Help, this goldfish has white fuzz next to his gills and is not acting like himself.?

Question

I am babysitting the neighbors fish and now he has a white fuzz next to his gills and is more lethargic and hanging out a lot on the bottom. He does not appear to have the white spots described online as "ick??" Help, the little boy comes home in 3 days and I need this fish to live! The white fuzz just "fell off." but he is still slow.
I changed the water in his tank to try to help.

Answer 1

Sounds like a fungus of some sort. You can't go wrong with adding a fungicide. Just be sure to follow the directions carefully.

Answer 2

it is definitely not ick/ich. ich is an external parasite that looks like little white dots and make fish scratch on rocks.
he has a fungus. if it is white and cottony that means it's a true fungus. if it is grey-white stringy, that's a bacteria called columnaris that can kinda resemble fungus.

Jungle makes a good fungus medication called Fungus Clear that will treat a true fungus. Mardel's Maroxy is also good; it is liquid so it is good for smaller dosing and I use it in my betta spawing tank to prevent egg fungus and subsequent fungus in the parents.

fungus is contagious, so if your fish has been in with another fish, treat them all. you may want to start with a complete water change then begin treatment. do water changes every 3 or so days; after a water change add another dose of the medication. it's normal for the water will turn yellowish during treatment.

I've never dealt with columnaris, but I do know that it is a gram-positive bacteria, and can be treated with any med that treat such bacterias (like Mardel's Maracyn).

Answer 3

Dont listen to her ^^^^ never ever poke your fish with anything. Deffinetly listen to the ppl when they talk about "ick". Its actually quite common. If you just recently noticed this then you should be able to help. If you have other fish seperate them from your sick one. After that call your local Petsmart and ask if they do free water testing. They usually do. Then just take a sample of your water in to them and they will test it. Only takes 2 minutes. Hope your fish gets well! Also do a 25% water change ONLY....every week or two. Never more then 25%!!

Answer 4

its no use even if u change the water everyday. u need to use a toothpick / something quite sharp (tht doesnt hurt ur goldfish) and remove those things. its actually a some kind of bug tht sticks to ur goldfish and its parasitsm. these bugs are very active in water but it cant move without water. this happen because the water tank is dirty. so make sure u remove the bugs from the fish and wash the tank once a week. (if u ignore it, ur fish will die in a few weeks.)

Answer 5

Take a picture of the fish and take it to a fish shop they can give you some medicine for it, but it may still die. Make sure you treat the tank before putting more fish in it.

Answer 6

Does sound like it's icth. Pet stores sell a liquid you mix with the water. Isolate the fish of he'll contaminate the whole tank. Once it takes hold it's hard to eradicate.

Answer 7

it sounds like he has ICK, there are drops and treatments you can get at any fish store. just ask for ICK treatment stuff and they'll know what to get for you. after a day or two it should help a lot.

Answer 8

He has "ick". White fuzzy crap is still "ick". Go to Wal-mart, grab some of the drops they sell to fight "ick", then pray to God that it starts clearing up before the kid comes to pick up his fish.

Answer 9

i think it might be ick treat it asap and treat the whole tank check this site out if the fish dies replace it and say here is your fish i fishsat my sisters fish and i did that cause her fish died

Answer 10

sounds like cotton fungus go to the pet store they have medicine to treat it but seperate this fish and treat him by himself.