a good going over and match yuor
symtoms to those listed. Maracyn products are relatively good and work
as advertised if you make the right diagnosis...........So what if
Petsmart associates get their panties in a wad because you opened up a
package.They are not sealed with a seal and yu did not openm up the
meds, your just reading the inclosed info phamplet......so no harm is
done.  Don;t pay the Petsmart associates any attention  and for now it
would be best to do a google search as there is a ton of info on
this,. Add salt and bring up salinity of tank, do major water changes
with dechorinated / water. No need to buy crap like quick cure or
Stress coat etc..............or a product called Mela Fix or Pima
fix......that is unless you like to throw money away........Really the
best solution with the most knowedge would be to pay   http://www.koiphen.com
a visit.  and sign up and join them, It only takes a minute and odds
are there is already info posted in the library sectin that will
address your situation. Except for one or two folks here allthe others
are just blowing smoke and do not have a clue. They think they do, but
they are out in left field when you compare what they nknow to what is
on the koiphen.com forum................Keeping fish without knowing
first hand what is involved and having the proper items on hand (test
kits etc) is like playing with a mad dog, sooner or later its gonna
bite you.
Spend some time readiing up on godfish etc in the various articles
online and in the koiphen foruom. Koiphen forum has vetrinarians that
specialize in fish care as well as some big names in fish kee[ping and
husbandry that are only too glad to help and provide the proper
information.       Reel Mckoi is a very knowledgeable person when it
comes to fish.......but be leary of some like Dr. Solo as she uses
other fokls info and passes it on to appear like its form her.Her info
has gottenothers in to trouble big time since she is really
clueless..........

What are the ingredients in the new med you were told use (LifeGuard)?
What you've described sounds to me like your goldie has Ich as well as
a secondary bacterial infection. This can happen when a fish is
fighting off parasites.
Personally, I find Quick Cure to be a great parasitic medication.
However, what you need to do is find out what antibacterial med can be
used with it.
Unfortunately, I don't know this.
What size tank is the fish in now?
How long has it been set up and running (with fish)?
Water change schedule..how much and how often?
Type of filtration?
Carbon in or out of filtration system?

what Mel said was correct. the minute you notice a fish acting weird
or listless you need to check the water parameters and start doing
water changes and add a bit of salt, typically 1 teaspoon per 5
gallons. brown spots where the white ones were sounds a lot like
ammonia burn.  you now have added too many things to the tank and it
has probably become a toxic brew.  
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/care/care1.htm#essentials
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/

the white film is her slime coat getting really thick due to toxic
water and/or parasites.  GF can typically go a few weeks without food,
so dont be overly concerned.  

If she is still alive, I would do a 39 second salt dip on her
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/disease/treatment/trtmnt.htm#SALT%20DIPS
and then right into fresh water and do the tub to tub method with her.
Ingrid