FAQs on Goldfish Medications: The Non-"Fixes": Melafix, Pimafix FAQs on Goldfish Medicines: Antibiotics (e.g. Maracyn, Tetracycline), Organophosphates (e.g. Fluke Tabs, Dylox), Anthelminthics (de-wormers), Salts, eSHa, Copper Compounds, Formalin, Malachite Green, Metronidazole (Flagyl), Sulfa Drugs, All Others... Related Articles: Goldfish Systems, Goldfish Disease, Goldfish,  Goldfish Varieties,  Koi/Pond Fish Disease, Livestock Treatment System,  Bloaty, Floaty Goldfish, Gas Bubble Disease/Emphysematosis, Pond Parasite Control with DTHP, Hole in the Side Disease/Furunculosis, Related Goldfish Disease FAQs:  Environmental 1, Environmental 2, Environmental 3,  Environmental 4, & Goldfish Disease 2, Goldfish Disease 3, Goldfish Disease 4, Goldfish Disease 6, Goldfish Disease 7, Goldfish Disease 8, Goldfish Disease 9, Goldfish Disease 10, Goldfish Disease 11, Goldfish Disease 12, Goldfish Disease 13, Goldfish Disease 14, Goldfish Disease 15, Goldfish Disease 16, Goldfish Disease 17, Goldfish Disease 18, Goldfish Disease 19, Goldfish Disease 20, Goldfish Disease 21, Goldfish Disease 22, Goldfish Health 23, Goldfish Disease 24, Goldfish Health 25, Goldfish Disease 26, Goldfish Disease 27, Goldfish Disease 28, Goldfish Disease 29, Goldfish Disease 30, Goldfish Disease 31, Goldfish Disease 33, Goldfish Disease 34, Goldfish Disease 35, Goldfish Health 36, Goldfish Health 37, Goldfish Health 38, Goldfish Disease 39, Goldfish Disease 40, Goldfish Disease 41, Goldfish Disease 42, Goldfish Disease 43, Goldfish Disease 44, Goldfish Disease 45, Goldfish Disease 46, Goldfish Disease 47, Goldfish Disease 48, Goldfish Disease 49, Goldfish Disease 50, Goldfish Disease 51, & Koi/Pondfish Disease ,

Placebos at best, toxic, denitrifier-killers and even worse Forget these leaf extracts... Determine the root cause/s of your goldfish ills and remedy THEM Goldfish Disease by "Types", Causes: Environmental 1, Environmental 2, Environmental 3, Environmental 4,  Environmental 5,  Environmental ,  (Absolutely the Biggest Category) Floaty Bloaty Goldfish Nutritional (Second Largest) Genetic/Developmental Eye Troubles Lumps/Bumps/Growths (including idiopathic tumors) Behavioral/Social Viral and Bacterial, Fungal Infectious Parasitic: (Ich, Protozoans, Flukes, Worms, Crustacean/ Anchorworms/Lernaeids, ) Fish Lice (Argulus), Goldfish Swim Bladder Problems Anomalous (Misc., Injuries, etc.)

New Print and eBook on Amazon Goldfish Success What it takes to keep goldfish healthy long-term by Robert (Bob) Fenner

