My Goldfish Has A White Thing On His Dorsal Fin

My goldfish Gil has a weird elongated white lump along the front of his dorsal fin. There appears to be super little white pieces of fin hanging off of it. My levels are; 60 ppm nitrate, 7.9 ph, 0.25 ppm of ammonia, and 0 ppm of nitrite. I have four fancy goldfish, each about 2.5 inches long, in a 36 gallon tank. Whats wrong with him?

 

If you have ammonia you may not have a fully cycled tank. Is it usually stable?

 

I honestly don't know because I just got the water test kit. I'm pretty sure it is cycled, as it has been running for about two months. I think its because of overstocking

 

could be a fungal infection leading to fin rot. usually caused by poor water quality. as you stated, you're overstocked, so you need to do more frequent 50% water changes.

you're not fully cycled yet since you still have ammonia, so use Seachem Prime to help detox the ammonia.

nitrates over 40ppm = poor water quality, Red is Dead. also, any amount of ammonia or nitrites = poor water quality.


also, test your tap water, it may contain ammonia and/or nitrates too.

 

I tested my tap water and I have bad results. It turns out my tap water has 0.25 ammonia in it. Now just basing this off my logic, my tank is cycled. The ammonia from the tap water puts a heavy load on the bacteria which converts it into nitrite and into nitrate. The overstocking and tap water ammonia builds up the nitrate in the tank which makes a breeding ground for illness and fungus. I can't afford Prime, so what should I do? I would normally just do water changes but the ammonia in the water is dangerous.

 

.25 ammonia in tap is not that terrible that you can't do water changes. your BB should be able to process that within a few hours after a water change.

gotta keep doing the water changes. the goldfish won't stop breathing or pooping. nitrates will rise no matter what.

 

You can't afford $5 or $10 for some Prime? How do you manage to feed your fish??? Sorry, don't mean to be tacky but Prime will make your upkeep must easier even with a cycled and long existing tank.....I recommend buying the largest bottle you can afford as I use it with every water change as my tap water has chloramine and ammonia.....

 

I can't afford it because I'm only 13, and I have to pay for my own stuff, and I only get working opportunities every couple months, and I just bought a test kit.

 

I can't afford it because I'm only 13, and I have to pay for my own stuff, and I only get working opportunities every couple months, and I just bought a test kit.

So sorry that explains it...I forget that not everybody has a job and money for things like this..Tell your parents it is a matter of great importance to buy some Prime to save your fish.....it might work.......Even the small bottle might help and get you started.....also if there is a local fish club see if you can attend a meeting and maybe a member will lend you a small amount OR if you explain your dilemma to a small fish store (as opposed to big chain store) they might understand your situation and help you out......collect aluminum cans and sell them at a recycle center....Good Luck........I wonder though why your profile says you are 88..LOL...I know kids lie about their age though......

 

I put in my birthday wrong and it looks like a hassle to change it.

 

Well anyway, back to your problem.....is there anyway you can show us a photo of the fish with problems? My personal experience is limited with fish diseases and I have zero success at curing except for ich a long, long time ago......here is one of many sites on the web for identifying and recommendations for fish illness........