My goldfish and angel fish have white spots, stay on the top of the tank to get air, are not eating normally, and have less energy. What could be wrong?

i had a fish once it had white spots and we got it some drops to put in the water.ask your vet though.that would be the best option.

WHITE SPOT IN GOLDFISH FRESH WATER TANKS

CURES, PREVENTION AND CAUSES

CURE

• Boil and remove all plants and ornaments
all ornaments, plastic plants, nets, with boiling water and keep removed to kill hidden parasites

• Vacuum the gravel daily
clean gravel at least 25% to collect the white sacs of parasites unhatched on the tank floor

• Aquarium salt ( or sea salt – not iodised table salt)
(safer) 10 tablespoons : 200 L of fresh water tank ( dissolve in jug of tank water, add over 2 days )

• Raise temp of Goldfish Tank
by 1 deg per day to 20 – 28 deg C max. ( speeds up parasite cycle so can kill swimming newbies )

• Change water daily or weekly at least during treatment
at least 25% every 24 hrs x 3 days OR weekly at least during and after treatment ( remember to replace 25% of salt or medication, AND dechlorinater to the same amount as taken out to keep concentration the same)

• Seven day minimum to treat –
As parasite breeding cycle can be 2 – 6 weeks (if not raised temp to speed parasite cycle)

• Continue treatment 6 days after it seems cured
to be sure no further hatching parasites emerge from white sacs on the tank floor

• Remove carbon from filters if using blue or green chemicals as carbon stops medical chemicals working by filtering it out and lowers oxygen production – keep bubbles up etc as blue drop does not help the overall tank environment – though good at killing the hatching parasites from the white sacs on the tank floor

GOOD PRODUCTS:
NB: You can use salt at the same time as a chemical product.
Aquarium Salt or Sea Salt (– not iodised table salt or marine salt)

OR
Copper Sulphate ( Mardel brand – called Copper Safe)

OR

Methylene Blue


WHITE SPOT IN FRESH WATER TANKS


PREVENTION
• Regular cleaning of tank with partial water changes – including vacuum gravel (25% maybe)

• Quarantine new fish for 4 days in separate tank to check them first in case

• Quarantine new plants if the plants were kept with other fish in store in case hiding parasites

• Never ad the bag water in case it has any issues – simply float 15 – 20 mins – maybe add your tank water as well to bag – then transfer with net

• No sudden temp changes with too much new water etc

• Stability in the bio – environment of tank – let it develop over time and fish hardly ever get sick with not over changing to 100% new water and 100% cleaned tank for example

• High quality food designed to increase immune system and therefore strength against infection


CAUSES
• Stress lowers immune system (bullies, fright, no hiding places, sudden temp changes, too much fresh tap water changes, water too hard or too soft, overcrowding, too much light, ammonia, nitrite, poor filtration, poor aeration, overfeeding )

• Cooler than normal water temperatures
( winter, changes in overall room temperature etc)

• Infected or stressed new fish that can develop it and spread it to tank

• New plants
esp if plants with other fish when bought – may carry unhatched parasites

• Overcrowding
As the extra toxins and wastes can let nasty germs get a foothold

• Overfeeding

If they are both in the same tank that is your main problem right there. Goldie likes temperatures around 68- 70 F max, the angels want temps at 78 80 F. Does it look like your fish have zits? Or have been 'salted?" What they have is "ich", Ichthyophthirius, a parasite that burrows into the skin and other tissues, especially the gills, which is why they are trying to gulp air. It probably got into your tank with a new fish or plant. And goldfish seem to be "carriers."Sudden changes in temp or too low a temp seem to cause an outbreak in a tank that seems healthy, probably by weaking the fish's resistance. There are a lot of products at the pet shop to treat it, "Ich Out" is the one I have had best success with. But here we got a problem with having them in the same tank, because part of the treatment is raising the temp of the water. The parasite is susceptible to the medicine only twice in its life cycle, when it has 'grownup' on the fish and swims off to "lay eggs" and when it 'hatches' and swims to a fish. The life cycle is speeded up by raising the temp, 85 F for the angelfish for a 3 days to a week, but goldie is not gonna like that too much. At a temp of around 75 F it will take 3 weeks. Read the instructions on the bottle for temps, amounts, frequency of treatment, and times. The old 'home remedy' was to add salt, NOT IODIZED TABLE SALT, aquarium salt, sea salt, or non iodized salt and raise the temp .About one tablespoon per gallon of water and a week or twoor three, don't add more salt it is a one time thing. Goldie won't mind the salt but the keep and eye on the angels. Also use a lot of arreation and filtration. Good luck, and think about getting a new home for goldie, they and angels really shouldn't be in the same tank.

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