GF Qs 08/02/09
> Bob, Neale- As I'm going through the GF disease FAQs ("summarizing" and sorting), I have few questions... 1) a lot of the early crew members frequently recommend Melafix. Does this work for goldfish?
<Marginally in some types of circumstances (my best attempt at a fair assessment)... Really, more a hindrance, obstacle to folks further investigating, seeking real cures in many more percentage cases>
> 2) There seems to be some disagreement over the use of "freshwater" salt to ease water quality issues and stress on the fish. What is the > logic behind the use of this salt? ...and do you two recommend it?
<The change in osmotic pressure is more easily tolerated than some ext. complaints... and the placebo effect, granted... getting folks to not do more harm>
3) Is it not a "myth" that goldfish will only grow as large as their home will provide?
<Sigh... absolutely>
...do they just grow very slowly in small containers?
<They stunt, suffer and die prematurely... Thank you for asking. BobF, who would include this corr... so he's going to.>
> Thanks,
> Sara M.
Re: GF Qs 08/02/09
> Hi Sara,
> I tend to agree with Bob the Melafix is of little to no value. It's an antiseptic at best, and consequently best considered a preventative, to keep minor wounds from becoming infected. I'd never recommend it as something to use once fish have obvious signs of Finrot or fungus.
> Sodium chloride is known to reduce the toxicity of nitrite and nitrate. As such, it can be used at low doses (1-3 grammes/litre) to help fish tolerate periods of poor water quality. Sodium chloride can also be used to treat a variety of external parasites including Whitespot (Ick) and leeches. On the other hand, what sodium chloride won't do is raise pH or increase hardness. It's therefore of no value in aquaria where the main problems are to do with water chemistry.
> Goldfish have a very high tolerance for brackish water, so the use of salt at low doses on a continual basis won't do any harm, but on the flip side, it won't do any good either, if other issues, particularly water chemistry, aren't fixed first.
> Carp, including goldfish, are known to stunt in the wild as well as in captivity. I disagree with Bob with regard to the potential for harm; there's no clear evidence that stunting causes any problems at all.
> However, having said that, keeping fish in tanks that are too small for them -- and thereby causing stunting -- also tends to imply the fish is being exposed to poor water quality, unstable water chemistry, and low levels of dissolved oxygen. All of these things are liable to reduce overall health and disease resistance. So while stunting _per se_ probably doesn't cause problems, the conditions that promote stunting almost certainly do.
> It's worth mentioning fish grow their entire lives, as you probably know, and once a stunted fish is removed to bigger quarters, it will begin growing again. Of course, the rate of growth decreases with age, so a fish that was stunted when young will not get dramatically larger if moved into a big tank as an adult.
> Cheers, Neale

Bloated goldfish, skip the tea, read  - 7/1/08 Hi! <Brett> I have a goldfish (white and gold comet) that's become bloated, with its scales sticking out (like dropsy?) and bubbles forming on its skin. <Doesn't sound good does it?> It had become bloated once before, after getting a fungal infection - on that occasion I treated it with product called Pimafix (active ingredient is Bay oil) <Worthless> which is both an anti-fungal and an antibacterial treatment (according to the label), and the goldfish recovered, with only a couple of discolored spots on its skin where the fungus has been. This time there has been no sign of fungal infection, and the other goldfish in the tank are unaffected. It started as an odd looking lump on the underbelly, and some deterioration of the dorsal fin, but in the space of a couple of days the goldfish became quite bloated. I went to my local pet store and they were out of Pimafix, but said that it sounded like a bacterial infection this time, and sold me another treatment called Melafix <Also> (active ingredient is Cajeput (Tea tree) oil). However, after a week of treating the tank (and feeding it some peas), the only result has been the appearance of these bubbles on the skin. <...> I have checked the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels in my tank - ammonia and nitrite are zero, nitrate less than 5 ppm. (The tank is 80 litres, and currently has only three goldfish and one large freshwater snail in it.) <These readings and tank size are all fine...> I'm now wondering if the problem is not bacterial at all, but maybe fungal or some sort of parasite. The goldfish is still active and feeding well, but obviously not getting better. Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated. Brett <Actual bacterial, fungal "causes" of disease in captive aquatics are rare as chicken's teeth... these are almost always secondary effects of other etiologies... poor water quality, some sort of challenge otherwise... I suspect a root issue and cure here are nutritive in nature. Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshmalnut.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

