Mystery Fill Illness

Question
Hi! I have a 2 gal. aquarium with 2 1 year old comet goldfish that I got at the same time as the tank. I do the weekly 10% water change and vary their diets with brine shrimp, goldfish flakes and blanched vegetables. It appears that one of my fish has gotten sick I believe. It's behaviour is completely normal, no changes in appetite or swimming but it's body has changed from gold to a clear colour and its eyes are streaked with red. The local pet store couldn't tell me what was wrong so I was wondering if you had any idea.

Thanks!

Tara

Answer
It is common for Comets to change colour. If his appetite and behaviour is normal then I wouldn't worry so much. Usually you can tell when a Comet is unwell, his appetite will drop off and his behaviur will change.

You do realise that the Comets will outgrow that tank sooner rather than later, a 2g is no where near big enough for them.

The red streaks in the eyes lead me to believe that you have high ammonia in your tank due to the small volume and the inadequate water changes being performed. Goldfish (which is what Comets are) are very messy fish and so need a large tank and heavy filtration and frequent water changes. Ideally you should be doing 50% water changes on that tank DAILY, otherwise it's just going to turn into an Ammonia trap.

So in summary, start doing DAILY 50% water changes or upgrade your tank. IMO you would be better to upgrade your tank because you are going to have to do that in the very near future anyways.

HTH