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Big red spot on goldfish's head (maybe infection??)
I have had two goldfish for five months now... they seem to be doing just fine. One of them, however, developed what looked like a big white spot on his head (it was almost as big as his head). Today I noticed that it turned completely red and looks like a big spot of blood.
I am really concerned that he might end up dying from this..any information on what this might be, and how to possibly treat it?
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Maybe give some free advice about: Pets?
Does it have a fuzzy appearance? If so, could be fungus. If it is fungus, you can go to the pet store and get treatment for it.
Be sure to add stress coat to your tank water when you add or change water, or intruduce new fish to the aquarium. Stress coat helps them rebuild and keep a healthy slime coat on their body.
Fungus can be caused from lack of slime coat on the fish, as well as sharp objects in the tank that can injure the fish.
Ick is white spots on the body that look like salt. Also treatable, but my guess is that Ick may not likely be the problem.
What you can do is catch your fish in a plastic bag filled with water from the aquarium, and take it into the pet store for advice. The person who works in the fish department should know what it is and how to treat it.
If it ends up being Ick, parasite, or any other sickness that the fish could have caught while in a community aquarium at the pet store, DO NOT buy more fish from there.
I would be willing to bet that since you have had the fish for five months, it likely isn't something it "caught" from other fish. Unless, of course, you've introduced new fish to your aquarium since then.
Don't forget to use stress coat! Be sure to get a PH kit if you don't have one. Get a container of sea salt from the pet store. There should be instructions on the container on how much salt to add to a fresh water aquarium. Though goldfish are fresh water fish, there is still salt in fresh water. Salt is an awesome healing aid!
When I had fresh water fish, I had a 55 gallon aquarium, and if I remember right, I had to add four tablespoons of salt to the water, per instructions on the box. (X amount of salt per X amount of gallons.)
Be sure the air pump and filter system are always working properly. Be sure to keep clean filters. Lack of air and dirty filters make the water unhealthy, which can lead to unhealthy fish.
Though I loved keeping goldfish, they are very dirty fish. They eat like pigs, and if the water isn't filtered right, they pollute the aquarium quickly.
Good luck to you!
ygs-30/f
P.S.
When adding decorative items, including rock bed, to the aquarium, be sure to wash it well first.
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I had a goldfish with something similar and it happened to be an embedded worm. Eventually the worm did break through the skin and a friend of mine removed it with tweezers. That fish lived a long time afterwards, but we did have to treat the tank. The pet store could give you info on that. Basically though, other than for fungus and certain inbalances of the tank, it is hard to treat fish for diseases, and such things as tumors.
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