Author: GoldfishCare

How To Treat Anchor Worms On Goldfish?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date July 2, 2008
7 Comments on How To Treat Anchor Worms On Goldfish?

By Jamie Boyle

As you seen on my other post What Is Anchor Worm? you will need to learn how to treat anchor worms found on your goldfish. Anchor worms are quite common and the good news is that anchor worms are very easy to treat with the right medication treatment.

The first thing you will need to do is buy some anchor worm treatment medication. Some good ones that I’ve used and work effectively to eliminate these external parasites are Anchors Away, Dimilin, ProForm LA, and Potassium Permanganate. All of these parasite medication will kill anchor worms on your fish. The only suggestion I would do is use Potassium Permanganate as the last resort as it’s a very strong chemical and if improper measurements are made for the amount of medication to add to your pond or aquarium can possibly kill all your fish.

I would stick with Anchors Away, Dimilin, or Proform La. These ones will work effectively at getting rid of anchor worms for sure. Just follow proper dosage as recommended and never add more then what is suggested. More is not always better. Follow the instructions and your pond or aquarium will be anchor worm free in no time.

As far as using Potassium Permanganate to treat anchor worms you can do this with a 10-30 minute bath of a solution concentration of 10 millgrams per litre. You will need to observe your fish during treatment for any kinds of stress. You can also remove anchor worms by using tweezers. I’ve done this many time it is best to put your fish to sleep using an anesthetic to eliminate any pain or discomfort to your goldfish or other type of fish. Once your fish is asleep gently remove the anchor worm with your tweezers. Make sure you get the whole parasite including the anchor that is embedded deep into the fish tissue. It is also known as well if you apply some potassium permanganate to the anchor worms itself it can cause the external parasite to release it’s grip or hold of your fish. To do this take a cotton swab and dip it into a solution of potassium permanganate. Then apply the cotton swab to the goldfish parasite and it should release it’s hold and make it easier for removal. If you have no cotton swabs on hand just use your pair of tweezers and dip this into the solution of potassium permanganate once the solution touches the anchor worm it will release its hold allowing the whole parasite to be removed.

As mentioned earlier, using potassium permanganate to treat anchor worms is much more work but it’s effective. For a much easier alternative you should use the other anchor worm medication treatments as mentioned. Less work and just as effective. I hope this helps people learn how to treat anchor worms on goldfish, koi and other types of fish.

You can tell by the above photo and see how anchor worms actually got its name. It is very similar to the anchor found on the boat as seen above. It’s a splitting image!

Have your fish ever had anchor worms before? Till next time Anchors Away!

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Tags anchor worms, Goldfish, Goldfish diseases, goldfish diseases and information, goldfish parasites

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What Is Anchor Worms?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date July 2, 2008

By Jamie Boyle

Anchor worms ( Crustacean parasite, Lernaea ) are small external parasites often seen on Goldfish, Koi and other types of fish. These anchor worms are small threadlike parasites that you often see them attached to goldfish on the body itself or close to the tail fin or dorsal fin. Once these anchor worms attach themselves to the fish it begins to feed on the goldfish body fluids and can destroy muscle and gill tissue. These external parasites can be seen quite easily seen as they are about 1/4″ long which is about 6-7mm. For this type of parasite you don’t need a microscope to see them at all.

As these parasites feed it can cause secondary bacterial infections to begin. Once you notice your goldfish showing signs and symptoms of anchor worms through flashing and scratching themselves on things you will need to learn how to treat anchor worms on goldfish and begin treatment right away. Goldfish will try and rub themselves against anything such as aquarium gravel, aquarium ornaments or decorations to try and rid themselves or knock off these external parasites causing irritation. The good thing with anchor worms is that it’s very easy to treat, just begin treatment right away to eliminate the chance of spreading these parasites to your other goldfish. Anchor worms ( Lernaea ) lay eggs so just so know you will need to treat your entire tank to make sure you rid yourself of Anchor worms. As I say it Anchors Away!

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Do Goldfish Have Teeth?

By Jamie Boyle

Many people believe that goldfish do not have teeth but the true fact of that matter is that YES goldfish do have teeth. When feeding goldfish and you watch them eat you will not see teeth in front of their mouth like us that we use for eating but they have teeth further back used to break up and digest their food. Goldfish have some teeth in their jaws but most goldfish teeth are in their throat called pharyngeal teeth.