From the WetWebMedia Crew, about your goldfish Goldfish, Water Quality, Stress, and Melafix - 06/10/2008 Hi, I have a 30 gallon aquarium and 3 goldfish and 1 algae eater in it. <I'm not fond of some of the fish that are called "algae eater" - if this is the common "Chinese algae eater", he will eventually grow into a big, mean fish that will harass your other fish. It'll take a while, though.> They had Ick and their tails were a little bit ripped so I looked up 'Ick' in WWM and I read that it could be treated with salt so I tried it and one algae eater died and the rest of the fish were all sad. So I changed the water and after 2 days tried the salt treatment again but this time I took the algae eater out. The goldfish were all sad again so I changed the water again and bought a remedy called 'Melafix' <This will do nothing at all for Ich or any other parasitic problems.... and some folks feel that Melafix (extract of the Melaleuca tree) can be irritating to fish as well. I do not use or recommend it.> and I did just what the bottle said and the fish's tail got better and the Ick didn't get worse or better. <Melafix will not treat Ich.> Then I left for vacations so I told my friend to take care of the fish when I came back one of them was on the floor and it was breathing very fast and its tail, head, eye, and fin were red; it doesn't move much and it doesn't eat it still breathes fast (it has been like that for 2 days). Please help me with an advise, at this moment we're on the second week of Melafix treatment with a 25% water change after the first week. <Were it me and my fish, I would discontinue using Melafix, as it will do nothing for Ich at all. I strongly recommend that you test your water for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate - Ammonia and Nitrite must be ZERO, Nitrate less than 20ppm. If these are above these levels, do water changes immediately to bring them down. Again, Ammonia and Nitrite must be ZERO; this is vitally important, and I suspect this may be the cause of why the fish's fins, eyes and skin are red and he is breathing fast. Once Ammonia and Nitrite are zero and Nitrate is less than 20ppm, I would recommend using salt or one of the common Ich treatments, like Rid-Ich, to treat the Ich. I, personally, prefer to use salt and heat to treat Ich, but it seems to me you are concerned about it after your experience. Make sure you do some big water changes before you use any medications to get the Melafix out first; please don't try to mix medications. Be sure to use a dechlorinator for the new water and try to match the pH of the new water to the pH in the tank as closely as possible. You might want to read here for a bit more about goldfish systems: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm . Wishing you and your goldfish well, -Sabrina>

About my goldfish, dis. & homeopathics... avoiding non "fixes"   10/23/07 My two new goldfish have recently been developing small white spots on their back fins and I was wondering if that might be Ich and if there is a homeopathy remedy that can cure that? If not what else would you suggest? Thanks for your help! Concerned Fish owner <Sounds like Whitespot/Ick. No homeopathic remedy that I know of. Various tea-tree derivatives (Melafix, Pimafix, etc.) are on the market but they don't really work reliably. Avoid them. Don't mess about with this, because Ick is a killer. Go straight for medications that work. Your local retailer will have a variety based on copper and/or formalin. Do also review aquarium conditions -- fish get sick because of the aquarium, nine times out of ten. Review our articles on goldfish care. Cheers, Neale>

Last Chance For A <sic> Sic Fish... Doing your best for a Comet  03/22/07 After 2 months of searching, reading, attempting, and calling... I'm now writing you in a last ditch effort to save my goldfish Columbo.  He has been unable to open his mouth for going on 2 months now.  He's managed to stay healthy until just the past 2 weeks when its finally started to catch up to him.  Currently am force feeding him with a syringe of which he manages to get a quarter of the food down that I give him.  He's become decidedly emaciated and is starting to slow down. <Not good> His lives in a 20 Gallon tank with a rubber nosed Pleco as his only tank mate.  I'm very aggressive about the water conditions and keep the tank chemistry fairly steady.   78deg F, 7.2pH, 0amonia, 0nitrite, and  trace nitrates.   He's had a varied diet of TetraFin goldfish flakes, Brine shrimp, and algae tablets. <Not enough greenery...> He has a congenital defect in his left eye.  That particular eye is malformed and what my wife describes as a proteoeye.. i.e... much smaller not well formed but has some function. He shows no other signs of illness except that he cannot open his mouth to eat and not from lack of trying.  On occasion I have seen him open his mouth to "yawn" and then jerk after the fact (Pain?).  I've read about rocks being stuck.. checked none found. <Good> Read about Columnaris disease... other than being unable to open his mouth no other symptoms, but tried an antibiotic anyway.  I've read about poor nutrition, as I've stated his diet has been varied so not sure what else to do there.  I've tried MelaFix treatments multiple times. <Worthless>   I have noticed that he will be able to open his mouth for a few seconds after adding a dose of MelaFix to the tank.  I've tried finding a vet in the area that treats fish and I've had no luck, none here (major metropolitan area) treat fish. I'm running out of options and time.  If I can find a cure soon I'm going to have to euthanize him.  I know he's in pain, and the added injury of allowing him to starve to death would be just plain wrong. PS I would have tried the forum first, but your account creation seems to be down. <Please contact Zo there... he runs such, not us> Thank you for your time Wes <Likely there is not anything that can actually be done here... This condition is likely congenital... If your goldfish does appear to be suffering, I would euthanize it. I do encourage you to try another variety (other than Comet) of goldfish, as these are very poorly produced, treated in culture. Bob Fenner>

