My goldfish has a black spot on his nose. Any ideas what it could be??

Question

At first it was just a spot above his mouth, a pretty good size one. I put fungus clear in the bowl and it didnt help. Now he also has a spot on his back right in front of his backfin. Please help!!

Answer 1

What kind of gold fish? Some gold fish will change colors including getting black splotches if they are mixed with calico's or shubs. This is nothing to be worried about.

However it also could be black spot disease. Some times better known as BLACK ICH

Black Ich disease appears as small black spots distributed over the fish's body. The spots are about half the size of a pinhead or smaller. They are primarily found on the body and are are especially easy to see on light-colored body areas or on the transparent areas of the fins. Affected fish will scratch on the bottom or other aquarium objects. Other signs of the disease include lethargy, development of a pale body color, and lack of appetite. The disease is caused by a small worm known as a tubellarian. After parasitizing a fish, the worms develop on the fish's skin and gills and acquire dark pigmentation. They are freely mobile and will tend to move over the surface of the fish. After five or six days depending on the environmental conditions, they drop to the bottom of the aquarium. There they mature, with the development of the young worms within their body. Once the development of the young is complete, the adult worms burst, releasing the free swimming young that infest new host fish. The worms can be controlled with various commercially available medications. Formalin based products or those containing organophosphate compounds such as trichlorfon appear to be the best medications. In addition to the use of medications, any excessive buildup or organic material and debris should be siphoned from the aquarium several times during treatment. Since the young worms develop on the aquarium bottom, the removal of debris will aid in controlling the disease by reducing their numbers.

Also, it could be ammonia burns. Have you checked your water quality? How was the ammonia levels in the tank?

Since your fish does not have lots of small black dots, I don't think it is black spot. If he is acting fine and eating, and your water does not test high for ammonia, I would watch him closley for any behavior or eating habit changes.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Black Spots On Goldfish

Answer 4

There are a few reasons for a goldfish to change color. Part of the reason involves genetics - as golfish get older, they can change color. It can be a response to lighting as well. Goldfish kept outdoors in a pond over the summer can develop darker coloration than what they had indoors, but this can fade once they are brought indoors again - something like a suntan.

I believe the cause for your fish might be a changing ammonia level. If he's in a bowl, there's not much space for him and you probably don't have a filter for him. As the ammonia builds up, it causes a chemical "burn". When the ammonia goes away and the burn heals, the area turns black. See these links for more information. They may be able to tell you if this is the cause of your goldfish's color change. See "black patch" in the first, the second gives information about color changes, and the last is the symptoms for ammonia poisoning.

http://www.fish-disease.net/diseases.htm
http://www.goldfishconnection.com/articles/details.php?articleId=137&parentId=12
http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/ammonia_poisoning/

Change his water on a regular basis, and if you can get him a larger tank with a filter and he probably won't have problems with ammonia in the future. If he's a fancy goldfish (has two tails), he should have about 20 gallons to give him growing room. If he has a single tail, he'll need even more room.

Answer 5

this is ich. ich is a type of stress. it is always on the fish but becomes visible when the fish becomes stressed. the stress is caused by many things, small tank, wrong ph, over stocked, etc. the ich can be cured in 2 ways 1 is find the cause of the stress and fix it. 2 there is a tablet that comes in a box that is called ich away just add 1 tablet for every 10 gal. you can get this at wal-mart or local fish store. act fast because if not cured it will spread to other fish and kill them.

Answer 6

I agree with Kylie, it's not the Ich - that would look like your fish were sporting pearls :) , but it is also not his colouring. If I were you I would get on the net and check this website out.

http://www.nationalfishpharm.com/diseases.html

ICH

The fish appear to be sprinkled with sand or grit. The lumps are white, about 0.5 to 1.5mm in size. The skin comes off in shreds a). In the case of freshwater fish, they are affected by the protozoan Ichthyophthirius (Ich). b). Marine fish are affected by Cryptocaryon Irritans Use: a). Malachite Green -or- Forma-Green.
b). Treat the fish with Copper Sulfate.



I have always used this site and it's been pretty accurate.


Hope all turns out well for your fish. :)

Answer 7

it's called 'ick.' you should be able to get some drops for the water that will clear it up from your local pet store or maybe even Walmart.

Answer 8

it's not ick. ick is a parasite that looks like grains of salt. my guess it that's just how he's colored.