My goldfish has white spots???

Question

My goldfish has white spots.Whats wrong with it?I can't buy any medicine for it cuz I'm only twelve and I have no money.Also my fish keeps opening and closing it's mouth.Is it hungry?What should I do?

Answer 1

What important here is WHERE your fish has spots. If it's on the covers over the gills and along the front edges of the fins, all this means is that you have a male. Males get spots in these locations that look like pimples when they're in spawning condition. To see a photo of these, see this link: http://www.bristol-aquarists.org.uk/goldfish/info/sexing-fs.htm

If your goldfish is an oranda, lionhead, ranchu, or variety that has a cap (looks like bubbles at the top of the head), white on the cap is a new point of growth. Rule these out before you decide your fish has a disease it may actually not have!

If the spots are anywhere else on the body, it may be a parasite (ich). You can treat this by raising the water temperature and using salt. It's best to use salt without iodine in it if you have or can get some - rock, kosher, canning, or pickling salt are all okay. Add one tablespoon for every gallon of water that your fish is in. You can read more about ich here: http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml

If your fish is opening and closing it's mouth, it might be hungry, if it's only doing this when you're nearby. If it does this even when it can't see you, it probably has another cause. Usually this can be from not enough oxygen in the water (if you don't have a filter or airstone to move the water around), or it may be that there is too much ammonia or nitrite in the water. The ammonia comes from the fish wastes (poop) or uneaten food. Normally, if the fish is in a tank, there will eventually be bacteria that convert the ammonia to nitrite, then to nitrate. Both ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish, and it keeps them from being able to get enough oxygen, so they look like they're gasping for air. You can help your fish by doing frequent water changes for him. If he's in a tank, you should only need to change about 25% of the water once or twice a week. If it's in a bowl withough a filter, it should have a complete water change 2-3 times a week. It also helps if you don't overfeed your fish - only give him what he can eat in 2-3 minnutes two times each day. Also, if it is in a bowl, you should know that goldfish can get close to 2 feet long, although in anything less than a pond, 10-18 inches is more common.

Answer 2

White Spot Goldfish

Answer 3

Your Goldfish probably has Ick disease, ask your parents if you can go to the pet store to get medication. Without medicine your fish will eventually die but, it will take a while before it deos. If you have a filter make sure its off when you put the medicine in. Also replace your water in your tank, make sure its dechlorinated. I'm sure the opening and closing of it's mouth is normal, but you want to be sure you can buy some airstones to allow the Fish breathe better, its about under a dollar, not including the pump and tubing.

I hope your Goldfish feels better!

Answer 4

Ich can, and has good success with just plain old table salt. I personally use the salt without the iodine. You though cannot put the salt in from the shaker. It must be diluted. 2 tps per gallon, and slowly raise the temp up. I doubt a goldfish could live in 80 degree water but who knows. Each salt dose should be spanned 3-4 hours apart. With my tank my ich was gone in just over a week. Partial water changes and cleaning the gravel is a must. Adjust the salt accordingly and watch to see if your fish is starting to stress, if so dose further apart.

Answer 5

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RE:
My goldfish has white spots???
My goldfish has white spots.Whats wrong with it?I can't buy any medicine for it cuz I'm only twelve and I have no money.Also my fish keeps opening and closing it's mouth.Is it hungry?What should I do?

Answer 6

If the white spots look like salt, it probably has whats called ick. You can get ick medicine just about anywhere they sell fish and it wont cost alot of money. Ask your parents for help. And if your goldfish keeps opening her mouth like you described. it sounds like it needs air (from bubbles you put in the water with a aquarium air pump -or- its really sick too with ick. Get the medicine soon as you can.
I wish I knew if your fish was in a bowl or aquarium and exactly what the spots look like.

God Luck! Ask your parents for HELP!

Answer 7

Your fish might have "ick" -- which can kill your fish. Ask your parent/guardian to get him some water-treatment stuff at the Petco or Petsmart. It's pretty cheap, actually, and can save your fish. Your mom or dad can just tell the pet store person about the white spots, and they will know which product to give you.

Answer 8

Your fish has ich. Ich will appear during times of stress. If your tank is new, then you didn't properly cycle it. If you do not treat the ich, your fish will die a horrible death. You can either treat it with medication, or salt and heat. You said you don't have any money, so the salt method would be the cheapest. You need rock salt though, and not table salt. You can buy rock salt for about $2-3, which is alot cheaper than medication. Bump the heater up to around 83, and add one tablespoon of rock salt per gallon. If you can't afford rock salt, then you don't need to be keeping pets.

Answer 9

I'm sorry to say this but your goldfish probably has "Ick" And the only way I know how to treat this is to get a "Ick" treatment and put it in the tank and it should work. Good luck.

Answer 10

Call petco and they can tell you. I think it's because the water ph is off and they can get a disease called Ick. You only need to feed it a teeny piece of cereal or something like every other day.