PLEASE HELP! i think my goldfish is sick!?

Question

im sort of suspecting ick!
few days earlier, my fish were twitching and had clamped fins.
i cleaned the tank normally as i would.
this morning they were clamped.
i thought my fish are doing better then right now from the looks of their dorsal fin there are tiny white salt specks, but only on the fins, its not very visible but i thik i see them. is it ick for sure? and whats the best ttreatment?

and if its not ick and they are helthy is it still okay to use medication (just to be sure)?
will they be harmed? i
do not want my beloved fish to die!! will they die is there any chance??? pleasee hlepp`!

i just read that ick is only from other fish!
i think my new fish had ick ! it was from the carnival!
sigh, anyways what can i do ?
please do the step by step stuff ( how to wash tank, how to put medication,)
and wi the fish survive i got the new fish on april 27

also, if i use medication, and i remove the carbon from the filter, them what will happen to my filter? do i leave it on? because i have a whisper filter and they are based on carbon

also all you ignorant people! dfid you know fish live logere then hamsters, guinea pigs and stuff!?!? they live for 20 years at least! if yours died you are a bad owner!

Answer 1

If they are mainly on the fins and very small, this might be velvet. A lot of people confuse this with ich, but the spots are smaller. You can tell them apart by looking at the spots with a bright flashlight. If it's velvet, the spots will appear gold-rust colored. Ich will be whiteIf you're not sure which it is, they can both be treated using the same method, and you'll need to treat the entire tank. Start with a good water change and vacuum the gravel well. Raise the water temperature (a few degrees each hour) to about 86o. At this temperature goldfish will need to have good aeration in the water for dissolved oxygen. I would suggest using something like Quick Cure or Rid Ich which has both malachite green and formalin in the ingredients (WalMart should have the Quick Cure for around $2). Treat in the dose listed on the bottle, BUT you need to treat for 10-14 days, NOT 3 like it says on the bottle. If this is ich, the parasites will drop off the fish in about 3 days, but when they're on the fish, they're enclosed in a cyst and not affected by the medication! So you need to continue to treat for at least 3 days after you stop seeing the spots on the fish. The only difference between treating these parasites, is that in velvet, the parasite has a photosynthetic pigment (what makes them appear gold-rust colored), so if there's a light on the tank, they can provide some of their food by photosynthesis. Because of this, it's strongly recommended that the tank lights be turned off during the treatment.

You need to remove the carbon from your filter - or it will adsorb the medication. If you have a cartridge without carbon (other than polyfilter which also removes medications), you can use it. You'll want to keep the filter running for water movement and oxygen exchange in the water.

Answer 2

Ich is caused by stress and yes the new fish could have brought ich into the tank. Go buy some Quick Cure and add in the dose as necessary (should be 2 drops per gallon if I'm not mistaken). After 3 days (again check the bottle) do a water change and if they still have ich proceed the same again - after that talk to your fish person about a stronger medication. You should be able to clear it up so long as you get your treatment going right away.

Answer 3

You should not treat the tank if you don't know what you are treating for.

You need to be sure it is ich.

Ich is naturally in the water source and in most cases, when purchased from reputable stores, ich does not come from those fish or the water since they run UV Sterilizers. It comes from the fish being stressed out or the addition of too many fish. Your fish could have gotten stressed for a number of reasons.

You really need to know for sure if it is ich. What ever you do , do not add salt or crank up the temperatures to treat goldfish for ich. You will kill your fish before you kill the ich. adding Salt to goldfish bowls and tanks causes them to retain water leading to other health problems.

If you are sure it is ich, white spot you need to treat him for ich, however white spot don't normally attack the fins first. Do you see anything around the gills or the face?

Clamped fins is the sign of something totally different.
You really need to be sure. Clamped fins, all the time or only once in a while? What size tank or bowl do you have him in?

Feel free to email me or a picture would help. Be SURE you see white spots before you treat.

Also, to keep your goldie healthy, Goldfish need a balanced diet. When choosing a fish food choose one with high protein (48% or better) and low fat (5% or less)

You can supplement their diet with things like Lettuce, mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, spinach, peas, endive, seaweed, cukes, kale, chard, broccoli, lima beans, green beans, etc. and feed aquatic plants (e.g. duckweed, azolla, salvenia, etc) or hair algae daily.

For their Carotenoids which are a family of pigments the fish can't make themselves and are obtained as part of the diet. These pigments result in red, yellow and orange colors. Fish have cells called chromataphores. Those cells convert lutein and carotenes into astaxanthin which is the red pigment.
sources include, brine shrimp, krill, spirulina, marigold flowers, paprika, sweet red peppers, yams, carrots, pumpkin

Watermellons and oranges are also good as well as proteins like chicken (chicken livers) beef (livers and parts) and pork as well as worms and bugs.

Answer 4

if you think its ick but not sure there is a solution that i understaind works wonderfully for all sorts of ills wallmart uses it on there tanks frequently its a tea that when u let step in the water treats most tropical fish illnesses try using it

Answer 5

OMG I can not believe some of the answers to you ......Ok yes it sounds like ICK. Get the treatment that is the once a day for 7 days treatment and you will not see it work until like the 5th or 6th day. I am not sure of th brand but they sell it at petco. ICK is spread through bacteria it is not nessecery for your fish to have been around other fish to get it.

Answer 6

Go to your Pet Store and buy a product called quick cure it cures Ick super fast. Click on the link.

Answer 7

: O fishyfish ???????????
it's okkk karan. calm down. it might have been because you just changed your water, and it was in shock. because you have to use old water when you clean the tank and put new one in. if it's right away water, it's not good. -o- so you should've left the new water out for about a day, and then put it in. oh my guuuuush. if it's fishyfish who's dying, then let's bury it and cry together. *wahhhhh!*. but if it's the carnival fish -o-, i kinda knew that it was gonna die soon. ehhhhh.. anywys, good luck !pray to god he'll live (:+

Answer 8

I've suspected ick in my own guppies before. Even if I wasn't sure, I used medication just to be safe. The medication didn't ever kill my fish, so it couldn't hurt. Use a general medication, and be sure to take the carbon pad out of your filter if you have one.

Answer 9

Fish just don't live long. The longest my fish have ever lived was 1 year, so let it dye peacefully. I'm sorry!

If you really are attatched, take it to the vet? Idk... they don't trat fish...

Maybe try a new brand of food or cleaning the tank.

Answer 10

i don't want to sound mean but...it is just a goldfish. maybe if it's in pain you should just kill it then flush it. otherwise, take it to the vet, i guess?