FAQs on Goldfish Medications: Organophosphates (acetylcholinesterase inhibitors)... against Arthropods FAQs on Goldfish Medicines: Antibiotics (e.g. Maracyn, Tetracycline), Anthelminthics (de-wormers), Salts, eSHa, Copper Compounds, Formalin, Malachite Green, Mela & Pima(not)Fix, Metronidazole (Flagyl), Sulfa Drugs, All Others... Related Articles: Goldfish Systems, Goldfish Disease, Goldfish,  Goldfish Varieties,  Koi/Pond Fish Disease, Livestock Treatment System,  Bloaty, Floaty Goldfish, Gas Bubble Disease/Emphysematosis, Pond Parasite Control with DTHP, Hole in the Side Disease/Furunculosis, Related Goldfish Disease FAQs:  Fish Lice (Argulus), Environmental 1, Environmental 2, Environmental 3,  Environmental 4, & Goldfish Disease 2, Goldfish Disease 3, Goldfish Disease 4, Goldfish Disease 5, Goldfish Disease 6, Goldfish Disease 7, Goldfish Disease 8, Goldfish Disease 9, Goldfish Disease 10, Goldfish Disease 11, Goldfish Disease 12, Goldfish Disease 13, Goldfish Disease 14, Goldfish Disease 15, Goldfish Disease 16, Goldfish Disease 17, Goldfish Disease 18, Goldfish Disease 19, Goldfish Disease 20, Goldfish Disease 21, Goldfish Disease 22, Goldfish Health 23, Goldfish Disease 24, Goldfish Health 25, Goldfish Disease 26, Goldfish Disease 27, Goldfish Disease 28, Goldfish Disease 29, Goldfish Disease 30, Goldfish Disease 31, Goldfish Disease 33, Goldfish Disease 34, Goldfish Disease 35, Goldfish Health 36, Goldfish Health 37, Goldfish Health 38, Goldfish Disease 39 Goldfish Disease 40, Goldfish Disease 41, Goldfish Disease 42, Goldfish Disease 43, Goldfish Disease 44, Goldfish Disease 45, Goldfish Disease 46, Goldfish Disease 47, Goldfish Disease 48, Goldfish Disease 49, Goldfish Disease 50, Goldfish Disease 51, & Koi/Pondfish Disease ,

Dipterex, Neguvon, Masoten, Dylox, DTHP, Dimilin Commercial Products: Lifebearer, Fluke-Away, Clout Goldfish Disease by "Types", Causes: Environmental 1, Environmental 2, Environmental 3, Environmental 4,  Environmental 5,  Environmental ,  (Absolutely the Biggest Category) Floaty Bloaty Goldfish Nutritional (Second Largest) Genetic/Developmental Eye Troubles Lumps/Bumps/Growths (including idiopathic tumors) Behavioral/Social Viral and Bacterial, Fungal Infectious Parasitic: (Ich, Protozoans, Flukes, Worms, Crustacean/ Anchorworms/Lernaeids, ) Fish Lice (Argulus), Goldfish Swim Bladder Problems Anomalous (Misc., Injuries, etc.)

New Print and eBook on Amazon Goldfish Success What it takes to keep goldfish healthy long-term by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Calico Fancy Tailed Gold Fish, Lernaea, more hlth. issues  11/24/09
Hi Crew
<Hello,>
Please could you help?
<Will try.>
I purchased a Calico, Red Cap Oranda Gold Fish 18 days ago. He is about 14 centimeters in length.
<Good size!>
He was put into a quarantine, when purchased. Its a 40 liter tank and all basics in water quality have been checked and are good.
<Good? Not in a 40 litre tank they're not. Seriously, this tank IS TOO SMALL for a Goldfish this size. Indeed, it's too small for a Goldfish of any size. I cannot stress this point too strongly. Minimum aquarium size for Goldfish is around 110 litres.>
On close inspection when I got his home I discovered he had 3 anchor worms.
