Why is there a sore on my goldfish?

Question

There is a sore on his side and on one part of his fin .What should I do?

Its really red.Will my other fish get that?

Answer 1

There are really two possibilities, a wound from physical damage, or an infection. Since it runs up onto a fin, odds are good it's an infection, but look carefully and judge for your self if this looks like a cut, scratch or some other wound, or looks more like an infected sore or ulcer.

If it appears to be a wound, the best thing to do is simply watch for an infection or fungus and treat accordingly if either appear.

If it appears to be an infection, there are basically two possibilities, Furunculosis and Tuberculosis. Furunculosis is by far the more common if the two, while Tuberculosis is quite rare in aquarium fish. That said, Tuberculosis can be transmitted to humans, so you should take precautions while working with the tank. I would suggest wearing long rubber gloves and be very careful not to get tank water in an open wound, your eyes, nose or mouth. Odds are it's not Tuberculosis, but it's best to play it safe.

Both of these can also be transmitted from one fish to another, so you will need to treat the entire tank to be sure it's treated and killed.

Both can be treated with a strong and fast acting antibiotic such as Cipro or other antibiotics in that family. That is of course a prescription medication that you would need to get from a vet. If that's not a possibility, my first choice of over the counter medications would be Maracyn TC (or any other brand of Tetracycline). I suggest you treat at the level suggest on the package for 10 days.

Best of luck with it

MM

Answer 2

Goldfish get a ulcer type wound from an infection. This is made worse if the goldfish is kept in warm water. Get some anti-biotics from the pet store.

Answer 3

sounds like one of two things. if the sore has little white spots on it, it could be a disease calle ick. if so just go get some "ick-away" from walmart or a pet store.

or if the sore is reddish and wound like, it could be fin and tail rot. another common fish disease. treat the water with a medicine called Melafix you can find it at walmart or a pet store and your fish should be fine