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Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Diseases Ich Fish Treatment Ich White Spot Disease

Goldfish Disease- White Spot Disease- Ich (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis)

Goldfish disease are very common in goldfish and one of the most common goldfish diseases is white spot disease or Ich as a short version of the scientific name Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. Ich is very common and usually occurs from either due to stressful situations like poor water conditions or a sudden chill. You can usually tell when goldfish diseases occurs as they become ill or sick by symptoms like either rapid breathing or scratching on the gravel in the aquarium can indicate signs of white spot disease or ich.

When you notice this behaviour in goldfish, look at your goldfish closely and you will probably see white spots or like small grains of salt on your goldfish. These white spots, goldfish disease, are the parasites which are feeding on the goldfish’s body fluid. White spot disease or Ich can spread quite rapidly on the goldfish if left untreated.

Here is a picture of blue catfish which is covered with ich. These look like grains of salt which are the ick parasite. You can see all the white spots or cysts that are all over their body in this photo. The blue catfish is also showing signs of stress as you can see by the clamped fins.

Blue Catfish Heavily Infested with Ich Commonly Known As White Spot Disease - Ick
Blue catfish heavily infested with ich commonly known as white spot disease, ick.

The first thing you need to understand is how the parasites life cycle operates when attacking the goldfish itself. Each cyst or white spot is the parasite which is feeding off of the goldfish. It has attached itself to them by swimming as a small microorganism. These parasites need to find a host or they die. Once the parasite finds the host (goldfish) it hooks onto the skin and begins feeding. When they first attach themselves they are too small to be seen by the eye. As these parasites feed you will then see them as small white spots usually within a day or two covered over the body of the goldfish. Once this happens these cysts or parasites break free from the goldfish and begins to reproduce very rapidly. This goldfish disease spreads quickly and proper goldfish care needs to be done right away.

 

The reproduction phase of these parasites is when it infects goldfish very quickly. As mentioned above each cysts or parasite breaks free from the goldfish, when this happens each cyst that breaks open contains about 500 new parasites for ever cyst. The numbers can become quite significant and can literally take over the goldfish’s body if left untreated. When these 500 new small microorganisms become free swimming they need to find a host. When they do the whole process begins all over again.

Controlling the population of these parasites can only be done when the life cycle of these parasites are in the free swimming stage. They can only be killed during this stage with proper chemical or ich medications. The best thing to do when treating your goldfish aquarium for ich diseases is to treat it for at least 10 days. By doing this it will ensure you totally destroy all parasites as each parasite may be in a different stage at the time of treatment. Remember ich can only be killed during the free swimming stage so make sure you treat minimum 10 days. Each cysts must break open to be exposed to the medication to eliminate these parasites.

Treating ich or white spot disease in goldfish needs to be taking care of right away as it’s a very aggressive disease that attacks goldfish. Begin treatment right away for excellent results.

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Aquarium Care Goldfish Goldfish Care How To

Goldfish Care- How To Take Care Of Your Goldfish

 Taking care of your goldfish is one of the most important things to do to providing your goldfish the proper care and a long healthy life. First thing to do when taking care of your goldfish when buying goldfish from pet stores is to make sure the tank has been set up in advance. When taking care of your goldfish or new pet make sure your the water in your goldfish aquarium has been treated with conditioner to remove the chlorine from the water and heavy metals. AquaPlus is a conditioner widely used by aquarium and goldfish hobbyist and distributed by Hagen and available at your local pets stores is used to help reduce and take care of the stress during transportation and makes the water safe for your goldfish.

Things you should do when taking care of your goldfish:

1. Never feed your goldfish more then they can eat in the first 2-5 minutes, discard any uneaten food as it will pollute the water in your aquarium.

2. Perform a 25% water change once a week to keep all water chemistry at proper levels and safe for goldfish. Add conditioner to remove chlorine and heavy metals.

3. Test your water with a test kit, testing PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate. There are others you can test for but this is a great start at ensuring the proper care of the water chemistry at the beginning.

4.Clean your filters with luke warm water, as they hold beneficial bacteria that you don’t want to destroy. Add some Nutrifin Cycle to restore beneficial bacteria to keep the aquarium healthy for your goldfish.

5. Clean your the glass of the aquarium with either a brush, or a magnet scraper with you can buy at any local pet store. Keeping your aquarium clean for your goldfish at all times will reduce stress, illness and goldfish diseases.

Your goldfish need the proper care in order to reduce chance of illness and injury. Weekly maintenance and a keeping a close eye on your goldfish for any signs are a good way to enjoying your goldfish for many years. Take care of your goldfish, they’re relying on you.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
“Helping Goldfish Owners With Advice, Fish Care and Fish Medication Treatments for Goldfish Diseases, Illnesses and Parasites”

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Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Diseases Goldfish Parasites

Goldfish Care – Types of Goldfish Diseases

Goldfish are susceptible to diseases and here I will discuss the different types of goldfish diseases that fish can develop. Goldfish usually develop diseases or sickness largely due to lack of maintenance on the aquarium. They sometimes can develop them due to injury they suffered by scraping off the protective slime coating that goldfish have on their skin.