I am treating with Parazin. First treatment of 14 days released 2 of the worms. (I did a 50% water changed after completion of the first 14 day treatment), waited 48 hours, and now have added a second table of Parazin, for a second 14 day treatment to try and rid him of the one stubborn anchor worm. I have also added 1 teaspoon of salt, per 2 liters of water.
<Okay.>
My concern is he also has two dark black foreign clumps of matter, (Never seen this before) about 2 mm in size, embedded into his Wen, both, just above his right eye.
<Black specks on Goldfish are typically ammonia burns. They can be caused by other types of physical damage, but ammonia burns are the most common.
Because the aquarium is so small, I have little doubt that water quality is either the direct cause or aggravating whatever background problem there might be.>
These were present when I bought him, don't seem to worry him and have not changed is size, colour or shape, over the 18 day period. There are no other visible signs of these black crustaceans anywhere on his body. It is more visible with the first 2 days of treatment of using the Parazin, as the flesh directly above these spots, seem to open up a little, giving a visual of the dark black spots embedded into the skin. They are berried about 2mm into the skin. By day 3 of the Parazin treatment, the (Hole) tiny opening seems to close, and the black spots are once again covered by the flesh of his Wen and look like dark black shadows, under his orange Wen, almost undetectable.
He is eating well, has a varied diet of green peas, bloodworm, daphnia, flake and pellets, and on the whole, looks pretty healthy, swimming actively with his dorsal fin extended.
Do you have any idea what this would be? and what and how I could treat it.
<Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/goldfish101art.htm
Almost all problems with Goldfish come down to people keeping them badly.>
Your assistance is appreciated ....
Many Thanks
Petrina
<Happy to help. Good luck, Neale.>

Goldfish with White Pimple and Hard Hair like White Spikes growing from Pimples... Lernaea7/14/07 Hi I have a goldfish that looks like it has "pimples" that eventually start growing a white "hair like" spike from the "pimple". There were several around the tail and on the body. Most of those are gone except for one over an eye and one on the side of the fish. The goldfish is not rubbing or scratching on the aquarium decorations. It is eating normally and swimming normally. I did have another goldfish with the same whitish protrusions that died. <... Lernaea...> I initially thought it was ICH and treated with Maracide <...> without resolution. I also raised the temperature of the tank. Then I decided to salt the aquarium after doing several water changes. I am in the process of that now. I have added a total of 3 tablespoons of salt to the tank over 24 hours. <... not efficacious either...> However, I did decide to see if I could pull the hair like protrusion out of the goldfish and I did. The part outside the body was fairly hard and thin with a wet squishy blob that was inside the "pimple" part on the body of the fish. <Yes...> I have read multiple sites and I am at a loss as to what this could be. Am I overlooking something obvious. My thought now is the it might be anchor worms. <Bingo!> I have been doing 15 - 25% water changes every other day. My nitrates and nitrites test 0. <So?> My tank is 10 gallons and has one goldfish and a Pleco. <Mis-placed here> I have an under gravel filter that I just placed in the tank with new rock about three weeks ago. So it is essentially a new setup and going through the cycling. I had no choice as the tank had been in my daughter's room and not cared for very well. Any help of advise is greatly appreciated. <Please peruse here: http://www.google.com/search?q=Lernaea&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8 You need to remove the adult "worms" (actually crustaceans) manually, and treat the system with an organophosphate... Bob Fenner>
Re: Goldfish with White Pimple and Hard Hair like White Spikes growing from Pi... -- 07/14/07 Wow thank you ever so kindly for your fast response. I have never encountered anchor worms before and I could not find a picture that looked the way my fish looked. I have ordered some Trifon <Mmm, likely Trichlorofon... Please read here re DTHP use, cautions: http://wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebIndex/contrpdparasit.htm and the linked FAQs file above> and hope this will meet the needs of my fish and aquarium. Once again thank you ever so kindly. Myra <Welcome my friend. Life to you. BobF>

