redness on fish..

Question
my albino tinfoil barb has what looks like a red rash along his sides and its been spreading and its been getting white fussy looking where the redness is.. he is now hanging near the top..my tinfoil barb has the same redness but not nearly as bad and no white fuss..any idea what it is...they are in a 29g that has been runnig for years they are the only 2 in there. have tested amonia 0 nitrites 0 but nitrates very high did a 30 % water change..will do more water changes in days to come.. your advice is greatly appreciated... thanks david...

Answer
The red streaks are signs of a bacterial infection, the white fuzzyness is usually a good indicator of a fungus, often stemming from an internal issue. You did the right thing by working on getting your nitrates down as the high nitrates can affect the fish as well. You can get a aquatic medication from your local fish store for bacterial infections and treat the tank following the instructions. Make sure you remove the carbon source from the filter or this will filter out the medication. You will also want to keep the lights off in the tank to limit stress as medicating fish is very stressful on them. Best of luck!