Here are the different types of goldfish diseases and illness.

1. White spot disease or ich (Ichtyopthirius)
2. Velvet disease
3. Anchor Worm
4. Argulus
5. Fin and Tail Rot
6. Ulcers
7. Cloudy Eye
8. Mouth Rot
9. KHV Virus

Learn All You Can About Goldfish and How You Can Treat Common Goldfish Diseases & ParasitesThe good thing about all these common fish diseases that happen in goldfish is that they are easily cured with the proper medication and care. Next I will talk about each individual disease and how to properly cure them step by step. Proper goldfish care and action is essential in getting these goldfish back to health and getting the goldfish disease under control.

For more information on what types of medications you should use to treat goldfish diseases and where you can buy effective fish medication please visit Goldfish Medication Treatments For Illnesses and Diseases .

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
“Helping Goldfish Owners With Advice, Fish Care and Fish Medication Treatments for Goldfish Diseases, Illnesses and Parasites”

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Feeding Goldfish Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Ponds

What To Feed Your Goldfish?

Goldfish feeding is one of the best parts of your goldfish hobby, but most people often wonder what to feed their goldfish. There are tons of different goldfish food that people can buy at their local pet stores. Some food is better then others and each fish food has different benefits.

What I feed our goldfish is Laguna Goldfish Food which you can get at any pet store in either small, medium or large pellets depending on the size of your goldfish. Also it doesn’t hurt in giving your goldfish different food, lets be honest we wouldn’t like eating the same thing everyday, same goes for your fish. There are tons of dried fish food, like blood worms which contain high protein, daphnia and black mosquito larvae. Some come in dried form and others you can buy frozen. Goldfish food also comes in a variety of forms like sticks, pellets, flakes and even powder for small baby fry, which are small goldfish.

Feeding your goldfish different food will help keep your goldfish strong and healthy. By taking care of your goldfish with proper feeding with a good variety of food will help in preventing diseases and illness. Sometimes fish can get sick with poor feeding and can develop razor back disease which is a nutritional deficiency. Give them a variety of things goldfish or koi as well feed on pretty much anything. They will pick at and eat lettuce, strawberries, grapes and even brown bread which they can easily digest. Try it feed your goldfish some different food they will love it.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
“Helping Goldfish Owners With Advice, Fish Care and Fish Medication Treatments for Goldfish Diseases, Illnesses and Parasites”

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Feeding Goldfish Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Ponds

How Much Fish Food Should I Feed My Goldfish?

How much food do you feed your goldfish is a very good question. There are a couple of different things we need to look at when determining how much food to feed them.

First of all when feeding your goldfish or koi for aquarium or ponds the general rule of thumb is they should be able to eat all the fish food within 2 minutes. If they eat all that before 2 minutes you can give them some more. You will see once you begin feeding them they will start losing interest in the food. When this happens it’s a good sign that there nice and full, if there is any left over uneaten fish food discard it right away or will foul your water if left in your aquarium or pond.

Feeding goldfish in the aquarium, you can feed them once everyday. Goldfish need exercise and in aquariums they really don’t have the luxury of say the space they would have in a pond. Goldfish can develop a fatty liver which can cause health problems with goldfish pretty much the same as humans. With this some people suggest feeding your goldfish every 2ND day in aquariums. It’s up to you just once a day or ever 2ND day, just make sure you don’t over do it as goldfish can sometimes eat and not really know when to stop.

Feeding goldfish in ponds is a little different. To be honest with you depending on the size of pond you have and how many fish you have in it you don’t really need to feed your fish. There is enough live food, bugs, insects and algae in the water that they will live just fine. But like most people we want to feed our goldfish in our ponds and see the grow. In the summer when the water is warmer you can actually feed them 2 or 3 times a day to get maximum growth or once a day is good as well. Remember in ponds goldfish or koi always have a supply of food whenever they need it in the water.

I am going make another post as I am going to talk later more about feeding your goldfish in ponds at different seasons like spring, summer and fall and what you should do.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
“Helping Goldfish Owners With Advice, Fish Care and Fish Medication Treatments for Goldfish Diseases, Illnesses and Parasites”

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Anchor Worms Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Diseases Goldfish Parasites

Can Goldfish Die From Anchor Worms?

Quick answer, YES! Goldfish can die from anchor worms if left untreated. If you notice that your goldfish has anchor worms attached to their body, you need to begin treatment. There are many fish medications on the market today used to treat against anchor worms on goldfish. I like using this Anchor Worm Treatment called Anchors Away.

 I’ve been using this for years at my business, Country Koi Fish Farm, and this fish medication for anchor worms works great!

Oranda - Fancy Goldfish

What will happen if you don’t treat your goldfish right away for anchor worms, is your goldfish will develop bacterial infections. This is what will kill your goldfish.

Do yourself a favour and always observe your goldfish at feeding time for any signs of goldfish illnesses, diseases or parasites. If you notice an issue seek advice from your local pet store or any online resources about goldfish care. The quicker you begin treatments the better chances you have of success!

Anchor worms is easily treatable for goldfish, act quick and you’ll see for yourself how quickly you get rid of anchor worms.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle

The Goldfish Guy

“Helping Goldfish Owners With Advice, Fish Care and Fish Medication Treatments for Goldfish Diseases, Illnesses and Parasites”

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Garden Ponds Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Ponds Pond Predator Protection

Garden Repeller Protects Goldfish From Pond Predators, Herons & Raccoons

We all know that pond predators like the heron and raccoons can be a nuisance when we have a garden pond in our backyard. I know for myself we live in the country and we have all sorts of wild life visiting our ponds on a daily basis. It’s frustrating and aggravating but you can do something about it to protect your pond fish with the garden repeller.

The garden repeller helped stop pond predators from eating their fish. I tried it too and it worked very well!

Garden Repeller Motion Activated Sprinkler System For Pond Predator Protection From Regal Gifts
My wife and I are a Regal Gifts Independent Representative and this summer they had an excellent product called the Garden Repeller that came out and it works great. Every morning I had a heron stop by about 6am every day. Pond nets only work so well so I decided to buy the garden repeller for myself to protect my goldfish and koi from predators. I hooked it up, the heron stopped by the next morning and the heron didn’t know what hit him. It shoots water up to 32 feet away. As soon as the bird or animal goes in front of the motion detector its sprays water at them. It’s basically a motion activated water sprinkler system. If your having a problem with herons, raccoons and other birds eating your goldfish then you should give it a try. It definitely works and it doesn’t hurt the animal in any way. You can keep them away with this garden repeller from Regal.

If you are having problems with birds visiting your pond you can go to our Moncton Gift Shop blog and learn about the garden repeller. You can also visit our Regal Website directly by going to http://gifts.shopregal.ca create an account and you can buy the garden repeller. For your reference it’s Item # HC3200.

Are you having pond predators visiting your pond? Tell me what you do to protect your pond fish from being eaten?

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Aquarium Care Cycle A New Fish Tank Goldfish Goldfish Care How To

How To Cycle A Goldfish Aquarium and Fish Tank Faster Add Nutrafin Cycle?

Waiting for a fish tank to cycle will take some time as you anxiously wait to add more goldfish to your aquarium. As I’ve mentioned before it can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to completely cycle an aquarium. The good news is that you can help speed this process up and cycle a fish tank faster. Want to know how?

In order to cycle a fish tank faster you need beneficial bacteria for your aquarium right. Think, do you have any friends of yours that currently have an aquarium with goldfish. If you do, ask them for a cup or so of aquarium gravel from their fish tank. This will contain an abundance of beneficial bacteria for your tank. This is what will speed up your cycling process.

Nutrafin Cycle Biological Filter SupplementAnother thing you can do is add some beneficial bacteria to your fish tank. You can buy some at most pet stores. This is a liquid that contains bacteria that helps for new fish tank set ups and when you perform water changes. This will keep the levels of beneficial bacteria stable in your aquarium.

This is a method to help you cycle your fish tank faster. Please note however you need to still follow proper maintenance to keep the ecosystem running properly. Proper aquarium care will help your goldfish stay healthy and disease free.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

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Feeding Fish Feeding Goldfish Garden Ponds Goldfish Goldfish Care Goldfish Ponds

Feeding Goldfish & Koi Trout Feed Pellets Bad For Health Care of Pond Fish

Many people have probably fed their goldfish and koi fish trout pellets in their ponds or even aquariums but please don’t. Feeding goldfish and koi trout feed is really bad for the health of your fish. Taking proper care of your pond fish involves feeding them a well balanced diet that is nutrient rich. Your fish also require being fed different fish foods not the same one day after day. Feeding goldfish and koi fish a variety of foods is highly recommended for the overall health of your fish.
Feeding goldfish trout feed pellets is not recommended at all. Trout feed contains high levels of oils, high on fat content and is a poor choice of food for your fish. Yes many of you will say it’s cheaper to feed your goldfish and koi that then other brand name foods. Your right, it is! I myself can buy a 50 lb. bag of trout feed for roughly $20 where I live but is it worth it? I’ll be honest when I first got in the hobby I fed my goldfish and koi fish trout food before but once I started doing research on it I stopped. I noticed that by feeding fish trout food it was leaving an oil film on the water surface and was affecting the water quality and was a health concern for fish. Fish food such as trout pellets that is high in fat and oil can contibute to fatty liver disease in fish.