Help we got Lice!  7/23/06 Great page. Thank you for all the super information. I have 2 Oranda both with what I think as Argulus. <No fun... and not uncommon...> Introduced the second Oranda about a week ago, I think he give the gift of Argulus to the other. <What a gift!> My original Oranda has been with me for about 2 1/2 years. The Older one is now covered, and all the other fish in the tank are attacking him. <Yikes> Started dosage of prima fix and Melafix until I saw the brown spots swim when I scraped one off. <Mmm...> Have just treated tank with Copper Safe, <All inappropriate treatments thus far...> and removed each fish and tired to scrape of the rest of the living lice. Not to much luck with that. <Your fish will be dead...> I am going to start an antifluke medication, which helped to remove anchor worms about on the older one years ago. <Ahh, now we're getting somewhere> Should I try salt, and how do I kill the rest of those creepy ECTO'S, without killing the fish. <Economic poisons... organophosphates... acetylcholinesterase inhibitors... Either Dimilin or Masoten/Dylox/Neguvon... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebIndex/contrpdparasit.htm and the linked FAQs file above> The older one has frayed his fins, and the younger is taking advantage of the other. Help!!! Thanks, (the other fish in the tank are two small Cory's and one plecostomus. The Corys are also beating up the older sicker fish.) <Read on... act soon... Look for commercial products containing DTHP in one of its many generic-names. Bob Fenner>
Re: Help we got Lice!   7/26/06 Hi, Thank you for the information. One fish survived, the older one did not. We will keep the support of your great site for all of us fish lovers. Paul <Thank you for this update. BobF>

New goldfish, new goldfish owner  - 2/11/2006 Hi all: <Anne> I may be worried about nothing, but I'd rather be safe than (very) sorry. On Sunday, February 4, we got our first two goldfish. We have a 16-gallon (60-liter) BiOrb tank that we had run with conditioned water for about 3 or 4 days before purchasing the fish. <... needs to run a bit more than this before introducing livestock...> About 6 hours after we released our new pets into the tank, we noticed that the smaller one (Jojo) had a fish louse. <Good observation> My fiancé removed the fish from the tank and took off the louse, using tweezers. The next day, we purchased some Clout from the fish store and, following the store's directions, treated the tank. We did a partial water change and waited. Each time we have tested the water (twice now), it's been theoretically perfect. <Okay> We had been feeding them exclusively Mini Sticks but read more about feeding them fresh veggies and so offered them a spinach leaf (lightly cooked -- still mostly firm). They did bite at it but didn't appear to have removed any visible pieces from the leaf when we removed it. We then started feeding them peas (baby peas, microwaved for 1 minute, shelled, and split into smaller pieces). <Good> Jojo is missing some scales -- and had been since we brought "her" home. Mojo, the larger one, appears to have been healthy. We picked them both from the same tank in the fish store. <Likely "just stress"... the new tank and Clout exposure> We noticed that Jojo had not been pooping -- at least not that we saw -- regularly, and when she did, it was thin and white. So we treated with the clout again and did another partial water change, this time adding a little aquarium salt. Today, February 10, I tried to feed them some peas -- but they showed little interest. In fact, although Mojo took a couple of pieces, Jojo took one but then spit it out, showing no further interest in any pea pieces. They've always preferred the Mini Sticks, so I did soak some of those in aquarium water and put them in the tank. Both fish did go for the sticks, but without their usual vim and vigor. Later, I noticed that their fins are starting to be clamped -- specifically their top fin and their bottom (not side) fins. This is more the case on Jojo than on Mojo, but both are exhibiting this symptom. <Again, good observations, reporting> In addition, as of yesterday, we noticed that Mojo's right front fin is very frayed -- no white around the edges, but "he" struggles to swim straight. The fish seem to get along well, and we haven't seen them chasing or biting each other. In fact, they spend most of the day together in what appears to be peace and harmony. I called the fish store again this afternoon and spoke both with the person who had recommended the Clout for the louse and with the general manager. Because the water has been in good shape, and the fish shouldn't be crowded (they are each approximately 2 inches long -- probably a little smaller -- in a 16-gallon tank), the manager suggested pulling them out to examine their gills for parasites. We have not noticed any when watching the fish inside the tank, but we will absolutely check them more closely this evening (we had to go back to work). If we don't see anything, the manager wants us to take them back to the store for evaluation. <Mmm, it is very common for gold (and other fishes) to have considerable parasite fauna as a consequence of being reared out of doors...