Do Goldfish Molt? Solved

[Heath]

I think my plecostomus is to blame for my missing scale problem...He came out of hiding today and he has gotten real big and agressive. I found him sucking to the side of the black Oranda. He has since been moved and fed an algae wafer. I may replace him later on when the algae builds back up in the main tank.
Any more suggestions would be handy.

Thanks


I have two Orandas and one Moore and in the past week they have started dropping scales. The fish are acting normal and eating fine. I have also noticed once the scales drop off they are (within a few days) replaced. Just to be on the safe side I've been putting Melafix in the tank for the past week...today is the last treatment...and the fish are still having the same problem. What could be wrong?

[Menagerie]

[center:8cd659c191]Welcome to Aquarium Advice, Heath!! [/center:8cd659c191]

I am not a goldie person, but I will start off with the basic questions. How large is the tank? How long has it been set up? How long have you had each fish? How large is each fish? What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH)? How often do you gravel vac and water change? When was the last time you changed the water?

Once these Qs are answered, people with more goldie knowledge will be better able to help

[Christmasfish]

Um no, not like you are describing, it should be an unoticeable process to replace an old worn scale. I have seen this in koi when they have a fungal problem.
Look for "sooty" areas on the fish. Specially where the "molt " is goin down and face. Like the kind that gets your books in the basement..the flat dark molds.
I never saw it in our fancies..but they were in stricter controlled conditions.

[Heath]

Water has recently been changed...total change about a 2 weeks ago...and been doing a 25% change every other day when I vaccuum. The tank is 20 gallons and the fish sizes are as follows:
Both Orandas 3"
Moore 2"
The scales are coming off on the body and near the tail not near the gills or head.
Have had the fish from 3 years (moore and 1 oranda) to 6 months (other oranda)

[stoneydee]

You don't say what your regular water change frequency is, but with three fancies in a 20 gallon, I would suspect your ammonia got high, and they were flashing against the substrate and knocked scales loose, especially since it's the scales on the body that are coming off.

I got four fancies in a 40 gallon, and do a 30% water change every week. I also add a bunch of hornwort every couple of weeks to help with ammonia and nitrate (nitrate is usually the concern for me). Plus they like to snack on the hornwort and need the plant material in their diet.

How do you have the tank filtered? It is so true you cannot overfilter a goldfish tank. . .

[Heath]

I usually do a 25% change weekly...I did, however, change the gravel just before I noticed the scale proplem...I had to do this because my smartest fish kept getting the larger stones stuck in her mouth...Could it be stress because of the change?

[stoneydee]

That definitely could have messed with your water parameters if the tank was already cycled - been there, done that, got the t-shirt as well as the headache.

Alot depends on how you change the substrate - I had taken up and replaced half of mine and waited almost two weeks before doing the other half - used the tied off pantihose full of old substrate for over a month to try and keep from having a major ammonia spike.

You're pretty much guaranteed an ammonia spike if you just take it all up at once and put in new.

[Heath]

I just posted some pics. in my gallery of what is going on...hopefully these may answer some questions.

[Menagerie]

The thread title now reads, "solved"! Was it the water? Please update.

[Christmasfish]

It was the scale suckin pleco..he was taking scales while sucking slimecoat....


I would have suspected a tank mate but he mentioned none in the original post. Gold keepers rarely keep other species with fancies because of the bad results. plecos are notorious for taking gold slimecoats. Only rubber lips and britslenose have been okayed by most keepers. and some even are leery of rubbers.

Since he wasn't cutting flesh the golds were not stressing much..yet.
But missing scales open the way to a host of ikky thing s looking for such opportunity...

edit: heh double pasted!