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Black stuff on Goldfish? and Please help build a community

11K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  mHeinitz57 
#1 ·
The questions are:
What is the brown stuff growing on the goldfish? How do I get rid of it?
Lost Stripe and 2 goldfish to ick. I read some where that you need to treat ick for 14 days so we did. Oops. Now the three feeder goldfish left have dark brown gunk growing on them. I’m doing a 25% vacuumed water change and adding about 15 tsp of rock salt (dissolved) and DH has added Stress Coat.

Obviously I have a pic of the problem but I've just spent an hour trying to "upload picture" and it looks like crap, so...


With the three fantailed-type fancy goldfish, what would be recommended for this tank? I was thinking about a few shrimp for sifting the gravel and one algae eater. Siamese/Bristlenose/Bulldog/Pitbull/Rubbernose(lip)
We/he want three fantailed-type fancy goldfish and whatever else would be recommended to help maintain the tank.

How long has your tank been set up? Over a year
How big? 30 gallon
Substrate? Large, smaller than a dime, smooth rocks (not the small typical rough stuff)
Plants? Plastic,
half of a coconut shell for poor Stripe to hide, may he rest in peace.
Heater? No
What type of fish? Feeder Goldfish and Stripe (unknown bottom feeder, not algae eater)
How many? 3, was 5
Type of filter? HOB, no carbon
pH, ammonia, nitrite? Don’t know
How often do you change water? irregularly
How much water? 50% when it’s done

Dear Husband wanted to set up our fish tank, so he is to take care of it. I love having a fish tank. He overfeeds them nightly. I would forget completely so at least they get fed, for that I am thankful to him. He doesn’t seem to get the 5-min rule. So there is tons of decomposing fish flakes on the substrate. In the last 12 months I think he has vacuumed the gravel 3 time and I have done it 6 times when I can’t stand the idea of the fishies swimming in that much waste and ammonia.
 
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#2 ·
Welcome.:wave:

It seems normal to me. Goldfish do change their colors as they mature. Your tank is on its limits. Those are common goldfish and grow far larger than the fancy ones such as celestials. 6-8 inches is not unusual and upgrading the tank is strictly recommended in this case.:)

You need to change the whole tank maintenance routine. Stick to water changes and gravel vacuuming every other day. Goldfish are very messy and powerful filtration is recommended. Feed them only once a day and do it every two days to limit the chances of overfeeding. Overfeeding has several adverse effects to the fish. It deteriorates water quality rather quickly and cause ammonia and nitrites spikes which can affect their lifespan.

API Master liquid test kit is recommended to monitor your water parameters. Ammonia and nitrites should be maintained at zero as both are quite toxic to the fish. Nitrates should not exceed 30 ppm in your case. If ever any of these slips beyond the required levels, do partial water changes immediately.

Good luck.
 
#4 ·
Thank you for your advice. I have read many of your posts and was looking forward to hearing from you.

The feeders were to cycle the tank. In a month or so, after this has settled down, we plan to find new homes for the feeder goldfish using freecycle.com. Elementary schools and home schoolers like getting free fish. If we can't find good homes for them our next door neighbor has a goldfish and koi pond. Then we'll get three fancy golds.

What would be best for gravel sifters and algae eaters in the cold waters that golds like? Can I add the 2 or 3 shrimp and a small algae eater? Which algae eater grows the least? Or what would you recommend?

We had the 5 gold and Stripe (gravel sifter) for over a year. Then they all came bown with ick. Started treatment. 2 passed away then Stripe passed. Of the ones that are left 2 were solid gold and one was white with an orange spot on it's head. At first I thought they were changing colors but this brown stuff really doesn't look right. The orginal pictures look good, but when I downloaded them they became unbelievably grainy.

As for vacuuming the tank, I have put it on our monthly dry-erase calandar to help remind us to do it at least every other week. I'll see what I can find as far as the API Master liquid test kit. We do check the ph a few hours and then a few days after a vacuum.

Lupin said:
Welcome.:wave:

It seems normal to me. Goldfish do change their colors as they mature. Your tank is on its limits. Those are common goldfish and grow far larger than the fancy ones such as celestials. 6-8 inches is not unusual and upgrading the tank is strictly recommended in this case.:)

You need to change the whole tank maintenance routine. Stick to water changes and gravel vacuuming every other day. Goldfish are very messy and powerful filtration is recommended. Feed them only once a day and do it every two days to limit the chances of overfeeding. Overfeeding has several adverse effects to the fish. It deteriorates water quality rather quickly and cause ammonia and nitrites spikes which can affect their lifespan.

API Master liquid test kit is recommended to monitor your water parameters. Ammonia and nitrites should be maintained at zero as both are quite toxic to the fish. Nitrates should not exceed 30 ppm in your case. If ever any of these slips beyond the required levels, do partial water changes immediately.

Good luck.
 
#5 ·
Dukkie said:
What would be best for gravel sifters and algae eaters in the cold waters that golds like? Can I add the 2 or 3 shrimp and a small algae eater? Which algae eater grows the least? Or what would you recommend?
There isn't a great selection of algae eaters that will do well in coldwater conditions unfortunately.
1. Plecs-They are mainly tropical fish and being messy as much as the goldfish, a powerful filtration will be strictly recommended with plenty of water changes.

2. Chinese Algae Eaters-Juveniles are fine but as they mature, reaching 10 inches at most, they develop a taste for slime coat and will suck your goldies' slime coat much to their annoyance. Not a recommended tankmate for goldies.

3. Siamese Algae Eaters-Growing to 5 inches, they may suit well with the goldies as they can tolerate various temperatures but no lower than 21 degrees Celsius being tropical fish. This fish eats mainly black brush algae and green filamentous algae.

4. Otos-Very sensitive to water quality and not recommended for coldwater conditions.

5. Shrimps-There is a chance they'll get eaten by the goldies.

If you can upgrade your tank to 55 gallons, you can try weather loaches.:)
 
#6 ·
Re: Black stuff on Goldfish? and Please help build a communi

Look what I found!!!
So basically the black spots are most likely fish scabs healing after a horrible case of Ick. If this is true I'm so relieved!!

Goldfish Connection said:
You buy a new goldfish, ... ... Then you add it to your main tank to join your other goldfish friends. In a short time your new goldfish is getting black patches on it's body and fins??? OH NO!!! Now what do you do? You just placed the new goldfish in with your other fish and it has black patches all over it, are the black patches contagious? Are all my fish going to be sick??

The answer is no, don't worry, your new goldfish is not sick! The black patches are a sign that your goldfish is healing from the rough handling it went through before it reached you. Your good care has helped the goldfish to heal. The black patches will vanish after the new goldfish is completely healed.
-- http://www.goldfishconnection.com/articles/details.php?articleId=143&parentId=12
 
#8 ·
in your original post you mentioned overfeeding and high ammonia levels. Goldfish can suffer ammonia burn which is often the case for black spots/smudges. THe black is basically scar tissue from those areas healing. However, Lupin is correct that many goldfish change colors as they mature too. I would check your ammonia and nitrite levels though as I suspect they could be high. If it is due to ammonia burn, black spots can go away within a few weeks.
 
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