kingfisher

Our 6" golden algae eatter is our oldest fish @ 5 yrs old. He used to live in a poorly filtered (beginers kit) 10gal tank and chased all the other fish out to our other tank (except for a couple of zebra danios). About a month ago he began to get "green scales" along his sides which began to multiply in number.
We have since moved him to a 50 gal tank to give him some more room. The green scales keep appearing and I can't find any info on them. (see photos). He has grown more reclusive and was hard to get good shots of his scales.
[b]What is causing the green scales and what can I do about them.[b]What should I treat him with? Should I treat the whole tank (total 3 fish) or move him to the 10 gal tank to treat him? Thanks for any help we can get, we're worried about him!

lilFishyfish

I've been reading online that it is possible for algae to grow on fish. Also it might be possible that it is a age thing, since you said hes 5. (Its hard to tell if its algae on it though without a picture). How long do you leave on the light in your tank? Also has there been been alot of algae in your tank? Has your water been tested lately? If you don't want to buy a kit, you should be able to bring your water to a LFS or petsmart or somewhere and they can test it for you. (At least when I worked at fish shops we did that for people) U can always call and ask. I'm not sure if I would treat him, but if I did I would use a algae rid treatment (one that is safe for all critters and plants). The Jungle brand algae treatment tabs one seems to work well. You should be able to get those at Walmart. I've used to before and they have helped for tank algae. I DO NOT recommend using them on a regular basis just for this sorta case or when you get a algae Bloom or something similar. Until you get your water tested I would wait though since it might just be aging or something else wrong with your water causing this reaction.