Just because you cannot see goldfish teeth doesn’t mean they’re not there. Lots if people believe that goldfish don’t have teeth but they do. Here is a picture of goldfish teeth so you can see what I am talking about. You can see these bony teeth like structure deep inside the mouth of this goldfish. Pretty neat eh!

So when people tell you that goldfish don’t have teeth, you can correct them and show them this picture.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Tags Feeding Goldfish, Goldfish, Goldfish Teeth

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How To Treat Ulcer Disease On Goldfish

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date May 20, 2008
21 Comments on How To Treat Ulcer Disease On Goldfish

By Jamie Boyle

Ulcer disease on goldfish is something all goldfish and aquarium owners will come across some day and you will need to learn how to treat ulcers effectively. I just recently made two posts and talked about How Ulcers Begin On Goldfish and Ulcers On Goldfish – Red Sores Blotches which talks more about this subject. The best thing people can do as mentioned is to treat ulcers right away as it’s easier to correct the problem at the start and you will have much better luck in the treatment of ulcers.

What you need to learn now is how to treat ulcer disease on goldfish and there are several ways you can do so. One of the ways in which I use is Potassium Permanganate which works very well but you need to be cautious using this as it is a severely strong medication and treatment method for ulcers and should only be used by experienced people in the hobby. I won’t talk much on this as I have just learned just recently that Potassium permanganate is now illegal in Canada. I will update you more on this news later to let you know why.

Another method of treatment for ulcers is by using Melafix. Melafix treats ulcers and open wounds on goldfish healing them quickly and restoring damaged tissue. I know for Pond Care Melafix you use one teaspoon for every 50 gallons of water for minor injuries, wounds and fin damage you can use this dosage. For more serious and advanced injuries in goldfish double the dosage to two teaspoons for every 50 gallons. Melafix works very well in the treatment of ulcers on goldfish and is a all natural medication. When treating your goldfish for ulcers just remember to remove the activated carbon from your filter and turn off your UV sterilizers if you have one. Now with the Pond Care Medication this is a stronger concentration of medication, there is one that you can buy at local pet stores which is a lower concentration meant for aquarium use. See your local pet store for more details and follow the recommended dosage on the box.

Another method of treating ulcers is by by feeding your goldfish Debride Medicated Food for bacterial infections in combination with Debride Medicated Ointment. When you do these both it has an excellent result in the treatment of ulcers. Simply feed the medicated food to your goldfish for a full 14 days while applying a small bit of ointment onto the affected area on your goldfish body and you will see great results when you combine both uses.

Another way I treat ulcers on goldfish is by using the Kutsuri Wound Kit. This kit is meant for the treatment of wounds such as ulcers. All you do is put your goldfish to sleep using an anesthetic, use the sterilization solution, clean the wound, apply red solution which is iodine to the area, apply a medicated powder directly on to the ulcer, and then apply your water sealer to keep the medicated powder from being washed off when you introduce your goldfish back to your aquarium or pond. I personally like this method as you know for sure that the infected area is being treated for sure. I know I had a koi with an ulcer bigger then a loonie before and deep and this cured it good and fast.

These are several ways you can treat ulcer disease on goldfish. Some are easier then others and I suggest going with the one your more comfortable with. If your uneasy on putting your goldfish or koi to sleep to treat the ulcers then I suggest going with the Melafix which is a medication you simply add to the water. Quick, easy and efficient. Choose the right form of goldfish ulcer disease treatment for you.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

How Ulcers Begin On Goldfish

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date May 9, 2008
39 Comments on How Ulcers Begin On Goldfish

By Jamie Boyle

Today I received an email from one of my readers who is having a problem with her goldfish with some red blotches on her fantail goldfish. I asked for some more information so I could properly diagnose the symptoms that her goldfish is showing.

Here are the goldfish pictures that Michelle sent me so I can help her out:

As you see in the photos this fantail goldfish has red blotches by the back and tail. You see with ulcers it starts off almost like a rash with red blotches or red marks on the goldfish. As the ulcer disease in goldfish progresses scales will fall off and open the skin will open up to the tissue. Treating goldfish for ulcers is very easy at the early stages when they begin. When you see this happening begin goldfish treatment right away.

The more advanced stages of ulcers can be seen with this photo. Here you will see the extreme tissue damage done by ulcer disease. It has eaten away right into the flesh and body tissue of this koi shown here. If left untreated fish will die for sure. That’s why it’s very important to treat ulcers right away when you notice it. it’s much easier to treat in early stages.

