Ich or Fungus/Bacteria?

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Aurelia

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
3
I have one 4-inch half-fancy/half-comet goldfish in a 10-gallon aquarium.*** Yesterday, I moved him from my parent's house back to my dorm (same filter, gravel, etc.). This morning when I was feeding him, I noticed that his pelvic and tail fins were a little frayed and that there were two white things on one of his pelvic fins. The "things" are uneven in size and seem to stick out a bit. They do not appear to be anywhere else on my fish, who is acting and eating normally. Should I treat this as Ich or a bacteria/fungus? Is there any way to treat "both"?








***I know that this size is too small for him, but it the biggest I can have at my dorm. I was originally told by the petstore employee that a goldfish would be fine in a 2-gallon aquarium, but thankfully I did some research after a week and got him a 10-gallon.
 
The ones on his pelvic fin are gone now, but there is a "tuft" of white fuzz on his anal fin. The spots seemed too big to be compared to salt.

EDIT:
When you say salt grains, do you mean like table salt or coarse aquarium salt? His fins seem darker than usual and there appears to be a dark "spot" under his left eye.

Also, I just ran some water tests. Temperature is at 66 deg F, pH is between 6.8 and 7.0 (very close to the 7.0 end), ammonia is at zero. Nitrites and nitrates seem to be at zero, but I think I need a new test kit for them...

Any suggestions on how I should go about treating this? I have some Coppersafe, Maracyn I and II, and aquarium salt.

EDIT AGAIN at 6:39pm:
He's now laying on the gravel. I've tried researching the symptoms myself, but nothing seems to fit. Any advice? Should I go ahead and try a generic salt treatment or something? I kinda wish I could bump this thread...
 
Is he a new fish? Laying on the gravel is pretty far gone for a goldfish. The fuzz sounds like flexibactor, treat with clean water and maracyn. A bruise-like spot under his left eye and dark fins could be septicemia.
Put him in a container of fresh water with dechlor and see if he perks up at all. This will tell you if the water is a problem or not.
Your temperature and ph are low for goldfish. Has your ph always been this low? A quick drop can kill fish quickly. Goldfish should really be in a ph between 7.6 and 8.6. Your water might just be too soft to house goldfish without human intervention to buffer the ph.
 
I have had him for about a year and a half. Until now, the pH of the tank water has ranged from 7.0 to 7.2 (overtime, it never suddenly shifted between them). I have some pH buffer stuff I can use to to raise it (slowly, of course).

I'm just surprised that he has gotten so sick in less than a day...
 
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