Goldfish Environment 6.12.05 Over the past five days I've had a range of problems with my five goldfish. <I thought you said 4 goldfish.> Firstly, my comet has a " air sack" in its belly and its not eating, so I transferred it in a 10 litre container and added the inside of peas (for it to eat), MelaFix and a water conditioner. is this right ? should I double the MelaFix formula? <So far as I know Melafix is not going to help the swim bladder issue. 10 litres is too small.> Second, my fantail got caught in a sandstone rock on Wednesday and I separated it into a 3 litre (with MelaFix formula) ceramic container. Now it lies at the bottom and hasn't eaten for five days the wound is healing slowly though. Is this also right what I've done? <way to small, he will use up the oxygen in the water and foul the water super fast.> Last, my large red Oranda, black Moor and white fantail have been put back into the 20 litre tank with 2 ml of MelaFix to fix the blood hemorrhaging. Again, Is what I've done right? Why are all these problems happening and how can I prevent it? also,  what other food could I feed them apart from flakes? <This is what I would do in this situation.  Get at least a 75 liter (20gallon) aquarium, (Please let me know if my conversion are wrong, it is very possible).  Do not use any sharp/rough decorations, goldfish are big fat and clumsy.  Put them all back in the same tank, it does not sound like they have diseases that are going to spread to one another.  Feed them peeled peas, thawed frozen goldfish food, or soak your dry flaked or pelleted food in a small container of tank water prior to feeding.  Do not skimp on the filtration or aeration.  If possible add some Elodea/Anacharis to the tank, this is a live plant that is good for digestion among other things. Best of Luck, Gage>

