Red spots on goldfish

[cookiemonster89]

My female goldfish has had recurring red spots all over her body. The first time it happened I moved her into a hospital tank and treated her with Maracyn. The spots had spread quickly and covered most of her body, and I figured she wouldn't make it through the night. To my surprise, within a few days the spots were completely gone, so after the treatment was done I moved her back in with the other goldfish. The next week the spots were back again, though not as widespread. I repeated the treatment and the spots went away, so again I moved her back. All was well until this morning when I noticed that the spots were coming back.

I'm really not sure what do. The tank that the two fish are currently in is 2 gallons. I changed about 20% of their water twice a week and it is treated with Start-rite beforehand. The water is slightly hard, but other than that everything seems to be in check with the water. The male goldfish is very active and shows no signs of sickness. The female seems healthy aside from the spots - still active and eating fine. I'm wondering if she may have an internal injury. I got them from the preschool where my mom works since school's out for the summer. Maybe something happened there? Any insight would be appreciated.

ETA: I forgot to mention that they are fancy goldfish.

 

[WILDER]

Because the 2gal tank is way to small its a prison, a fancy goldfish need at least a 10gal tank for two of them 20gal massive waste producers, so you also need a great filter maybe a filter for a 40gal tank, the red spot keeping coming back from poor water quality are they bloodspots, you will have to rehome them or ring the lfs to see if they will take them back.

 

[cookiemonster89]

Because the 2gal tank is way to small its a prison, a fancy goldfish need at least a 10gal tank for two of them 20gal massive waste producers, so you also need a great filter maybe a filter for a 40gal tank, the red spot keeping coming back from poor water quality are they bloodspots, you will have to rehome them or ring the lfs to see if they will take them back.

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The tank they're in right now is actually bigger than the one they were in at the preschool- which they'd been living in all year. Nobody else wanted them and I couldn't stand to see them in a little bowl with no filter or anything. Even so, I simply can't afford to buy that size aquarium at the moment.
I had been thinking of asking my neighbor who has a large fish pond if she wanted them, but she has koi that are significantly bigger than the goldfish. Would they get eaten?

If someone on here wanted to give them a good home that would be great.

 

[WILDER]

Yes, if they are not big, how big are they, and fancy goldfish can't be kept in ponds in the winter, but it might give you time to save up for a tank.

 

[black angel]

can you describe the spots a bit more? do they look like acne spots or have a red ring or centre, any white to them? do they look like blisters or pus filled?

whichever it is the problem is more than likely bacterial and the only solution is bigger tanks with big filters.
even though you are really trying to keep these fish in a clean environment its not working as the waste they are producing is too much for you to control.
you will need to clean everything out every day and this will probably stress the fish even more.
can you get a large plastic type dustbin or something that will easily hold 10 gallons? i dont think putting them in with koi will work as they may pass any infection on and they wont be able to compete for food.
if not then you should take them to your pet shop and ask them to rehome them and tell the pre school that the fish died and hopefully they wont get any more.

in the meantime, i suggest daily water changes and adding 2 level teaspoons of aquarium salt to help with the healing. remember when changing the water to re add the salt and dont add any due to evaporation.

 

[cookiemonster89]

Thanks for the idea black_angel. I've found a 45 gallon container to use, but I'll have to go to the pet store to get a filter, and some sort of substrate.

About the spots- I put the female goldfish back in the hospital tank and added saltwater. The spots have definitely faded since even yesterday. At their worst they were splotchy looking, with no white. It looks like internal bleeding.

 

[black angel]

if it looks like bruising then its probably septiceamia from the bad water and cramped conditions. good that you have found something to put them in and dont worry about substrate they dont need it. just get a decent filter for them and they should recover with good water. salt is the best for getting fish through anything nasty so get some aquarium salt and add 1 level teaspoon per gallon every 12 hours until you have 2 doses and keep this level for a couple of weeks and it should help them. remember when you do water changes to add back the salt you have taken out and dont add salt if you are just topping up from evaporation.
try not to put them into really cold water as this will probably shock them. use water from a kettle and get it quite tepid, a thermometer may help and getting a temp of around 20c will help them feel better too. you dont need a heater if the tub is somewhere quite warm.
with time the bruising will go as it has done before.
good luck and if you need more advice then please ask.
does this mean you are going to keep them or still give them back?