White discoloration on goldfish

[petlover1]

Dear Friend

We have just gone through the same this or similar, We bought a new tank in my sons room because the 2 goldfish were getting so big, and my husband always goes on about the noise the water made as it trickled/splashed into the water, so without me knowing he filled the tank up to the top to the water line went above the part where it trickles into the tank making little bubbles within 24 hours just found tonight 2 smaller fish died and one of them was stuck to the filter stopping the water flow, but it was the lack of bubbles (Oxygen) I think that caused the three fish to die. All Nitrite Amonia levels were perfect the day before, because the fish died from lack of oxygen and got stuck to filter this stopped flow even more - the goldfish were clearly gasping for air and had the white cobwebs clouding eyes - luckily we had the smaller tank still set up checked levels of nitrite which were highest level in large tank from no water flow - levels in spare tank were perfect - transferred fish immediately after losing 4. They are looking a lot better but the cobweb things were coming out of their mouth, I have a feeling they will die even though they have greatly improved. The nitrite levels were Fushia Pink - Im sure it was because he suddenly increased water level.

Lisa

This past week I lost the goldfish that this post was originally about. The fish got what I can only describe as white, stringy (almost silky?) fungus/bacteria on its eyes/gills/tips of tail. It looked like the fish swam through a cobweb, honestly. Found it dead early last week. I got it out of the tank immediately. Did an 80% water change, looked closely at my other two fish (another goldfish and plecostomus), they seemed to be unaffected. I didn't take a water reading because I figured the results were irrelevant since a dead fish was contaminating my water.

A couple days later ( believe it was Wednesday), the white goldfish developed a swim bladder issue and then overnight had developed the same type of stuff on it. It also at that point had developed tail rot, and I could see the veins in his tail. They were red under the skin. I really at that point thought I had lost another fish. I vacuumed the gravel out again and did roughly a 60% water change. The plecostomus during this time was fine. It was going about his normal glass sucking/cleaning routine. Water readings were all ok, except my ammonia was a little high at ~ .25 ppm.

Thursday my white goldfish was able to swim upright again, and did not have any more signs of the white stuff on it. Again, plecostomus looked normal.

However, on Friday my plecostomus was over in the corner of my tank laying with its side on the gravel, and leaning its back against one of the rocks. It was not sucking on the glass. At first I thought it was dead, but I watched and it was breathing. There are not any visible signs of the same thing that affected the goldfish, but I'm sure there is a possibility that it would show the same signs in a different kind of fish.

Today, my white goldfish is swimming around normally. It's eating and I cannot see the veins in its tail anymore. It also looks like its tail might be healing (it is looking better than it did the other days). The plecostomus is still laying in roughly the same area, still breathing, but I doubt it has eaten much at all over the weekend. I did another water change, this time of 50%. I still had ammonia levels of ~ .25 ppm.

Could the plecostomus have eaten something bad that was kicked up from when I cleaned out the gravel? I'm not sure what could be wrong with him.

 

[petlover1]

Sorry I wanted to add: Didnt make it clear that because the water level went above where the water creates the bubbles it then is submerged and no bubbles are created - hence stopping the tank from being oxygentated. Its the only thing that happened in that 24 hr period.

We have just gone through the same this or similar, We bought a new tank in my sons room because the 2 goldfish were getting so big, and my husband always goes on about the noise the water made as it trickled/splashed into the water, so without me knowing he filled the tank up to the top to the water line went above the part where it trickles into the tank making little bubbles within 24 hours just found tonight 2 smaller fish died and one of them was stuck to the filter stopping the water flow, but it was the lack of bubbles (Oxygen) I think that caused the three fish to die. All Nitrite Amonia levels were perfect the day before, because the fish died from lack of oxygen and got stuck to filter this stopped flow even more - the goldfish were clearly gasping for air and had the white cobwebs clouding eyes - luckily we had the smaller tank still set up checked levels of nitrite which were highest level in large tank from no water flow - levels in spare tank were perfect - transferred fish immediately after losing 4. They are looking a lot better but the cobweb things were coming out of their mouth, I have a feeling they will die even though they have greatly improved. The nitrite levels were Fushia Pink - Im sure it was because he suddenly increased water level.

Lisa

 

[Kashta]

Edit: Just saw this is an old thread.. will respond to the later entry in a few minutes.

 

[Kashta]

Hello petlover.. and welcome to the site! I'm glad to see you've been reading through some threads to learn what you can about this. That's really nice.

We're going to need very specific information about your tank setup to help you with this. Details like what size tank, how many goldfish, how big are they, what other fish are there with them, what kind of filtration you're using, how long have they been in there?... all the water parameters - actual test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, the temperature.. anything else? What are they being fed.. how often?. That sort of thing. What type of test kit are you using?

Yes, they need plenty of oxygenation. The water level can be kept at the top to minimize sound from the filter, but you'll need to add an air pump and bubble wand. That gets them the oxygen they need and should make it quieter to keep your husband happy.

Whenever you notice serious problems like this, please post the situation and your questions in a new thread. There are a lot of well experienced members here who can help you within a short time. You don't have to try to solve everything by yourself just reading older threads.