Loaches Online Forum

but more and more white areas are appearing and they seem to be spreading...
the big ones around her head were the first ones and started when she lost a few scales which haven't grown back yet. they're not fuzzy or raised either although the head ones almost seem depressed in slightly
i did think it was something spreading from injuries but new spots have appeared no where near injuries...
would the colour change for no apparent reason even after 3 years?

No, the color should not change after 3 years, if the conditions have stayed the same.

I do not know what it is, then.

The spots look more like a minor injury rather than a disease, but could be a disease.

Without knowing what it is I would not know what to suggest.
Since Melafix or Pimafix have not helped (the spots are still there and new ones are shoing up) then discontinue these and try something else.
Since many fish diseases are caused by bacteria that are often Gram negative, I would start with a medicine that is active against that sort of bacteria.

oh i noticed today that the missing scales on the biggest patch are just starting to come back...you can just see their outline.

what meds would you suggest since i don't know much about them as i've never really needed them

Maracyn (Erythromycin) treats Gram positive bacteria, and has some activity against other bacteria. It is often combined with Minocycline.
Maracyn II (Minocycline) treats Gram negative bacteria. It is often combined with Erythromycin.

Kanamycin, Tetracycline and a combined Sulfa product, Triple Sulfa are the other antibiotics most often used for fish.

Here is a site with a lot of info about fish disease.
http://www.nationalfishpharm.com/

ok, an update aftr ages!
the goldfish is stable and happy.
i asked around and was advised to treat the fish with aquarium salt so i was wondering...how much salt do i use, i don't want to overdose the poor thing!!

Goldfish are quite tolerant of salt, so can be treated with a pretty high dose.
Dose it like this:
Big water change that emphasizes gravel vac, c lean the filter...
Add 1 teaspoon per gallon to the tank by dissolving it in water and pouring in a little bit at a time over several hours.
12 hours later add more salt (1 teaspoon per gallon).
12 hours later add another 1 tsp per gallon.

total dose is 1 tablespoon per gallon. When you do water changes add that much to the new water.

When the fish is OK, and it is time to remove the salt do not remove it all at once. Do several water changes (perhaps 3-4 over a 2-3 week period) with 2 teaspoons per gallon, then several more (again, 1-2 water changes per week for several weeks) with 1 teaspoon per gallon. Then regular water changes without salt will finish removing the salt.

http://www.koivet.com/a_salt_ciliates.html

ok, i've started a salt treatment. hopefully this will work!

ok, an update after HOW long?

I thought you'd like to see Fish as she is now. None of the treatments I tried brought her colour back and now she looks like this:




she's happy and healthy and I've decided that her colour change is probably from the genetic condition that was selected over generations to create the white goldfish you can buy in pet shops

Beautiful fish! I like the long, graceful tail!

They are beautiful goldfish. Comets are in my opinion, the loveliest goldfish around.
I did a google search "goldfish turning white" and it seems it isn't so unheard of for orange goldfish to slowly turn white. Never come across it myself however.

emi-chan wrote:oh i noticed today that the missing scales on the biggest patch are just starting to come back...you can just see their outline.

what meds would you suggest since i don't know much about them as i've never really needed them

Salt treatment is the best way of medicine method for those kinds of injuries. If you do not separate that fish in to another tank and give a salt treatment as well with the oxygen, other fishes of your tank might get so many bacteria injuries as you never expected.