goldfish Melanophore Migration??

Question

I bought some goldfish saturday when i brought them home i noticed one of them had a few black patches at first i wasnt concerned but now its spread more and hes kinda droppy looking. Now theres another one in the tank that is starting to look like him. What do i do? This is what my fish look like http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3DMelanophore%2BMigration.%2B%26fr%3Dyfp-t-455%26toggle%3D1%26cop%3Dmss%26ei%3DUTF-8&w=550&h=413&imgurl=www.koivet.com%2Fimages%2Fmelanophore.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.koivet.com%2Fhtml%2Farticles%2Farticles_details.php%3Farticle_id%3D106&size=84kB&name=melanophore.jpg&p=Melanophore+Migration.&type=jpeg&no=1&tt=5&oid=d7e1c9fdd6b21f60&ei=UTF-8


the only problem is i dont know how to fix it...I have them in a 38 gallon tank!!

I'm scared im going to treat them for something and they will all die.

Answer 1

They only get the dark spots in response to some sort of irritant.

Are they showing signs of labored breathing, or gasping at the surface if you don't have enough air? Have you tested your water recently? If you don't have a kit, or the ammonia or nitrite is above 0.5 or the nitrates are above 40, you should do a water change - try about 1/3 of the water and replace it slowly.

Since the fish are new, the tank they're in may be as well. In this case your tank is probably cycling (building up a population of beneficial bacteria). This will eventually allow the ammonia and nitrite (both toxic to fish) in the tank to be converted to nitrate (non-toxic in moderate amounts). But untile the bacteria build up (3-6 weeks) you'll need to do lots of water changes to prevent ammonia poisoning from killing the fish. I'll put some information about this below.

Are you using aquarium salt or medication in their tank? If so, they may have been overdosed. If you've done any additions of these items and you've done water changes afterward, only add the amount back that was removed - not a full dose unless the medication specifically says to add that much. You can do water changes to lower the amount of these as well, but depending on what you've added/how long you've been doing this, you may need to do a series of changes (if this is your problem).

Are the fish showing any other behavioral changes or changes in their appearance?

Answer 2

Those black patches are the sign that the fish is healing from some kind of irritant, like ammonia in the water or chlorine. It's common in newly bought fish, especially if they were in bad conditions at the pet store, then the better quality in your tank causes the healing. It should clear up on it's own within a few weeks. Be sure to do frequent water changes, keep the ammonia and nitrites at 0 ppm, and nitrates under 20 ppm. Adding a little MelaFix may help a bit as well.

Answer 3

Melanophore Migration

Answer 4

The fish which u had bought is sick n need to be quarantine b4 u put them in the tank with other fishes. Droppy looking? Does yr fish scales started to "pop" out. If yes,remove them frm yr tank n start medication.Yr fish tank water n filter had to be clean n water replace b4 u buy any new fishes.