Goldfish swimming vertically and losing his scales.?

Question

My goldfish is swimming almost vertically so I read that you should give him peas that have been skinned, boiled, etc. and he just wont eat them. He will spit it out after he eats one. Also his is losing his scales on mostly the right side of his body. We also have a sucker fish and he sometimes grabs ahold of the goldfish but the goldfish shakes him off.

Answer 1

That's a majorly stressed fish. You need to remove that algae eater asap to save your goldfish. That may be all that is wrong with him or he may have a bacterial infection. Once you have the seperated if it is all stress related he will shape up within a day or so. If he doesn't then I would assume he is also sick. I would suggest a treatment with Furanace or Maracyn 2 for 14 days to help clear either a skin infection or a possible internal infection.

MM

Answer 2

Magic man is absolutely right. Your pleco will eventually kill your goldfish.

Here's is the quote and I'll post the link to the pic below to see if this is what your fish looks like (note the fish is missing scales and swimming vertically!)

Pleco Attack!!

This picture is a good example of the damage a Pleco (algae eater) can do to your goldfish. As you can see by the picture, most of the "slime coat" of the goldfish has been eaten off by the Pleco causing a massive infection. No type of Pleco is safe to be kept with goldfish. A Pleco attack could happen at any time, why take that risk with your goldfish friends??

They suck algae...but with the slow moving goldfish? They suck the slime coating right off :( Don't know why they're so "into" goldfish though. They're pretty good with other communities :(

Answer 3

First off if your goldfish is loosing scales for no reason (such as breeding) can be from a bacterial infection

Clean the filter and change 30% of the water. Easily treated with Nitrofuranace.

If you have a breeding net put your goldfish in there while treating him.

Answer 4

He is sick.. Have your water checked by your local pet store if you can, your other fish are likely to be infected as well.

Add slime coat to your tank, this is sold at any fish shop, it helps regenarate their skin. you also need an antibacterial and antifungal.
Check for white dots, cottony areas (eyes, fins..) , red lines along tail.. all signs of disease.
Also, make sure you treat them before it is too late and all your fish start dying.

It is also currently happening to me on my 55 gallon tank that last week had about 30 fish, now down to less than 10.