Bubble eyed goldfish urgent help

[audiman]

I have a bubble eyed goldfish that i believe is on its last legs, any help to save it would be great.

It is suffering from a loss of scales, its back is now white as opposed to the normal gold colour. The other fish keep "sucking" his back, i guess they are removing dead scales??

I have added some stress coat as a safe measure, but anyone got an idea as to what might be causing this??

tom

[tromeokid]

how big is your tank? what other fish are in the tank? how often are you doing water changes? i could be wrong becuaes i dont keep Goldfish but i think the rule is 20 gallons for the first and 10 per additional Goldie. they are very dirty fish and need plenty of space and good cleanings.

[audiman]

water changes are being done every 2 weeks, tank is not massive, but is a reasonable size.

how can i treat the fish? thats more the main issue right now

[bscman]

Originally Posted by audiman

water changes are being done every 2 weeks, tank is not massive, but is a reasonable size.

how can i treat the fish? thats more the main issue right now

You say not a huge, nor small tank. How many gallons or what dimensions?

Water changes every 2 weeks? How much water?
Also, water parameters? (Ph, ammonia, nitrates, etc)
Using a filter, airstone, etc?

How many fish are in the tank with him, and what kinds?

I'm somewhat of a Newb with my comet goldfish (they just kinda got thrown my way) but I know my goldies require a vaccuum of the bottom every few days (which would also include ~20% water change each time), and I do a 50% w/c once a week. They are a very messy fish... FWIW, this is with 6 medium sized goldies in a 4ft long tank.

My first suggestion would be quarantine the fish, so that others don't become sick. Also, keep the water conditions PERFECT for him...
Otherwise, is it possible he was attacked by another fish? (plecostomus?) or scraped himself on something sharp? Reasoning here being it's an infection due to an open wound (bacterial). Medicated food would be a start.

Hopefully someone more knowledgable will be along shortly~!

[Willow]

If the other fish are picking on him, you'll need to remove him to another tank, or divide the tank somehow. They won't stop by themselves. A little Melafix and aquarium salt will help the wounds not to become infected. If they do get infected, or grow fungus, you'll need to treat with an antibiotic or antifungal, but don't treat the main tank---you'll mess up the biological balance. You'll need a quarantine tank for that.

If the tank is too small, sometimes the other fish will take it upon themselves to relieve the overcrowding , so unless you have at least 15-20 gallons for the first fancy goldfish, and 10 gallons for each additional fancy goldie, you have to expect a lot of problems. Unfortunately, most pet stores aren't very helpful on the subject.

[FishHead]

I would also recommend moving him into a separate tank. I use Melafix and I do recommend it. It works pretty quickly with healing and regrowing injuries.