Help save my 2 yr old common goldfish plz!!!

Hi my nam es Amy and I won a common goldfish we named buddy at a fair 2years ago. I started out knowing nothing about goldfish except I had a bunch when little and now learned that I most likely killed them from lack of knowledge. Im in process of getting a suitable tank for buddy. At the moment he is in a 20 High with freguent water changes and I have the API water testing kit. He has larfge filter and air stone. Okay so to make a long story short I was out of town for a family emergency. I had a house sitter but when I came home tank was gross. Filter was clogged and they were giving buddy a flakenfood he didnt like so it was just built up on bottomof tank. So from this he has gotten swim bladder disease. I had to save his life 2 times now. Last night he went back into his tank. He seems to be okay with that but his poop is white still and had some bubbles this am. I fed him peas for 2 days when i got home. Then when i saved him he was floating to top. I ended up diagnosing him with SBD after he would float on side and swim backwards. So now this am I notice his back fin is fraying. So my obvious guess is fin rot. So going to treat that. But buddy also has a white spot onhis face. Ive enclosed pics. Theres one if u zoom in on his reflection u can see something hanging from noseymouth area. So my questions are
1. Whats this white spot and how do.I treat it?
2. Whats the best treatment for finn rot?
3. Does anyone else notice anything Im missing?
4. Any suggestions for all of above so buddy can continue to live a happy life? I really appreciate any help. I have spent 4 days nome stop teyimgto cure buddy and give him a shot at a healthy life. My 2 yr old daughter is in love with him. She sits with him for hours and has to kiss tank numerous times a day.
Thank you in advance!!

Just to add I also use Prime to treat water. I am just noticing fin rot today. The white spot is just noticed today too. I am gking to store to buy aquarium salt now so want ro know what else to get?? Thank you again

If someone could please help me diagnose and save my buddy we would be greatly appreciative. Heres 2 other pics. Is this whole normal? Its behind his eye in pic. And what i have circled is small holes the whole length of him on both sides. Hes eaten nothing but peas and his poop is white. Im atstore now getting salt and stuff so any help would be great since i live an hr away from any store to get stuff for him

what are the water specs

SeanTrollope said:

what are the water specs

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I just did a 50% water change. Everything was 0 except Ph was high. 8.2. Its at 7.4 7.6 now. My tank isnt cycled bc when I came home it was so bad and food molding that I didnt think it was possible to save so I did 100% water change. I was told when he got sick days ago to stay do 40 and 50 % watwrchanges til I can get him in. 75 gallon tank. Hes in a 20 alone right now with frequent water changes. They were only20 and 30 before told to do 50 a cpl times a day

Those holes along his side are perfectly normal; it's part of the fish's sense system, called a lateral line. All fish have it, but it's more noticeable on some species of fish than others.

It's filters that cycle, not tanks or water; you can do a 100% water change without affecting the tank's cycle. As long as you don't clean the filter media with tap water, let it dry out and you always dechlorinate water before it goes into the tank, big water changes won't affect the cycle.

As it seems most of your fish's problems have come from the unclean tank, I would just keep up with the water changes and see if he improves. Good clean water is often the best medicine.

If you have to leave him again, measure out his food into daily portions and hide the rest; non fishkeepers invariably overfeed.

I should say that, as a common goldfish, Buddy should really live in a pond. Even a 75 gallon isn't big enough for a fish that can grow to over a foot long.

fluttermoth said:

Those holes along his side are perfectly normal; it's part of the fish's sense system, called a lateral line. All fish have it, but it's more noticeable on some species of fish than others.

It's filters that cycle, not tanks or water; you can do a 100% water change without affecting the tank's cycle. As long as you don't clean the filter media with tap water, let it dry out and you always dechlorinate water before it goes into the tank, big water changes won't affect the cycle.

As it seems most of your fish's problems have come from the unclean tank, I would just keep up with the water changes and see if he improves. Good clean water is often the best medicine.

If you have to leave him again, measure out his food into daily portions and hide the rest; non fishkeepers invariably overfeed.

I should say that, as a common goldfish, Buddy should really live in a pond. Even a 75 gallon isn't big enough for a fish that can grow to over a foot long.

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Thank you for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. I bought Pimafix and Melafix so I can treat buddy. I also got aquarium salt to add to the tank. So hopefully he will heal ok. Thank you about the dots. Ive never noticed them before but his color was always bright and u couldnt see them. I will not go away again well thats my plan but thats a great idea if I do. Sorry about confusion I do know that its the filter that cycles i just didnt word it right. The filter was brown with the molded food on it so i didnt kno It could just be rinsed and pit back in so I threw it away and pit in a new one. I have a Question on that please. It says on the box and everything to change filter 1 a month? So is that true. Would the filter start a re-cycle. Or is it okay to just replace thw carbon filter inside and dont touch anything else? I just want to make sure I do this right for now on. I am also looking for a pond foe buddy so he can live happily ever ever and grow as big as he can. Not that Im happy about having to give him away but I dont own my house at moment so I cant make a pond and I own a house in florida and can build a pond bit wouldnt see how.i could move buddy there without him dying. I hate that fairs give out these gold fish to kids and thwn after 2 years you and ur child are wicked attatched and then u find out you can kill him if he doesnt have enough water and enough room to grow. My 2 yr old kisses him bye 10 times before weleave. She kisses him as soon as we get home. Well the tank not him. So it will besad but ehen i find a pond localky he will join it but will get a bigger tank until then. Havebt had much luck in VT finding a pond he can join. I found a trout pond but assume trout would eat buddy. Thank you again for your reply. I will never allow someone without knowledge to watch buddy or any other fish if I had to leave. 2 years and hes never been sick and now its everything at once.

