My Shub Has White Spot. Help!

[Scotch_Egg]

Ok, in posting this im going to seem like a bad fish keeper but please bear in mind that this is only a tempary tank till my big one is up and running fine.

I have a small Gussie Goldfish Starter Kit tank. Ive looked all over the internet and on the box and it fails to say how many liters and gallon the tank is so the best I can do is give you the hight (20cm) and diameter (26cm). The kit included the tank, a fake plant that I have replaced with a live one, gravel and de-cloinater (sorry for spelling). It said on the de-clorinator that I was to add 4-5 drops then wait 2 hours before adding fish. Which I did. One small Shub. A day later I went to pets at home in Nottingham and they told me to buy a filter for the tank. They recommended a upto 20gal filter. Which I purchaced and set up. That was on Sunday sorry. Tonight I left the house at half 5 to go to work and the Shub was fine. Came back at 1 and ot his fins have white spot. Wether its my lack of skill as a fish keeper but im blaming the filter. I think the tank is 2 small for a filter and all I needed to do was regular water changes as advised when I brought the tank. The power comming from the filter is too strong and causing a contsant current within the tank which maybe adding stress to my Shub.

Any help for the cause of the whitespot and any help with the liters and gallons of my tank will greatly be appreciated.

As I said, I know having a shub in a tank that size is bad and its just for afew weeks until my dads tank s up and runnig properly.

Sorry I couldnt be more help with Ammonia and Nitrate levels.

 

[Honeythorn]

You are right, those tanks are fit ( in size ) for...a betta and nothing else whatsoever. they're about..4 gallons ish. Certainly NOT for a goldfish. You really should have set up a large tank before rushing out to get a fish. How big is your fathers tank? Because Shubunkins are one of the bigger types of goldfish and really more suited to ponds. You'll need a tank about 30 gallons absolute bare minimum a bigger tank than that would be far more preferable, 55 gallons is better. Basically a tank about four feet long or bigger, with a good filter ( a Fluval 4 internal, or perhaps an Eheim external ) because goldfish are very messy. Because the tank is so small, waste will build up very quickly even with a filter in there, and the size of the tank is so horrendously small that it will stunt his growth and crush his internal organs. They are absolute deathtraps for goldfish.

The cause of your whitespot is likely to be a combination of stress, him possibly having the disease when you bought him ( but in the early stages when it won't yet show ) and waste buildup because your filter is new and not yet cycled. The ammonia building up damages fish quite a lot and weakens their system. Whitespot is a common disease that flares up in bad water and uncycled tanks.

Best thing to do is get a big plastic storage bin. the biggest you can get your hands on, like this one Clicky That one there holds 17 gallons, which will do for a temporary home until you get a bigger tank .

Set it up the same way you would a fishtank. Fill it with dechlorinated water ( none of your old tankwater, it isn't worth it seeing as he's only been in there a couple of days) , put your filter in ( cut a hole at the edge of the lid to allow the wire to fit when the lid is on ) and drill a few holes in the top of the lid to allow oxygen in. Get some more fake plants for him to hide in, and forget about the gravel for now. The tub will be easier to clean without it. Put the fish in and leave him be for a little while.

Treat him with a whitespot medication ( most fish stores sell them ) and do water changes every 3-4 days with dechlorinated water ( half the water needs to be changed ) Also make sure the filter doesn't have any carbon in it ( black sponges or little bags of what appears to be charcoal ) as that will take the medication out before it has a chance to work. Just have the plain normal sponges. DON'T wash the sponges under the tap either. You need bacteria to grow on them in order for your filter to have a good biological cycle.