Now when you see red blotches or red marks on goldfish doesn’t always mean that it’s ulcers, it could be bacterial infections. Sometimes bad water quality will cause hemoraging on goldfish. It then appears as red marks coming from beneath the shin which can be seen. Always make sure water quality is kept up to date and healthy for your goldfish. Sometimes there is just too much bacteria in the water causing irritation on goldfish. Just keep water quality in check and at proper levels. Doing water changes regularly and keeping goldfish aquariums and goldfish ponds not overcrowded will help heep their health in order. Overcrowded ponds and aquariums are one of the main reasons that ulcers appear on goldfish and koi.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Ulcers On Goldfish Red Sores- Blotches

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date April 24, 2008
9 Comments on Ulcers On Goldfish Red Sores- Blotches

By Jamie Boyle

Ulcers disease among goldfish appear at the beginning as small red sores or blotches. These ulcers are usually caused by a parasitic infestation then a secondary bacterial infection has set in. These ulcers much like mouth rot will actually eat away the skin and flesh of your goldfish and if left untreated will actually eat away until it forms a hole in the goldfish showing the internal organs. Goldfish ulcers are annoying but they are treatable and are much easier to treat in the early stages when ulcers appear with the right fish medications. As I mentioned at the beginning they start off as small red sores but these sores will increase in size as this ulcer disease progresses.

Ulcers can happen from a variety of different reasons:

1. Poor water quality
2. Parasitic Infestation
3. Injury
4. Overcrowded conditions
5. Stress
6. Result of spawning injury
7. High count of aeromonas and pseudomonas in the water

These are some of the reasons ulcers will happen on goldfish. What you need to do is treat your goldfish right away. If left untreated death is sure to happen to your goldfish so be sure to treat your goldfish right away and learn how to treat ulcer disease on goldfish.

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Goldfish Pond Opening – Spring Is Here !!!

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date April 12, 2008
15 Comments on Goldfish Pond Opening – Spring Is Here !!!

By Jamie Boyle

Well it’s about time spring is finally here and our goldfish pond is finally beginning to open. I just took this photo April 7Th which was a beautiful warm spring day. It was 16 degrees Celsius outside and the goldfish in our pond was beginning to swim around coming out of hibernation. We started to take some ice out of the pond and you can see some left but not much at all. We also hooked up the pond pump to give some more circulation and that started to melt the rest of the ice fast. You may notice in the photos of the garden ponds it says 01/01/2005 my digital camera reset itself and I wasn’t aware of it. It does that sometimes and I still don’t know why it always goes back to that date. Oh well I’ll figure it out someday but those were just taking this past week.

Am I ever glad spring is here! We had such a long winter this year in New Brunswick Canada. It was a crazy long winter with all kinds of snow. Our goldfish pond stayed open all year using just an air pump to allow bad gases to release into the air. We did however end up losing three goldfish over the winter. Last year we didn’t lose any fish but when you overwinter goldfish, sometimes that may happen. The rest of the goldfish are swimming around fine and we think some goldfish breeding will occur not too long from now. Lets just say they are starting to swim around pretty good and staying very close to one another. There may be some goldfish babies here pretty soon! When this happens I will show you all the eggs and the baby fry as they hatch.

I also took a quick spin over to my brothers goldfish and koi pond and he still had quite a bit of ice in his. That same day he did hook up his pond pump to start to melt the ice so won’t be long to have his clear either. I’ll show you some photos of some beautiful pictures of his fish once it opens up. He has some nice big koi in his pond, goldfish and sarassa comets. A very nice water garden pond in the summer.

A very long overdue farewell to old man winter, glad spring is here to enjoy our garden pond and fish! Time for some nice weather 🙂

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy

Tags Breeding Goldfish, Goldfish, Goldfish Pond

Goldfish Goldfish Care

Black Spots On Goldfish

Many people have left comments on my goldfish blog telling me ” My Goldfish Has Black Spots, Help ! ” so I figured I would do a post on this. Black spots on goldfish is a result of poor water quality being that the ammonia level in the aquarium has spiked. When the ammonia level in your tank increases it causes black spots to appear on the goldfish body and black tips to appear on the tail, pectoral fins and dorsal fins. These black spots are a result of ammonia burn.

