Goldfish losing scales?

[mickeymacleod]

My goldfish seem to be losing their scales. Is this normal? They seem quite healthy otherwise. If not, is there anything I can do to help them out?

[stunt 101]

yea that was my problem my friend insisted on me getting goldfish feeders for my crayfish and 2 didnt die or get eaten so now they are just growing and with the rest of my fish.

[SwedishFish]

I read up on this and it seems that when they have a drastic change or slightly big change in the water quailty or ph this sometimes causes the fish to lose there scales, Check your PH and what is your water temp etc then i can help u further

[mickeymacleod]

Hmmm, I haven't been using different water. I don't have a pH tester, so I cannot tell you what it is. It has been a little warmer in the house lately, but I didn't think that it was that much. I noticed that my heated tank has been a little higher lately, however, the goldfish have survived bigger temp changes than that without any problem. I have been letting the water for the changes sit for a few days before I change it (where as I didn't before), but I didn't think that would have an adverse effect on it. I just don't know. They seem quite healthy otherwise; their appetite hasn't diminished in the least (they try to attack you every time you pass the tank) and I am doing extra good gravel vacuuming when I do water changes. My angels are fine and I use the same type of water for them as the goldfish.

[travelinman1969]

Is there a whiteish slim with it? If so it's dropsy. Mine got it about 6 months ago and I just lost one. Other one is okay for now, not the sportiest model. :p

[SwedishFish]

If it doesnt have dropsy i think only time will tell if its deadly to fish or if they will recover from this. Try using cold water to lower the tempature back to what it was before it started heating up. Gives us some updates on the goldfish. What are the exact temps of the aquarium? that would help some if we had that info :)

[mickeymacleod]

:scratch: Nope, no white slim. Tried to find my extra thermometer, however, it seems to have grown legs. Will try to get a temp on it tomorrow. Sorry I'm so disorganized with my info. They are still eating like horses though. The larger one seems to be worst than the smaller.
Hmmm...just had a thought...a couple of weeks ago, the smaller one was chasing the other around quite a bit (thought they were thinking of spawning??) and bumping it. Could this have had some affect on the scales? Just a thought. Anyway I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for the help.

[SwedishFish]

The smaller fish chasing the bigger one around may have caused some stress which may have contributed to the scale losing. Are they still losing them? Has the condition improved any?

[mickeymacleod]

It doesn't look like there are any more missing. For some reason, they seem to look a little better today? Maybe it's just my imagination though.

[SwedishFish]

Well thats good! :D maybe there recovering! I hope so :)

[JaneDoe25]

I am having this same problem. I have 2 Goldies from a carnival that are now about 3-4 inches & 1 pleco. My goldies have been loosing more & more scales in different spots on the side of their body. The loss of scales are not randomly spread over their bpdy, there more like missing in chunks, so they have no coloring to these areas. Some of their scales try to grow back, but remain clear and I find at least 1 or 2 scales in the water every day or so. I am hopeing that this is all due to their tank size and their rough play. They seem in good spirits but I imagine it must hurt them.

:dive2: I am currently trying to locate a 20 gallon long tank for them because they really need it. But everything I've found locally is about $50 for the tank alone, no cover or lights included. I currently don't have anything to support the additional weight either... It sucks because I want to be abe to rule out their living quarters as the cause of their continual scale loss.

2 Goldoes
1 Pleco
10 gallon
Temp 78
.25 Ammonia
0.99 Nitrite
20-30.00 Nitrate (this has only recently gotton so high)
? PH (lost my color key)

[wataugachicken]

you should be doing water changes daily to keep your ammonia and nitrite levels below .25. the levels you have are stressing the fish, and i'm surprised you haven't lost them to the high amount of nitrite. nitrates should stay under 20. read the thread on cycling to get more info.

additionally - if you have a common pleco, it will grow to about 2 feet long. if you won't be able to get a larger tank, i suggest you return it for a dwarf species, or just get some oto cats to keep the tank clear of algae. goldfish and plecos aren't really compatible.

[JaneDoe25]

:duh: Ooops...

My mistake. My Nitrite levels are 0.00 (zero), not 0.99. I was typing in the dark. Looks like my ammonia is actually zero too. I tested my water in the dark too, used my monitor to match my results to the color chart... Thats the problem sharing a room with a sister... The only thing thats off is the Nitrate. I'm changing 25% (or so) of water every day or so and I've started using AmQuel+ last week.

[pophead]

one goldfish that I had was orange and I thought it was loosing it's scales but it must have been just changing colour because on close inspection it's scales were all there. hope it's just that. :)