Red and Black Fin Streaks Dear Crew, <Hello, Mike G with you this evening.> We have 2 goldfish which we have had for about 2.5 years and acquired them both when they were roughly 1 inch in length.  We went from a 3 gallon Eclipse system to a 6 gallon, then a 12 gallon and most recently to a 29 gallon Eclipse system which required a lot of "new" dechlorinated water.  The 2 goldfish are now between 5 & 7 inches in length.  There was some expected stress the first day or so after the introduction to the new tank and we saw one of the fish lose part of its fin.   <You didn't cycle?> They eventually settled in and have been feeding very well. After a few days to week, we noticed the water appearing a little cloudy (we had introduced new plastic tank "rocks" etc and didn't know if the cloudiness was some sort of residue).   <Probably a bacterial bloom, as the tank was uncycled when the fish were introduced.> It has been approximately 3 - 4 weeks in their new aquarium and the 2 goldfish seem happy with normal activity and eating habits but one has in the last day or so developed RED streaks in its fins (almost like red ink) and the OTHER fish has developed a few BLACK spots on its scales and BLACK streaks in its fins (especially near the edges).   <Hmm... Red sounds like a bacterial infection, black streaks in those places can also indicate "ammonia burns." Both are caused by poor water quality, which happens when a tank is not cycled. test your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels.> There food has not changed and consists of a mixture of Nutrafin Goldfish flakes and goldfish floating pellets (I thought that using some pellet food would lessen the amount of uneaten flake food particles that would sink to the bottom and add to the protein/nitrate levels of the tank). Tomorrow, I plan to test the water and do an exchange.  Do you have any ideas as to the cause of these newly developed RED fin-streaks on one fish and the BLACK fin-streaks and small spots on the other?   <Bacteria/poor water quality/not cycling. Try a nice big water change and dose some MelaFix for the bacterial infection. Good luck. Mike G> Thanks very much! David
Red and Black Fin Streaks Dear Mike, <That's me> Thanks so much for the response. <No problem. Glad I helped.> I tested the water today and the Ammonia level was high  (8) <Woah! 8 parts per million? That is absolutely deadly. 1ppm is considered high. 2 is considered massively high. But 8? Well, that is in a class of its own! And your fish only have red and black streaks! A testament to the hardiness of goldfish!> the nitrites were in a normal range as was the pH and hardness.  I did a 25 - 30 % water change and treated the  tank with AmmoLock 2. <A good call. Keep up with those water changes!> The fish are still doing relatively well;  one still has the red streaks in fins and the other still has the black near the fin tips. <It will take a while to fully disappear once conditions are corrected.> The one with black is now showing more black "spots" on scales and some black discoloration on one of the gills. <Ammonia is still burning it. Test again, change more water... > I will obtain some MelaFix.  Do you think I need to think about salt, copper or formalin at all? <No, right now I think you only need to worry about that ammonia level.> Can you please tell me what would have been the proper way to cycle the water in this case going from a 12 to 29 gallon tank?  I'm still very much a novice but learning quickly from my mistakes. <We were all once there! I am glad to see you taking the initiative to help your fish/learn form your mistakes. Okay, now for "Cycling 101" Ammonia is a compound toxic to aquatic life, and is also produced by all aquatic life through everyday bodily functions, such as respiration and the passing of feces. Decaying organic matter also produces Ammonia. Certain beneficial bacteria consume Ammonia and convert it to Nitrites in the process. When a tank is first set up, there are no substantial colonies of the said bacteria, so the Ammonia level quickly rises. As time goes by, these bacteria will build their populations up to colonies large enough to effectively convert all Ammonia to Nitrite on an as-produced basis. Nitrite, though much less toxic than Ammonia, is quite a deadly compound itself, and approximately 1ppm of Ammonia would convert to somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5ppm Nitrite, so you could imagine it builds up rather quickly. The Nitrite is converted to Nitrate in much the same way as Ammonia into Nitrite, except a different species of bacteria is responsible for the said conversion. Nitrate is nowhere near as toxic as Ammonia, and pales in comparison to Nitrite. However, around 2.5ppm of Nitrite will convert to approximately 6ppm of Nitrate. So, you can see, as the cycle is going on, a lot of Nitrate is produced. Nitrate is the "end product" of the conversions, and there is no aerobic species of bacteria that consumes it. However, things like plant life and water changes will all help absorb Nitrates, emphasis being placed upon water changes. Best of luck, and keep me in the loop. Mike G.> Thanks a bunch! David
Goldfish with Red and Black Fin Streaks Back again.  Now I'm REALLY bewildered. After my successful reduction of ammonia to 2 ppm, I did another 25 - 30% water exchange followed by a second 25 - 30% exchange to find that the next morning the ammonia level was back up to 4 ppm this morning.  Today, I did a 30% exchange this am and this pm, the ammonia level was again at 4 ppm.  I followed this with a 50 % water exchange because the fish are now starting to show some wear....much more black spots (burns?) and the smaller fish is now starting to suggest some encephalopathy, i.e. darting around and crashing into the sides of the tank etc.  The bewildering things is that after the 50% water exchange, I tested the water again and it was STILL at 4 ppm. What's going on here? Should or should I not be using the bacterial cultures such as Stability or StressZyme in an attempt to build the nitrifying bacterial populations? I would REALLY like any suggestions that you could give.  Otherwise, I will keep doing daily water exchanges until SOMETHING happens. Thanks, David <Try Bio Spira for an instant cycle. Expensive and hard to find, but it will work. Other than that, you need time and lots of water changes. Avoid all chemicals except dechlorinator. And keep the water changes going strong. 50% daily is not too much. Don><<The "Fix" did it... killed off the nitrifiers. RMF>>

