White "lashes" on scales and fins

[gamma]

I was hoping someone might recognize these white things on my common goldfish - they just came up, seemingly overnight . . .

What type of fish is afflicted? 4" common goldfish (tankmate has no signs)

what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability She has white things that look like eyelashes (1/8th inch long, very thin, pure white) some attached by one end to scales, or completely on scale or fin

What are your tank parameters ammonia = zero, nitrites = zero, nitrates = 40ppm, temp = 69 F, pH =6.8

How large is the tank? 20 gallon

How long has the tank been set up? 7 months

What type of filtration are you using? Topfin 20g HOB

How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are there current sizes? One 5" Shubunkin (no symptoms) and One 4" common goldfish with this problem

When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? Yesterday How often do you do this? Every 7 to 10 days How much water do you remove at a time? 4 or 5 gallons, alternating

How long have you had the fish? 6 months, both healthy up to this point

Have you added anything new to the tank--chlorinator, new substrate, etc.? No, but water has gotten cooler. I have not been using a heater, as someone told me the colder water might stop the Shubunkin (male) from chasing the Common (female) endlessly. It has not worked and there is a divider between the two. kH and pH are low, but alway have been.

The common's behaviour seems normal - fins erect, hungry, hungry, hungry, no flashing or lethargy.

I think I've seen ich before and this doesn't look like that.
I feel like I need to treat this right away but I don't know what it is.

Any help would be GREATLY Appreciated!!! Thank you, Allie

 

[FawnN]

Allie,

Does it look like this? If so, these are anchor worms. And you will need remove them yourself and treat your tank.

IMO, your 20 gallon tank is too small to house goldfish. And it looks like your NitrAtes are pretty high. 7-10 is way too long in between water changes. IMO, you should be changing your water at least twice a week and remove 25%-30% of your water each time with a good gravel vacumming once a week.

 

[gamma]

Thanks Fawn! I'm going to have to look close when I get home, the things I saw did not appear to be forked or fuzzy - more like a pure white whisker or eyelash. It's been recommended that I pull them off and treat the site with melafix...

Yes, I know the tank is small, I started out just rescuing a goldfish from being flushed, then I bought him a friend... now I've been looking for a used 55 g since I can't spend the money for a new set-up...I thought cleaning once a week was exemplary, now you say twice! I'll work on it!