Feeding Goldfish & Koi at Country Koi Fish Farm

Lets think about it this way, imagine if we ate at McDonalds everyday. You can get a value meal pretty cheap! Think of the amount of fat that your consuming on a daily basis, would this be good for your health? Feeding trout food to your goldfish and koi is about the same. I’m not going to say that McDonalds food is not great as we all like to have a treat every so often. Who can say no to a BigMac? :)With trout food you may be getting more for your buck in terms of quantity but you are lacking on quality. When feeding your goldfish and koi please think of their overall health as they need a nutrient rich food low in fat, high in protein. Feed your fish the right food and they’ll love you for it and live a longer happier life.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

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Aquarium Care Cycle A New Fish Tank Goldfish How To

How To Properly Cycle A New Aquarium or Fish Tank For Your Goldfish?

In order to cycle your new aquarium or fish tank you should know a little bit about the nitrogen cycle. What you are doing is trying to create a perfect ecosystem capable of holding life. How do you do that you ask, easy! There are several steps that you need to do in order to properly cycle a new aquarium, if not you’ll end up having problems with fish dying or becoming stressed which tend to lead to fish diseases. Through simple steps you can create a perfect ecosystem for your goldfish right in your home.

If your anything like me before getting into any new hobby you’ve probably done your research and browsed thousands of sites, read aquarium books and everything you need to know about goldfish. You’ve probably came across the term “New Tank Syndrome” which is basically where new aquarium hobbyist lose all their fish as a result of high levels of ammonia in their fish tank. This is because the aquarium was not properly cycled and they may have perhaps done some things wrong during the cycling process.

To Start Cycling A New Aquarium Only Add A Few Fish

What people need to understand that this is a new tank set up and their is no beneficial bacteria in the aquarium when you first begin. You need to get the fish tank cycled yourself to be able to sustain life. There need to be that beneficial bacteria in your aquarium in order to break down the fish waste. Goldfish create a lot of waste, which leads to ammonia which is very toxic to fish.

What you need to do to properly cycle your new aquarium or fish tank is add a few goldfish or an other type of fish to get the process going. Remember your fish tank should have at least 2 inches of aquarium gravel at the bottom of the tank. This is another place where the good beneficial bacteria will start to grow. You should also have the aquarium filter and pump running for at least 24 hours before introducing goldfish to your fish tank. What you don’t want to do is add too many goldfish at the start of the cycling process as this will lead to problems. To cycle a new aquarium you need to start off small with a few fish just to get some bacteria in the water and get the process started. Once fish are introduced the cycling process begins.

Now what will happen is your goldfish will begin eating, creating fish waste, which creates ammonia. The beneficial bacteria that is now growing inside the aquarium will break down the ammonia and form nitrite. What aquarium owners need to do is always test your water quality and record the readings during this process. When a new tank is being cycled ammonia levels will spike which can kill your goldfish. If your goldfish are showing signs of stress then you will need to lower your ammonia levels in your aquarium. Once the bacteria has broken down the ammonia into nitrite is yet another level of concern. High nitrite levels can poison and kill your fish and you need to test your water quality often during the cycling process. The nitrite will then be turned into nitrate which is relatively harmless to fish. When you do regular water changes is when you will remove the end product nitrate from your aquarium. This whole process is known as the nitrogen cycle. In order to properly cycle a new fish tank it can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks. Be patient!

A Fully Cycled and Established Goldfish Aquarium With White Fantail Goldfish
When your cycling your fish tank you should do regular small water changes. I would do a 10% water change everyday or two. What a lot of people make mistakes at is doing very large water changes which is defeating the purpose of cycling it. If you do this your fighting a losing battle. I know people get scared that they are going to lose their fish when they see the readings of ammonia or nitrite they tested for, but don’t be. The beneficial bacteria is trying to colonize in the aquarium gravel, the filter media etc.. If you do lets say a 50% water change your basically going back to square one. Give it time! Do small water changes, test regularly, record readings and allow the time for the beneficial bacteria to grow. After your done cycling your new aquarium when you test for ammonia and nitrite you should not detect any, if you do your doing something wrong. Cycling a fish tank is easy as long as you follow the simple steps provided, don’t add to many fish to begin with and allow the time necessary for the beneficial bacteria to grow. Once your aquarium is cycled is when you really get to enjoy your new fish tank as you begin taking care of your goldfish.

***Tip, gradually add more goldfish to your aquarium that your tank is capable of holding to reduce the stress on your filter caused by the increased amount of fish waste being produced. Slow and steady wins the race!***

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
“Helping Goldfish Owners With Advice, Fish Care and Fish Medication Treatments for Goldfish Diseases, Illnesses and Parasites”

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