Goldfish with mouth rot Hello, <Hi there> I got a goldfish at a local fair (I know, I know, I hate that, but I thought I could save one by taking one home). <This is how many of us got started...> We had two and one died this week from what looked like swim bladder. This other fish seemed fine - strong and healthy. Then, unfortunately, I took another of these fish from a friend and introduced it to the tank right away. Shortly after, our original healthy fish developed what looks to me like mouth rot. I am heartbroken as this fish seems to be suffering. I put it into a hospital tank and treated with Melafix and Pimafix. It's been on Melafix for 2 days and I just put the Pimafix in. The problem seems to be getting worse. Should I switch medications and try some other anti-bacterial medication? <I would give up on these leaf-extracts and add aquarium salt...> Please answer soon as it's getting very bad and I know it's because of the other fish and I feel terrible. I'm not sure where to find your answer. Is it possible to e-mail me at: <Please take a read on WWM re goldfish disease, systems... there are articles and FAQs files there to answer your questions. Bob Fenner> Thank you so much. Carol Pugliano-Martin

FW disease city, hypochondria Hi, my name is Brandi and I have a few problems (I think) with my fish. I have an orange and white fantail in my ten gallon tank and his dorsal fin is laying down. He stays at the top of the water a little, but he's not gasping or flopping or anything. I can see no other signs of sickness, and my other goldfish (in the same tank) is healthy and active. My water seems to be okay, except not quite as acidic as it might should be.   <Mmm, actually, better to keep goldfish in slightly alkaline water... 7.2-7.5 or so is ideal. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm > Should I add aquarium salt or any kind of acid-upper? <... not for this purpose, but some salt addition may be a good idea. As stated, you may be confused re what pH is... Please read WWM re: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwph,alk.htm > Also, I have a female Betta who has had her dorsal fin ripped off. She's swimming fine, and eats well, and recognizes me when I come to the tank. I'm treating her by herself in a 2.5 gallon tank with Melafix. <I would NOT use this product... or herbal remedies period> Her wound seems grave, but she seems okay. Is there anything else I should be doing for her? <Please read WWM re...> Finally, I'm treating my mollies for some kind of weird shimmy/clamped fins combo with Quick Cure.  They seem all better now, but how long should I continue the treatment? <Please see...> How do I clean their tank (it's got snails in it and how they got there, I have no idea but I like them)?  <Please...> Any help would be very much appreciated, and I apologize if these questions have already been answered, but I couldn't find anything with the search tool that quite fit my situation. Thank you again! <Umm, see the list of suggestions re querying us? Please use the materials archived on WetWebMedia... the search tool, indices... Bob Fenner...>

Goldfish in Distress Hi there. One month ago we brought home two fantail goldfish and both were doing well up until a few days ago when Ariel was resting at the bottom of the 10 gallon Eclipse EXPLORER II tank with a pump filtration system. Until last night, she would rest and then swim erratically around, spiraling and then come to rest on her side at the bottom. Her sides seem a bit distended and pointy. She was fed every other day and sometimes every day and pinch Omega One Natural Protein Formula Goldfish flakes. Our LPS tested the water this morning and it tested fine. He thought it may be a parasite infection and told us to give 1/2 teaspoon of MELA/FIX every day for one week. It has been less then a day but I am worried about her. Is there a chance she will swim again? She's just hanging out around the intake tube. Her fins seem fine. The top one just drapes over her little body. Any suggestions?  Thank You! Maryann in Connecticut <Yep, a couple. Start doing large water changes to get rid of that #$*%ing MelaFix. 50% at a time. Two the first day, a few hours apart, then daily. I have read too many reports of someone using it because of a little rip in a fin only to have their fish end up unable to breath. Look for the "active ingredients". There are none. This is boiled tree bark or some other nonsense. And I have never heard of using it for a parasitic infection, if that's what your fish has. The water changes alone by be enough to get the fish back swimming. If not, look for a medicine with Metronidazole listed on it. If the fish is eating, flake food treated with Metronidazole would be best. You can get the flake online here:  http://www.guppiesplus.safeshopper.com Good luck. Don

