Ellas Sick (Goldfish)

Question
I bought two 1" goldfish and a small aquarium kit about 2-3 weeks ago.  The kit had an air pump, but no real filter.  I had a live plant in the aquarium as well.  I changed 25-50% of the water every 2-3 days with aged water, but the tank still became quite dirty.  One fish has already died.  The other fish, Ella, has not looked well for the past week.  I went back to the store and purchased a larger 10 gallon tank and a real filter (water fall with biological filter).  I used aged water that had been sitting out for 24+ hours.  There are a few live plants in the new tank.  The old tank water was in quite a terrible state, so I ended up transferring Ella immediately.  She perked up slightly since I transferred him to the new tank (today), but she is still not what I would describe as healthy.  She is sluggish and hovers, doesn't swim hardly at all.  She hasn't eaten or pooped much.  (I've given her a frozen pea, but she's not interested.) Her top fin is clamped down a little.  Also, she has just a bit of white fuzzy stuff on her tail and her gills on both sides have a small brown dot.  I have two questions.  Should I wait and see how she does in the new tank to see if she gets better by herself or should I treat her for some sort of illness now?  Also, I am worried that she is too weak to avoid the pull of the filter.  Should I turn the filter off at night when I am not monitoring her?


Answer
Hello Kristine-

You need to treat the tank with a fungicide ASAP. Add some aquarium salt to the water as well. The white fuzz is a fungus and shows that Ella is very sick.

I would turn the filter off at night only if it has a strong pull, otherwise I'm sure she'll be all right. Be sure it's a true filter (not just a bubbler) since goldfish are some of the "dirtiest" fish. Also, I'd recommend checking your ammonia levels just to be safe - PETsMART can do it for free.

Hope this is useful,
Amber Worman