Red Spots on Goldfish tail.

Question
I have one goldfish in a 20 gal. tank that is established. All readinds are good ie. ph, ammonia, etc. Floaty as we have come to call our goldfish has a swim bladder problem and has for over two years now. I am very careful to keep up the tank conditions and not feed him too much. As of recently he has red spots on his tail and one on his body. I treated the tank with melafix for 7 days and the spot went away. However when I stopped the mela fix the spots started to come back. As I can not treat the tank every day, I was hoping you could suggest another fix.

Answer
Hi Charlee;

Goldfish are pretty messy guys and tend to be quite prone to red spots and ulcers. Even though we think we are keeping their tanks clean enough, they may need more. Change 25% of Floaty's water and vacuum the gravel once a week, every week. If you are already doing that, you might want to look at his diet. He may need more vitamins and/or more fiber. The spots could also be from a bacterial infection. Here is a link to a good article about it and some things you can do;

http://tinyurl.com/3y366j

I hope he feels better soon...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins