red gill

Question
Hello, im hoping you can help me with a question,i have a comet (i think) and one of its gills is red, not streaked but completely. i cannot see anything else wrong with it. i have only had it a week and the other comet it came with died after 2 days,but not from a red gill, i think it had an internal infection. is there a treatment for this, i cant find anything in my book?

thankyou

rachel:)

Answer
Hi Rachel,
Thank you for your letter. I hope that you continue with the hobby, after a few bumps in the road.
Here are my instructions for holistic aquarium care:
http://steamboats.com/aquarium.html
Please print out for future reference.
Read over the instructions and see if there's anything you're doing wrong. The most common mistake is over feeding. If the water is cloudy or viscous, follow the emergency care procedure at the bottom of the page.
If you have not been over feeding, buy a bottle of "Cycle" anyway, and add it to the water following the instructions on the label. Store the Cycle in the refrigerator between use. Maybe you have extra hard water and it's just too much of a shock for the delicate little creatures. The Cycle should help a lot. It is not a chemical and I do not recommend using chemical treatments.
Nori