> Long story short, is there anything else we can do to help our poor fish? We have both grown quite fond of them, and I'd be heartbroken if we lost one or both. I am concerned that pulling them out of the tank and driving them 40 minutes to the fish store, and then 40 minutes home, will be too stressful -- they've already had a challenging couple of weeks. Would it be better, assuming we don't see any parasite signs, to just wait and be patient? <Yes> This is the first time I've owned fish, so although we've both done lots of reading, I'm very worried that I'm going to do -- or not do -- something that will cost them their lives. Please help. Thanks in advance. Anne <I take it you have measured ammonia, nitrite... and these are non-detectable... I might add a bit (a level teaspoon) of Epsom Salt here... but otherwise leave the system and fish be. Bob Fenner>
Re: New goldfish, new goldfish owner  02/12/06 Dear Bob: <Anne> Thanks so much for your reply. We did end up getting recommendations yesterday for ParasiteClear and antibacterial food, both of which we used last night. Mojo has "his" fins unclamped and is swimming more. Jojo, however, switches between moving around more slowly and just sitting at the bottom of the tank. "Her" fins are still clamped. They are, however, both interested in the antibacterial food and are eating it. <Takes a while... weeks to months> I am hesitant about over treating them -- medicines are all to some degree poisons -- but as you mention, and as we've read, fish store fish are prone to parasites because of their provenance. As either the ParasiteClear or the antibacterial flakes helped Mojo unclamp and be more active, the manager of the fish store (we called him again this morning when we saw Jojo at the bottom of the tank) suggests that we continue doing both treatments for 2 more days (3 days total). We also noticed this morning that the water has a slight greenish tinge to it. The manager and said it may be from the fluke medicine (we keep testing the water, using two testing systems, and it tests healthy) and to not worry about that right now. He said to keep treating the tank as we have been and not to bring the fish in, but to call him again if they appear to get worse. He has been very helpful. <Good> We will do a 25% water change today and continue with the salt and two other treatments for 2 more days. Then, assuming all is well, we will add carbon back to the filter, do another 25% water change, and resume feeding with peas and soaked Mini Sticks. I hope that this is a good course of action. After these 2 days, we will have done everything external possible and will be able to wait and see without worrying that we've left out something essential. Thanks so much for your help -- we're both pretty new at this, but we are very fond of our fish and want them to be happy and healthy for a long, long time! I especially appreciate the speed with which you responded! Yours, Anne <Welcome my friend. Bob Fenner>

Oranda anchor worm 7/5/05 hi, this is Brijesh from India. I had bought a pair of red cap Oranda and put them in my show tank without any quarantine. now all the fishes including the new ones have red spots or lesions on their fins and body. it looks like they are hurt and blood is around. on a close examination I found anchor worms which I removed but some of the red lesions did not have anchor worms. what's wrong? what treatment can I give them? pls help fast coz I am scared that my fish will die thanks <... may be a water quality situation... or some other parasite... Can't tell w/o microscopic examination. Do you have a sophisticated fish store near you that has such gear? Perhaps a "fish vet?". I would treat this water with DTHP (many names otherwise) or Dimilin... Please see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebIndex/contrpdparasit.htm and the linked files above. If this doesn't cure the red lesions in a couple of weeks, I would consider a formalin bath... Bob Fenner>