Moldy fish fins Hello, I have a little fan-tail goldfish (Art).  6 days ago Art developed a small black spot on his dorsal fin.  I quarantined him into a tank and gave a dose of Melafix and commenced a salt treatment.  The tank he came from was also given Melafix, but his other friends all look fine.  The black spot grew and now covers his tail, dorsal fin and the top of his head.  The black growth looks like mould, yet it doesn't appear to effect his happiness (he was a little depressed when I put him into the hospital tank, but cheered up after a day).  He is eating fine.  I have reached the suggested salt/water ratio, and his tank has aeration. I'm keeping up the Melafix.  I have looked through FAQ's and have found answers relating to a change of colour, but this appears to be a substance growing across his surface.  I am worried as he hasn't improved  - and I've totally run out of ideas to try.  I hope you may be able to answer my question, and I sincerely thank you in advance (as does Art), Cheers, Michelle >>Dear Michelle; It sounds like your goldfish has a bacterial infection. You will need to treat with a stronger medication than Melafix. Ask at your Local Fish Store for a good antibiotic for goldfish. You will need to remove your carbon from the filter when you treat, since carbon removes meds. Also, make sure your water quality is good. Please test your water! You need to know the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. Test it during the treatment, also, as antibiotics will kill your beneficial bacteria colonies in the filter. -Gwen<<
Moldy Fish Fins Hello Gwen, Thank you very much for your help.   With gratitude, Michelle and Art Michelle, hello, how is Art doing? Did you have any luck finding medication? I forgot to mention you can buy all the required test kits at your local fish store, or they will probably test your water for free, or for a small sum (couple of dollars) for you. If you do have ammonia or nitrite in your water, you must do frequent partial water changes to keep the levels low. Same for nitrates, only it is not quite so toxic. Since it is the fish that produce the ammonia, you will need to test the water during the time you are treating him with medication, as I mentioned earlier, due to the fact that the meds will kill the bacteria that are oxidizing the ammonia and nitrites and reducing them to the less toxic form, nitrate. The ammonia will then build up in the water, which will stress the fish. Sorry I did not go into more detail in my previous email. If you have more questions, do not hesitate to ask! -Gwen > Hello, I have a little fan-tail goldfish (Art).  6 days ago Art developed a small black spot on his dorsal fin.  I quarantined him into a tank and gave a dose of Melafix and commenced a salt treatment.  The tank he came from was also given Melafix, but his other friends all look fine.  The black spot grew and now covers his tail, dorsal fin and the top of his head.  The black growth looks like mould, yet it doesn't appear to effect his happiness (he was a little depressed when I put him into the hospital tank, but cheered up after a day).  He is eating fine.  I have reached the suggested salt/water ratio, and his tank has aeration. I'm keeping up the Melafix.  I have looked through FAQ's and have found answers relating to a change of colour, but this appears to be a substance growing across his surface.  I am worried as he hasn't improved  - and I've totally run out of ideas to try.  I hope you may be able to answer my question, and I sincerely thank you in advance (as does A! >  RT), Cheers, Michelle > >>Dear Michelle; It sounds like your goldfish has a bacterial infection. You will need to treat with a stronger medication than Melafix. Ask at your Local Fish Store for a good antibiotic for goldfish. You will need to remove your carbon from the filter when you treat, since carbon removes meds. Also, make sure your water quality is good. Please test your water! You need to know the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. Test it during the treatment, also, as antibiotics will kill your beneficial bacteria colonies in the filter. -Gwen<<

New Print and eBook on Amazon Goldfish Success What it takes to keep goldfish healthy long-term by Robert (Bob) Fenner