2 Questions: Shubunkin Goldfish

Question
First question is about a disease my fish recently got.  He's been suffering from Ich and I've quarantined him and treated him.  The other day I noticed that he had red spots on the back part of his body on both sides like blood spots and some on his tail fin.  I don't know what this is, but I've done a water change and treated him with ParaGuard and it's faded a bit, but I was wondering if you have any idea what this is and what could have caused it?  

My second question is: I recently bought a 6.5 gallon tank that came with a filter and a flourescent light/hood.  Everytime I turn on the light, my shubunkin goes spastic (I'm not sure if the light stresses him out or he's scared or what) and he zooms into a corner, plops onto the gravel and stops moving.  He just sits there for hours in the corners of the tank.  He will come out of the corner to feed but other than that, he just doesn't really move around much.  I realized that the light was affecting him, so I turned it off and immediately he started moving about again.  He would go into the middle of the tank and swim around.  I thought this was just his personality, but I recently bought another shubunkin as a companion for him and this shubunkin does the same exact thing when I turn on and off the light.  I don't understand.  I thought flourescent lighting was fine for fish.  Do you know why they are reacting this way to the light?  Should I just not use it?  Thanks for any help/advice you can give me.  

Answer
Hi Malia
I'm going to start with your second question first, in a roundabout way :)  

You're tank is too small for 1 goldfish.  The usual minimum recommended tank size is at least 10-20 gallons for 1 goldfish.  So, you really should consider a 20 gallon minimum.  Plus you factor in the gravel/substrate, any decorations, and you're tank is actually less gallon wise.
 
You always hear goldfish are "messy fish".  Really they keep the tank cleaned pretty good, they're excellent scavengers.  But, goldfish put out a lot of ammonia naturally through their respiration and waste.  And, they grow quite large, yours will probably top out at 6-8 inches.  

This could be the problem you're having with the light.  Some fish just don't like it, but I think what may be happening, the tank's too small for them, and the light's "right there" in their face as opposed to a larger/deeper tank where it's more diffused.  That would be my guess, especiallly since both of them are reacting that way.  Since it bothers them, I'd leave it off most of the time.

Now your first question, that sounds like it's probably a bacterial infection.  If you just recently purchased the fish, the red spots and the ich could be something brought on by the pet store's tank environment.  Or, it could be from your tank's water quality.  Both those diseases/infections usually show up when a fish is stressed, from moving around, poor water conditions, etc.
 
That's good you quarantined him.  I looked up ParaGuard to see what ingredients it had in it.  It says it'll treat some bacterial infections as well.  Follow the directions for the ParaGuard, you said it looks like it's improving, so it's probably working.  It probably wouldn't hurt to pick up some antibiotic food from the pet store.  That way the antibiotic will get inside the fish, in case it's something like septicemia, which is an internal bacterial infection.  If the ParaGuard doesn't work, try picking up a bottle of PimaFix(pet store also).  It's a natural remedy, and shouldn't interfere with the ParaGuard.  You're going to have to treat for the ich for about 2 weeks to completely get rid of it, and it's not a good idea to mix a bunch of meds in the tank.  That stresses the fish as well.  You can also add a bit of aquarium salt as well, dose at 1 teaspoon per 1 US gallon.  That'll help with the ich, and the overall health of the fish.  Adds electrolytes and such for them.  

Now, with that size tank, you're going to need to do daily water changes, and I'd recommend changing 50% of the water at a time.  The water quality with one or both really will get poor very quickly, which will lead to more problems/sickness.  Keep this up till you can hopefully get a larger tank for them.  Then I'd recommend doing weekly water changes of about 25%.

Hope that helps and good luck with the treatment!  If you have any more questions, please ask!

Christy