Fish Lice Killing Goldfish Hello All, I've been to your website a few times in the past and have found it to be very helpful when I'm lost and don't know what else to do.  So I am emailing you guys again in hopes of a cure for some goldfish that I felt so sorry for and decided to volunteer in helping.  I personally have a 90 gallon African cichlid tank and doing very well thanks to you guys. =o) My boyfriend's mother has a 150 gallon tank full of dying goldfish.  She HAD 20 of them.  We were visiting and I noticed 2 of them flopped to the side and dying and a handful of others that were in hiding and was covered in mucus like film and of course some fungus growing on them.  I decided to take action and do something about it.  So the next day, I came back with some tests to test the water and strange as it was, the water quality checked out fine. The  pH was 7.6, no ammonia or nitrate detected, water temp was about 78.  Confused as I was, I decided to net out all the fish, since they all had some kind of infection or was already dying.  THEN I noticed a small thing floating in the water that looked like a bug, it was pretty gross.  I took the net and tried to scoop it and noticed it moving on the side of the bucket and then it attached itself to a goldfish as it swam by.  I took a closer look and some of the fish had a few of them stuck to their fins.  I did some research on the net and discovered that it was fish lice or Argulus. They looked gross to the naked eye but on the net, they had bigger pictures and that's even worse!  I've never dealt with this kind of situation before and all the sites that I've looked at said to manually remove them.  Other places say to use Dimilin but I guess that's hard to obtain.  I feel so bad because out of 20 goldfish, there's only 10 left and they're still dying 1 by 1.  Turns out that my bf's little brother had purchased a handful of these goldfish from a lady who had a pond. The others that were already in the tank were never exposed to outdoor ponds. Would this have something to do with the infestation of these parasites? < We always recommend that new fish be quarantined before they are introduced to a new tank.> Is there another method I can use besides with a tweezers and manually "plucking" them off? < There are a few medications like  Fluke-Tabs and Clout that will work very well.> That's sooooo gross and I really don't want to do that unless I have no other alternatives. So here's what I did so far. I took them home and put them in a 10 gallon bucket added lots of aeration and 1 tspn of salt. Sorry not sure if I should've added the salt or not. Please let me know if I shouldn't. < It is pretty ineffective against the lice.> I had them in there for 24 hours before I did anything or added any medication.  I also placed a heater in there but haven't raised the temp yet....should I? <No. Raising the temperature will only increase the metabolism of the fish and stress them even more.> I went out and bought APPlus Anti-Fluke drops.  Next day, I changed 40% of the water and didn't add any salt this time I waited a few hours and then added the Anti-Fluke drops. It's been 48 hours now since I've added the medication.  Today I am going to change 50% of the water.  It got really cloudy.  After the water change, I plan to leave it for another 24 hours before adding more medication.  Can you tell me if I'm doing the right thing? < Your efforts are better than nothing. You now have an ammonia problem with the cloudy water and need to keep it under control with water changes.. I've read so many sites and each tell me different stuff and not sure if what I'm doing is helping, I'm afraid that I'm not helping but instead killing them slowly.  Also, I've read about salt dips. Would this treatment work better to have the parasites drop off rather than manually removing them? < Removing them manually is not the way to go.> If I were to do a salt dip, how much salt per gallon?  I've never done salt dips either and was wondering do I do the dip in a small container holding a gallon of water or what method should I use.  I am so lost and unfamiliar with all this stuff because I've never had my fish get so sick.  I guess I've been keeping my own cichlid tank free of these things and am very good with the maintenance on it. I wish my bf's family would do the same for theirs.  Please please please, any advice is much appreciated.  I apologize as I didn't think my email would be so long but I want to make sure I let you know exactly what I did and what's going on. Well I guess that's it for now, I will do my best to save these goldfish, even though they're not mine.  It'll be good for experience if anything.  Thanks to you all for all your help! Sandy < I would treat the main tank for lice even though there aren't any fish in there right now. Change the water in the bucket every day and do not feed the fish until they are cured and do not add any salt. Follow the directions on the package and make sure it says it will treat lice. When the fish are placed in the main tank you need to watch for ammonia spikes. The medication may have affected the good bacteria needed to break down the fish waste. You may need to add Bio-Spira to replenish the bacteria that has been lost due the medication.-Chuck>
