2 yr. old fantail goldfish

Question
My goldfish has acotton like substance that drops off from under a portion of its scale. The area then closes, another comes out of a different place. It is always on the main body in the side area only. I have tried fungus out,following all directions carefully. It has started about one and one half weeks ago. Fish is active most of the time,and still eats well.
It has developed a few dark spots on its scales.
It is in a ten gallon tank with a power filter.
Two other goldfish are with it.
Thank you for your time. Dee

Answer
Hi Dee;

It sounds like a chronic infection of the skin under the scales. I've never heard of "fungus out" so I don't know what's in it to know if it will really work. Many infections that look like fungus are actually bacterial infections so fungus remedies will not help at all.

Since it comes and goes in different spots it might be from something going on in the water. Goldfish are very messy little fellas and need lots of room. There really should be only one or two for a ten gallon. For 3 they really need a 20 or 30 gallon and plenty of water changes. They get to be 8 inches long and are deep-bodied so they make lots of waste for their size. If you could answer a few questions it will help me to better diagnose the actual source of the problem;

How big are all the fish?
How long have they been together?
How long has the tank been set up?
How often do you make water changes and vacuum the gravel?
How much water at a time is changed?
What is the tank water temperature?
What company made the medicine you are using?
Does the package say what's in it?

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

PS: Try to avoid clicking "submit" more than once. I can only answer a certain number of questions in a 24 hour period so I'm easily maxed out for the day if questions are duplicated. Thanks much! Just wanna help everyone I can.......