Goldfish Fins Look Torn - How To Fix?

Recently I impulse purchased some Goldies from my local petco, I had a cycled 40 gallon long tank that I put them in. The other tanks at petco were heavily overstocked and the goldfish had white fuzzy stuff on their tails, however the tank my two came from appeared to be free of this. After a day or so I noticed that their fins appeared slightly torn and it’s slowly gotten worse. What could this be and how can I treat/stop it?

 

What type of goldfish are they? If they are the common feeder types then your tank I would say is too small. Torn looking fins can be fin rot and can be treated with frequent water changes and I know some that find seachem stressguard to help. Can we see pictures?

 

Not commons or comets.... I honestly have no idea what kind they are because I can’t remember, but they are double tailed. I have stress guard and use it when I do water changes. Here’s the best picture I could get of them.

 

That's a ryukin and oranda if I have identified correctly. The 40 is the right size tank so you're fine on that front. I believe this is fin rot. Do very frequent water changes and keep using that stressguard. It may take a while for them to regrow but make sure you really keep the water clean. If it keeps advancing, then medication may have to be used. Best of luck!

 

Recently I impulse purchased some Goldies from my local petco, I had a cycled 40 gallon long tank that I put them in. The other tanks at petco were heavily overstocked and the goldfish had white fuzzy stuff on their tails, however the tank my two came from appeared to be free of this. After a day or so I noticed that their fins appeared slightly torn and it’s slowly gotten worse. What could this be and how can I treat/stop it?

Hello Fear...

As a fellow goldfish keeper, I can tell you that they need a certain amount of standard aquarium salt added to their water and they need large, frequent water changes to be healthy. Keeping these fish is really simple. You add a rounded teaspoon of aquarium salt to every 5 gallons of replacement water and remove and replace at least half the water every week. The salt will take care of any parasite that may be affecting the fish and will ease the stress on the fish if it's sickly. I also add floating plants to the tank. Anacharis and Hornwort are good. Feed them a little organic minced garlic too along with a varied diet of flakes, freeze dried and frozen foods. The fish should recover in a couple of weeks. Keep up with the salt and the water changes.

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Thank you! Tank is currently heavily over filtered and I plan on doing two water changes at week of at least 50%. I only feed live and frozen foods, but I’ve heard Goldie’s need veggies so I’ll add that to their diet as well. I’m actually currently treating with melafix... I hope this is alright. I just want to stop the fin rot in its tracks.

 

No need to add salt IMO, ensuring clean water will allow these guys to heal just fine.

 

Thank you! Tank is currently heavily over filtered and I plan on doing two water changes at week of at least 50%. I only feed live and frozen foods, but I’ve heard Goldie’s need veggies so I’ll add that to their diet as well. I’m actually currently treating with melafix... I hope this is alright. I just want to stop the fin rot in its tracks.

Hello again Fear...

If you want good information on Goldfish keeping go to the Complete Goldfish Care website. It does explain the benefits of using standard aquarium salt as a treatment for ailing fish and for general fish health.

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