Goldfish With Lice II Hi Chuck, Thanks for getting back to me. These last few days, there have been 10 goldfish that died and now I have 10 left. So far no more goldfish have died which is improvement I guess, for now anyway. Last night I changed about 50% of the water, didn't add any medication. Today I plan to change 25% of the water and medicate them. I have been changing the water everyday from 25% - 50%. A bit of ammonia was detected but hopefully with daily water changes, it'll help a bit, hopefully. The fish do seem to be doing better. All are active but some still have lice on them. I guess only the ones that were first infected and had other complications have already died.  My bf's mom tore down her tank and washed out everything.  She got really disgusted with the lice so in case they laid eggs, she decided to flush everything and start new. I plan to go to her house and test the water and take some gravel from my tank to help with the cycling process, just to be safe and then later take only the healthy goldfish back to her. The baby ones are still healthy and show no signs of infection so hopefully the other tank is ready to go.  I want to get the healthy ones out ASAP so they don't get infected. I'll hang onto the ones that still show symptoms and take them back once they're healthy again.  Personally, goldfish are not my fish of choice but the fact that I do have an aquarium, I am concerned about these fishes health and do care and so I will do my best to help them. Any experience is good experience I guess. How long do I have to keep up with the medication until all the lice have been killed? <Depending on the medication I would hope that if it were to work at all that the medication would be done in a week.> Will frequent water changes help with killing these things?  < No but it does make the fish feel better by reducing some of the stress.> I know the water changes helped a lot on getting rid of the fungus growing on some of these goldfish. I've had these guys since Sunday and today will be the 2nd time I use the medication on them. So far it's every other day for meds with daily water changes. I plan to not do anything else like adding salt or a salt dip and especially manually removing these parasites. Are the tabs more effective than the drops? < Dry medications seem to keep their effectiveness longer that wet medications. That's why I always recommend dry medications as opposed to the wet ones.> While researching, all the sites mentioned the use of tabs and not the drops. I tried to find Clout but so far no luck so I ended up buying the drops instead. Well thank you for your advice. I feel better knowing that what I'm doing is not necessarily the wrong thing and I do see a little of improvement so hopefully it'll work out fine. Take care, Sandy  < We are aware that not all the medications are available in all areas of the country. All the medications that I recommend can be found online at DrSmithFosters.com -Chuck>

Goldfish Help Please, She's "The Bee's Knees" (With "Graphics") Hi, I have a rather large goldfish in a 39 gallon bow front tank, double filters, flow type, hang on side. As well as bubble maker. Fresh water. No Fresh plants. Goldie used to eat them or dislodge them. She likes her tank her way.. {:-) First, She is a rescue from an outside pond that puppy discovered and made holes. {:-) She is a common feeder goldfish. I guess a comet. She is listless, Sitting in one spot in bottom. Fins tucked in. She isn't eating very much. Was fine two days ago. She looks to the naked eye, ok.  However, I found these worms things clinging to the filter material in one of the filters. One of the worm things is segmented and black or dark brown about this long > --- < It was alive and moving. The other is like a bug looking thing. It has a head and a body about the same dark color. It is about this long > _ <  I Feed pond pellets and flakes with dried shrimp pieces. No heater. Clean filters weekly and there is no top (do have multi spectrum light) on this tank so water evaporates and is added to almost daily. Use Tap water after sitting out for 24 hours. No odors coming from tank.  She also poops, huge poops that are the length of tank, but in the last few days small thin poops. I don't know what else to add. She is about 6 years old maybe 7 years old. No problems till now. What are these filter animals? < Pond fish pick up all kinds of things from being outdoors. I would guess a plant leech and maybe a fish louse.> Do I need to and how do I get rid of them? < Fluke-tabs will get rid of both of them.