Is my goldfish sick...? Please take a look.
 

One of my goldfish (Chevy) has developed these white nodules only on the edge of his fins..and I'm wondering if he's sick..? He has been acting and eating normally..no other weird spots or redness etc. I've been trying to research it.. I dont believe they're a breeded thing because theyre not located on his pectoral fins, and they dont look like the pictures of ick i've seen either - theyre not as white and pronounced. In another forum someone suggested Carp pox, in which case I've read that there's nothing I could do really.

Could you please take a look and let me know your opinion?

I have a 20g tank with an aquaclear 70 filter, and an air pump hooked up to a house that blows bubbles to help with oxygen exchange. I have three goldfish in the tank - an oranda, fantail (which is the one in question) and a black moor. And the ammonia level is at zero.

I am new to owning a bigger tank so any helpful criticism would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

No it's not ich.

It could be fungus. It could be the beginning of columnaris also. It could possibly be ammonia burn (though that is usually on the edges of fins). Either way, these illnesses are generally caused by water quality issues.

Your first step should be to test your water parameters. The best thing to use is a liquid API testing kit.

You already stated the ammonia is 0 (if this was not tested with the liquid kit you will have to get one because the strips and in tank devices don't read accurately). Test your nitrites (these should also read 0). Test your nitrates (these should read below 40).

If any of those readings are higher than optimum you will need to do water changes to correct them.

A 20g aquarium really is too small for 3 goldfish. Your nitrates could be high and that could be causing health issues.

I'm hesitant to recommend a treatment without knowing exactly what the illness is. There's no point in dosing blindly without knowing if it will help since meds can cause stress and some of the antibiotics can actually kill of your biological bacteria.

You already stated the ammonia is 0 (if this was not tested with the liquid kit you will have to get one because the strips and in tank devices don't read accurately). Test your nitrites (these should also read 0). Test your nitrates (these should read below 40). [COLOR="Red"]The ammonia was tested with the API liquid test, so that's good. However, I had not tested the nitrates and nitrites. The pet store only had a liquid test for the nitrates so I picked that up and it was ~10 - not 40? Is this bad that it's that low... or does it just mean that my tank hasn't been set up for too long? I still need to grab a nitrite test.. so I'm not sure where that sits as of right now.[/COLOR]

If any of those readings are higher than optimum you will need to do water changes to correct them.

A 20g aquarium really is too small for 3 goldfish. Your nitrates could be high and that could be causing health issues.[COLOR="red"]I don't think so, based on this test...[/COLOR]

I'm hesitant to recommend a treatment without knowing exactly what the illness is. There's no point in dosing blindly without knowing if it will help since meds can cause stress and some of the antibiotics can actually kill of your biological bacteria. [COLOR="red"]I hadnt had a reply to this post and it was getting worse. MY oranda also started to get a couple spots so my pet store suggested API fungus cure, so I tried that. The treatment has finished now, and he is looking a lot better. The orandas spots are completely gone, and the fantail, is almost back to normal. The spots are gone, but the fin is still a little abnormal shaped... I did a 20% water change today and put in a new activated carbon so I have my fingers crossed...

any more input?[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=jelisalyn89;893493]You already stated the ammonia is 0 (if this was not tested with the liquid kit you will have to get one because the strips and in tank devices don't read accurately). Test your nitrites (these should also read 0). Test your nitrates (these should read below 40). [COLOR="Red"]The ammonia was tested with the API liquid test, so that's good. However, I had not tested the nitrates and nitrites. The pet store only had a liquid test for the nitrates so I picked that up and it was ~10 - not 40? Is this bad that it's that low... or does it just mean that my tank hasn't been set up for too long? I still need to grab a nitrite test.. so I'm not sure where that sits as of right now.[/COLOR]

If any of those readings are higher than optimum you will need to do water changes to correct them.

A 20g aquarium really is too small for 3 goldfish. Your nitrates could be high and that could be causing health issues.[COLOR="red"]I don't think so, based on this test...[/COLOR]

I'm hesitant to recommend a treatment without knowing exactly what the illness is. There's no point in dosing blindly without knowing if it will help since meds can cause stress and some of the antibiotics can actually kill of your biological bacteria. [COLOR="red"]I hadnt had a reply to this post and it was getting worse. MY oranda also started to get a couple spots so my pet store suggested API fungus cure, so I tried that. The treatment has finished now, and he is looking a lot better. The orandas spots are completely gone, and the fantail, is almost back to normal. The spots are gone, but the fin is still a little abnormal shaped... I did a 20% water change today and put in a new activated carbon so I have my fingers crossed...

any more input?[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Sounds like you did just fine. Fungus cure is a pretty benign treatment, it shouldn't destroy your bacteria and it's pretty easy on the fish.

How long has the tank been set up? Nitrates of 10 is pretty low (though fresh carbon will pull some out). Your cycle may not be complete and you may still be having nitrites which is why your nitrates aren't up very high yet. The fish shouldn't be getting sick with such low nitrates unless something else is present (though goldfish do sometimes tend to be disease prone and will rub against each other and pass stuff to each other).

Can your fish store test the nitrites? Most of them have a full test kit. Try not to do any huge water changes (20% is fine) until you find out what your nitrites are, because big water changes can make the cycle go longer. You may also need to add more filtration, because sometimes when you don't have enough biomedia you will have enough bacteria to convert the ammonia but not fully convert nitrite.

I will get the nitrites tested as soon as I can.

For filtration: I have an aqua clear 70 filter...and only a 20 gallon tank. Shouldn't that be more than enough? It also has a new biomax pack in it..maybe it hasn't been there long enough though. And I replaced the carbon not too long after I replaced the biomax (because of the medication) so maybe thats not helping with the low reading..

This tank is only two weeks old.

I can't remember how much biomedia an aquaclear 70 holds in the back. That's sufficient filtration overall though.

At 2 weeks along your tank is definitely not fully cycled. I can guarantee you there are still nitrites. I'm actually surprised your ammonia is all gone already and you have nitrates. I kind of wonder if that bio stuff you used didn't actually work some (did you add any old biomedia when setting up the tank, like gravel, decorations, filter media?).
Cycling usually takes about a month to a month and a half. So your cycle is going pretty well considering your tank hasn't been set up that long.

At 2 weeks along your tank is definitely not fully cycled. I can guarantee you there are still nitrites. I'm actually surprised your ammonia is all gone already and you have nitrates. I kind of wonder if that bio stuff you used didn't actually work some (did you add any old biomedia when setting up the tank, like gravel, decorations, filter media?).[COLOR="Red"]hmm... the stones were new, I bought the filter used though so the carbon and sponge were used but I bought a new biomax pack (and eventually a new carbon after the medication), the decorations are from a previous tank as well. I have also been using the nutrafin "cycle" since the beginning.[/COLOR]
Cycling usually takes about a month to a month and a half. So your cycle is going pretty well considering your tank hasn't been set up that long.[COLOR="red"]Well that's good to hear. I never knew fish were so high maintenance, but I'm slowly learning... doing what I can. Any information is greatly appreciated :) thanks a lot[/COLOR]