@fluttermoth:
One more question when it comes to the filter cycle. So with the pimafix and melafix it says take carbon filter out bc it will take double or triple the amount of stuff if you dont. So my question is Is that true for 1. Would it be better to move buddy into my 20 gallon bucket that i used when he had swim blatter and treat him there with no filter so his filter can stay cycling? What would you.do if you wanted totreat oneof.your fishes? I really want the cycle to bedone so my tank can be back to normal. I feel so bad buddy went threw all this while I was gone. I never would have though house sitting could go so wrong. I told them he had enough food plus some til i gotback so to buy some flake food in general was crazy but then to buy a complete different brand I just dont get it. It was molding on bottom of tank so clearly he wasnt eating it. It was very noticeable too. I guess some ppl just dont care. Well at least not as much as others. Thank you again for your time and help.

Buddy's mom said:

@fluttermoth:
One more question when it comes to the filter cycle. So with the pimafix and melafix it says take carbon filter out bc it will take double or triple the amount of stuff if you dont. So my question is Is that true for 1. Would it be better to move buddy into my 20 gallon bucket that i used when he had swim blatter and treat him there with no filter so his filter can stay cycling? What would you.do if you wanted totreat oneof.your fishes? I really want the cycle to bedone so my tank can be back to normal. I feel so bad buddy went threw all this while I was gone. I never would have though house sitting could go so wrong. I told them he had enough food plus some til i gotback so to buy some flake food in general was crazy but then to buy a complete different brand I just dont get it. It was molding on bottom of tank so clearly he wasnt eating it. It was very noticeable too. I guess some ppl just dont care. Well at least not as much as others. Thank you again for your time and help.

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If you are concerned about killing your bacteria you can always take the filter pad out of your fliter and place it in a clean bucket of dechlorinated water. I'd also place an air stone in there but thats just me. You can keep buddy in your main tank when you treat him and keep the filter on for water aeration. Seperating your filter media from the filter should allow you to treat without killing your bacteria. I also advise that you do not treat with both pimafix and melafix at the same time. I actually would never use these medicines from stories I've heard about them from other fish keepers.

Also, I don't advise using salt unless you know what it can do and how to treat with it. Do not combine this treatment with a medicine either. I really can't give you much more advice because I've never kept cold water fish. Hopefully Byron or another gold fish savvy member will swoop in with a more informed input. Best of luck.

2

FroFro said:

If you are concerned about killing your bacteria you can always take the filter pad out of your fliter and place it in a clean bucket of dechlorinated water. I'd also place an air stone in there but thats just me. You can keep buddy in your main tank when you treat him and keep the filter on for water aeration. Seperating your filter media from the filter should allow you to treat without killing your bacteria. I also advise that you do not treat with both pimafix and melafix at the same time. I actually would never use these medicines from stories I've heard about them from other fish keepers.

Also, I don't advise using salt unless you know what it can do and how to treat with it. Do not combine this treatment with a medicine either. I really can't give you much more advice because I've never kept cold water fish. Hopefully Byron or another gold fish savvy member will swoop in with a more informed input. Best of luck.

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Hi. Thank you for that information. I had bought the salt and pimafix and melafix and the salt just mainly bc everyone with goldfish or other cold water fish said that any cold fish owner should have on hand at home. I havent done any treatments yet except the water changes. I really just want him happy and healthy and would love to not use any medicine if It was possible. Hes 2 and never been treated with anything nor has he ever had anything. Yes that would be great if byron or another goldfish/cold water fish savvy will see this and add what they think is best. For mow i will just continue water changes and keeping him in clean clean water. Thank you again for your time.

Hi again

Let me try and answer some of your questions.

First of all; keep up the water changes. As you don't have a cycled filter, and Buddy is not in the best of health right now, daily water changes are going to be a must. He needs to stay in the tank, with the filter; it would be much worse for Buddy to try and treat him in a smaller tank or bucket. Take out any carbon that's in the filter and chuck it out; you don't need to run carbon anyway. Any room in the filter would be better filled with more sponge, or ceramic rings.

Really you should get some test kits (liquid or tablet based ones, not the paper strip kind) so you can make sure any toxins in the water (ammonia and nitrite) are kept as low as possible; poor water quality is the cause of nearly all fish 'diseases'.

As for your filter; yes, manufacturers always say you need to change the media ('media' is anything that's inside the filter), but I'm afraid that's just a cynical move on their part to get more money out of you. All you need to do is rinse the media in some old tank water so it doesn't get clogged up.

Melafix and Pimafix can be useful; for instance if your fish scrapes himself on a rock and you want to make sure the wound doesn't get fungus growing on it, but apart from that they're not much use. I wouldn't medicate with anything yet; if Buddy takes a turn for the worse, then we'll have to discuss treatments, but concentrate on getting test kits and keeping up the water changes for the moment.