> They don't cling to her. I don't see any injuries or strange marks on her. NO Ich or velvet.. Is tank too small ? < As long as the filter is moving at least three times the tank volume per hour and the nitrates don't exceed 25 ppm then it should be fine.> Should I put her back in pond.? < Sure if you want to but not while she is ill.> It has been refilled and more fish added and been healthy for several months. I am afraid to spread these worm - bug thingies and her problem.. I would be most grateful for any advice you could give. Please help me rescue Goldie one more time. She is the bee's knees in goldfish world. Bright and inquisitive and funny. She is alone in tank.  I have a 65 gallon tank with 13 inch black shark (Blackie) 6 catfish and a Pleco and 2 silver dollars. No problems there. Thanks in advance and God bless, Jan < The bug things are easy to cure. I would only feed her enough food so that all of it is gone in two minutes once each day. If she has an internal bacterial infection and she begins to bloat then I would recommend a 30% water change while vacuuming the gravel. Clean the filter and treat with Metronidazole.-Chuck> 

Medicine Madness On/With Goldfish Hi! <Hello> I have four Black Moors that range from about 2" - 4" in a 20 gallon tank. <This is getting to be too crowded> I have recently bought a much larger tank because I was told this one was too small (I haven't put them in the new tank yet.) Some time ago one of my fish got Ich along with a fuzzy white patch on its tail identical on both sides. I treated it with fungal and Ich medicines and it cleared up completely. About two weeks after this I noticed that the same fish had a milky colouring to her one eye and she started to swim on an angle.  <Likely from the medications> The same angle as her "infected" eye. All stores were closed at this point and by the next day the other three fish were swimming on the same exact angle with a slight milky colour in their eyes as well. I spoke with someone at a fish store (They deal only in fish.) they recommended Mardel Maracyn (For Tail Rot, Popeye and "Body Fungus") I followed the directions exactly and they have improved very slightly. Not enough in my opinion that I should keep using it.  I am now using Life-Bearer (Eliminates Gill Flukes, Fish Lice and Anchor Worms) the person at the store knows that my fish don't suffer from any of the symptoms that are labeled on the box (Stops shaking and rubbing of fish) but said this will clear their cloudy eyes and that it won't harm them. I do frequent water changes and have changed their diet as well. I even tried feeding them peas which they won't even go near. I should also mention that other than these symptoms all four fish are very active and LOVE to eat and are growing like crazy!  From the very beginning I have taken out every book from the library, called vets, talked to people at the fish stores and still not much of an improvement or any real idea of what is going on. I don't know what else to do. If you could suggest something....anything I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much for your time. Krishenka and "The Fish" <In simple terms, you've poisoned your livestock. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshdisease.htm and the many Linked Related FAQs above, and cease "treating" this tank. With luck, over time your fish will self-cure. Bob Fenner> 

Anchor Worm? My son had two gorgeous goldfish and recently purchased another (huge) goldfish for his tank.  All seemed well for months but then all three developed red spots.  The larger fish spends most of the time now on the bottom near the filter tube; however, the other two seem to "feel" fine. They seem to act normally.  Anyway, today when I went to look at them, the two smaller ones have white spikes growing out of them now with black tips. What is this and where did he go wrong?  Can it be cured?  We may not have much time. Thanks, Ruth H. Lancaster <<Hello. It is very important to do regular, partial water changes on goldfish tanks, generally once a week, if not more. What size is the tank, and how often are water changes being done? Please ensure good water quality, it really makes ALL the difference. That said, it sounds like an anchor worm problem. The red spots can be treated with water changes and Furan or Melafix (found at your LFS) but the anchor worm needs an anti-parasitic, Dimilin works well. Please treat the red spots first, since adding a medication to treat the anchor worm can irritate those spots and make them worse, so let the fish heal first, THEN add the Dimilin afterwards. It shouldn't take longer than a week with the Melafix, and then another four days with the Dimilin. Good luck. -Gwen>>

New Print and eBook on Amazon Goldfish Success What it takes to keep goldfish healthy long-term by Robert (Bob) Fenner