Ich and fin rot?

[Allie]

I did a water change on Tuesday, added a pleco to the tank on Wednesday, and woke up on Saturday to both my goldfish and my pleco covered in white spots. Went to the store I got the pleco at, they sold me ich treatment. Today I noticed the red spots on the goldfish, and this evening (Sunday), I saw the goldfish’s tail looked shredded. 
 

I’ve never had any issues in my tank like this before!! I have no idea what to do and I’m not fully confident I even know what’s happening. The pleco seems fine and to be responding to the ich treatment, the goldfish seems worse! They haven’t interacted much from what I’ve seen, so I don’t think the pleco is bothering him at all. 
 

pH is around 7, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite are all at 0 ppm per my water testing kit. Tank is around 76 degrees. 
 

I did a water change again last night, parameters are the same as listed above, and I added aquarium salt this evening.

 

What else can I do for my goldfish? He comes out to eat but then goes back into a little cave I have in there and rests at the bottom.

 

[Brandon p]

Do you add a ph buffer to lower a high ph or is the ph 7 from the water source

[Allie]

On 10/4/2021 at 12:14 AM, Brandon p said:

Do you add a ph buffer to lower a high ph or is the ph 7 from the water source

The ph was 7 from the source, I believe. The only thing I add when changing water is Prime. 

[Brandon p]

Is the tail still shaped the same. I the top pic it looks a  big spot is missing and the second shape looks pretty good just the color is white? 

Looks like you have and air stone correct 

 

[Allie]

On 10/4/2021 at 12:27 AM, Brandon p said:

Is the tail still shaped the same. I the top pic it looks a  big spot is missing and the second shape looks pretty good just the color is white? 

Looks like you have and air stone correct 

 

The top pic is just him moving - these are stills from a video; he’s hard to get pictures of. His tail is typically large and white, however it now has a lot of red streaks through it and it looks shredded at the end! The shape is the same, but obviously damaged somehow. Which is what I assumed was the fin rot? But I’m not sure. You can see the red more in the bottom pic, but how the edges of the tail look frayed in in the top pic. 
 

I do have an air stone, yes!

[Brandon p]

I’m no sure the two more common was Not enough sunlight and poor water conditions 

https://www.aquariumsource.com/goldfish-turning-white/ 
 

I will not vouch for this site but most site are Similar.

[Allie]

On 10/4/2021 at 12:45 AM, Brandon p said:

I’m no sure the two more common was Not enough sunlight and poor water conditions 

https://www.aquariumsource.com/goldfish-turning-white/ 
 

I will not vouch for this site but most site are Similar.

Oh his tail has always been white! My concern right now is it’s developed red streaks in it and has started fraying on the edges in the last 24 hours since I noticed the ich.

[Colu]

What ich medication are you using what type of pleco did you add I would recommend treating with ick x and kanaplex in food  as it looks like the start of a bacterial infection on top of the ich

Edited October 4, 2021 by Colu

[Allie]

I ordered Ich X and am waiting for it to arrive! I currently am using Kordon Ich Attack. I’ll look for the Kanaplex!! Thank you!

The pleco is a bristlenose pleco. 

[Cory]

If this were my tank, I'd lower the tank temp to 73 or so. I'd be using salt in the form of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons. Then add a dose of ich X when it arrives, and monitor it for a day or 2. Repeat the dose of ich x, after a water change, and replace the salt removed as needed. The ich, and bacterial infection that is present currently can be treated alone by salt technically. The elevated temperature of 76, is right on the top end of what goldfish find comfortable, coming down a few degrees can make sure this isn't a cause of stress.

I'd also take a look at the KH of the aquarium and hardness. When using the term "around" it can be a big difference on some things and not on others. Most likely you'll be ok from what the parameters have been described so far.

[Patrick_G]

@Allie I noticed that your Nitrate is at zero. That’s uncommon in any fish tank but especially uncommon in a Goldfish and Pleco tank. What type of test are you using? The API liquid test is know to show false readings if you don’t follow the instructions exactly. I’ve done it and several others on the forum have also confessed to the same mistake so it’s fairly common. I’m not saying that a high Nitrates is causing the problem, but it might be exacerbating it. 

[Allie]

On 10/4/2021 at 5:47 AM, Colu said:

What ich medication are you using what type of pleco did you add I would recommend treating with ick x and kanaplex in food  as it looks like the start of a bacterial infection on top of the ich

 

On 10/4/2021 at 2:48 PM, Cory said:

If this were my tank, I'd lower the tank temp to 73 or so. I'd be using salt in the form of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons. Then add a dose of ich X when it arrives, and monitor it for a day or 2. Repeat the dose of ich x, after a water change, and replace the salt removed as needed. The ich, and bacterial infection that is present currently can be treated alone by salt technically. The elevated temperature of 76, is right on the top end of what goldfish find comfortable, coming down a few degrees can make sure this isn't a cause of stress.

I'd also take a look at the KH of the aquarium and hardness. When using the term "around" it can be a big difference on some things and not on others. Most likely you'll be ok from what the parameters have been described so far.

 

On 10/4/2021 at 2:48 PM, Cory said:

If this were my tank, I'd lower the tank temp to 73 or so. I'd be using salt in the form of 1 tablespoon per 3 gallons. Then add a dose of ich X when it arrives, and monitor it for a day or 2. Repeat the dose of ich x, after a water change, and replace the salt removed as needed. The ich, and bacterial infection that is present currently can be treated alone by salt technically. The elevated temperature of 76, is right on the top end of what goldfish find comfortable, coming down a few degrees can make sure this isn't a cause of stress.

I'd also take a look at the KH of the aquarium and hardness. When using the term "around" it can be a big difference on some things and not on others. Most likely you'll be ok from what the parameters have been described so far.

Thank you so much!! “Around” was for the ph - it looked between the 7 and 7.2 reading, but it seemed closer to 7. Everything else was very apparent. I’ll pick up a KH test tomorrow, I’ve never tested for that before.

On 10/4/2021 at 3:50 PM, Patrick_G said:

@Allie I noticed that your Nitrate is at zero. That’s uncommon in any fish tank but especially uncommon in a Goldfish and Pleco tank. What type of test are you using? The API liquid test is know to show false readings if you don’t follow the instructions exactly. I’ve done it and several others on the forum have also confessed to the same mistake so it’s fairly common. I’m not saying that a high Nitrates is causing the problem, but it might be exacerbating it. 

I’m using the API freshwater master test kit! I’ll keep that in mind as I retest, I didn’t know that! Thank you!

[Flumpweesel]

My oldy goldy lost its tail due to stress and bad water  (I was learning about cycling the hard way due to an emergency aquarium replacement ) .  A  weeks of keeping the water perfect with extra water changes keeping the strong lights off and things improved . The red cleared up and it did eventually grow back in full that.  I wish I had been told about salt back then as this as it would have probably moved things along a bit faster , I used melafix as in the uk most other meds are not available. 

Good luck and don't give up it.