Sick fish!!

Question
hi there, i'm hoping you can help. i have a new tank set-up, about a week old (though i had the tank running for a week before i introduced my fish). i have just bought four fish - two regular goldfish, a fantail, a black moor and a bristlenose. within a few days of introducing them to the tank, they developed what i believe to be white spot (lots and lots of tiny white spots all over them), starting with the black moor. i have treated the tank with a white spot and broad spec treatment and all except for the black moor are looking much better. unfortunately, the little black moor is looking pretty rough. he still has spots (though they all do)and he's going a more gold colour - but worst of all he's kind of hovering near the top of the tank. he doesn't seem to have too much hassle swimming but is getting knocked about a bit by the filter and now won't eat. i've done 25% water changes and re-treated the tank according to the instructions but he still looks sick :-( what do i do? please help!!

best wiches
leonie

Answer
Hello Leonie-

If all of the fish are infected, you'll need to dose the entire tank. If only the moor is infected, you should probably remove him to a hospital tank. In your situation, it sounds best to just dose the entire tank.

A medicine I recommend to most people is "QuickCure." It contains Formalin, which is a very strong antibiotic that can kill off just about everything.

Dose the tank as instructed, but try turning down your filter and taking out the carbon.

Dose the fish daily, and keep dosing until there are no white spots on any of the fish. Adding aquarium salt to the tank will also help to kill off the infection, and will promote healing in the fish's scales.

Also, your moor sounds like the water may be a little to hot for him. Goldfish like it fairly cool, and anything above about 70 F makes them uncomfortable and can cause them to float at the surface and gasp for air. You can use a fan to cool off the tank, but be sure the temperature doesn't fall too far! It's a tricky balancing act.

ps - The gold coloration is perfectly normal for black moors. Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see moors turn almost white-gold. So no worries about your "black" moor in that department. :)

Hope this is useful,
Amber Worman