sick 6 year old goldfish

Question
Hello. My 6 year old goldfish has been acting weird for about 5 days now. We got two fish 6 days ago and our fish was okay for a little while. Then, the next day,our fish was lying on the bottom of the tank, but occasionally she would go to the top of the tank to eat. We thought she was pregnant so we looked on the computer to see the signs of pregnancy. Her stomach has gotten big so we thought she was pregnant. We took the fish out of the tank and change the water like the computer said so. We put the two new fish in another bowl while we put her in a large tank. 2 days after, she was lying down with her body in an arch, her mid-piece of the body got large, some of her scales are red and they look like they are bleeding but there is no blood in the water, and I have to feed her by hand this morning. The other two fish are okay, but I am worried about my six year old fish. What's wrong with her? Is she sick? What are the symptoms of a sick goldfish? Why is she swimming sideways and why is her back in an arch? Why is she not eating anymore? Why is her scales bleeding? HELP!!!

Answer
Hi Lisa,
 Unfortunately that sounds very bad.  Most likely the new fish had some sort of disease which the older fish caught.  When a fish starts arching its back, I have never seen one recover.  I don't know of anything that you can do for her. Sorry.

 For the future, goldfish don't get pregnant as such. They are egg layers.  They get a little larger before they lay eggs but they don't get really really big like a pregnant fish does such as a guppy.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>