People should think of ammonia like acid, when the ammonia is extremely high it cause ammonia burn, just like acid would do to human skin. It causes discomfort in your goldfish and high levels of ammonia can kill your goldfish. As I’ve mentioned before people really need to take care of their goldfish properly. If you have an aquarium or goldfish bowl, you need to have water test kits around. This is a necessity if you plan on keeping your goldfish healthy and living a long life free of black spots.

Now don’t mistaken black spots on goldfish being ammonia burn all the time. Goldfish do change colour from grey to common colour orange so that may be the case as well. Even though your goldfish aquarium water may be crystal clear, doesn’t always mean that your water quality is perfect. Clear water could also contain high levels of harmful properties in water chemistry. Never rely on clear water being safe for fish. Check your water quality often to ensure that you don’t have black spots on goldfish and ammonia burn to happen.

Test often, perform regular maintenance such as water changes and have equipment working properly will be the first step to proper goldfish care and eliminating chance of black spots on your fish called Melanophore Migration.

Sincerely,

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

Have your goldfish suffered from black spots and ammonia burn before?

Tags Black Spots, Goldfish, goldfish black spots, goldfish care, Goldfish diseases, goldfish diseases and information

Goldfish Goldfish Care

Goldfish Hearing – Do They Hear Sound?

Post author By GoldfishCare
Post date February 27, 2008
11 Comments on Goldfish Hearing – Do They Hear Sound?

Goldfish Hearing Sound - Do They Hear? Yes!

People often wonder, do goldfish have hearing, do they hear sound?The answer to this question is yes! Many people are often curious whether goldfish can smell, taste, touch, how they eat, do they sleep and can goldfish hear. Goldfish can hear but it’s not like us how we have ears in through which we are able to hear sound. On goldfish they don’t have ears on their outer body like us, instead they have hearing from within their body.

Your probably wondering how do we really know they can hear? Well if you go to a tank and you tap on it you will see them dart away as they become frightened and scared. They heard it! Goldfish hear through an inner organ which is located within the head of the goldfish. It’s not the same as in humans as we have a main sensory organ called the cochlea and goldfish do not have that. Now with goldfish since they have no cochlea, they have something different within called the otolith which is a hard stone. Now remember when I mentioned above about tapping on a golfish aquarium or tank that the goldfish can hear this, well the otolith is what actually detects sound.

Goldfish hearing is all heard through vibrations which sound vibrations are transmitted through the water and the otolith detects it. It’s pretty neat understanding the anatomy of fish and how they react and hear things.

So goldfish can hear to answer everyones question. I know I did some research on the cochlea and we hear very much the same actually. There is fluid within the ear that has small hairs that move with sound or vibration in which then the brain comprehends into sound. It’s pretty neat actually and goldfish hear through the water in which vibrations goes through the fish’s body to the otolith, neat to know how sound is perceived. Just don’t tap on fish tanks really as it can kill fish through vibrations. It can cause fish stress and other things to occur, they can hear so don’t do it just to test the hearing theory and care for your goldfish.

Tags Frequently Asked Questions, Goldfish, goldfish care, Goldfish Hearing, Goldfish Information

Breeding Goldfish Goldfish Goldfish Care

Are My Goldfish Pregnant?

Goldfish Varieties Hardy Water Lilies Pond — Goldfish Varieties Not Pregnant But Possibly Full of Eggs Ready For Breeding/Spawning in Hardy Water Lilies Pond

One of my readers asked me a question ” How To Tell If My Goldfish Are Pregnant” and I decided to write a post about this. Many people often get very interested in goldfish breeding and wonder are my goldfish pregnant and are there going to be little baby goldfish. What people first need to realize is that goldfish don’t become pregnant. Goldfish are not livebearers, meaning that they don’t have live young. Goldfish are called egg layers meaning that when goldfish breed during the spawning process eggs are released and fertilized by the male and then the eggs hatch into young fry a few days later. Seeing goldfish breed is very neat and interesting to see the whole process in motion.

So goldfish don’t become pregnant but you can tell the differences between males and female goldfish by viewing them from above. In order to tell when and if your goldfish will breed involves proper planning, recording temperatures, sexually mature goldfish and knowing when the eggs are ready and matured inside the female goldfish. The eggs need to be fully developed and ready in order for successful breeding to occur.

If you want to learn more about goldfish breeding visit some other posts I’ve made on breeding and raising young goldfish.

Sincerely,

Tags Breeding Goldfish, Goldfish, Sexing Goldfish