Goldfish looks dirty/black spots. Help please

[michaelsf90]

Those are from last year but it's the same setup. Unless I put it on the return from the filter behind a stone to hide it or in the water pool at the top

 

[WaterGardener]

As long as you aren't blocking an intake, there should be no problem with restrictive water flow.

 

[Mgessert]

You probably already know this, but ammonia or physical injury can damage the skin, causing black spots that will eventually go away as the skin heals. There is also a fluke parasite, transmitted by snails, that causes black spots. This is from Wiki:

Black spot disease is also known as diplopstomiasis or fluke disease.[1] It is a freshwater fish disease caused by flatworm larvae of the genus Neascus.[1][2][3] It appears as tiny black spots on the skin, fins and flesh of the fish.
The life cycle of the parasite typically involves a fish-eating bird, a snail and a fish.[4] The black spot larvae grow to sexual maturity in the infected bird's intestine. The adult worms pass eggs with the bird's droppings. When the eggs reach water, they hatch into free-swimming organisms which then penetrate snails for further development. Finally, after leaving the snails they burrow into the skin of fish and form a cyst. The fish surrounds the cyst with black pigment that gives the disease its name. If an infected fish is consumed by a bird, the cycle repeats itself.[5]

 

[Mgessert]

Sorry, I just realized that I repeated some previous info. My bad.

 

[michaelsf90]

I've managed to get the ph to 6.8. Crushed oyster shell in some tights in the filter. Il test the pH every other night. The sludge is cleaned out. A few frogs are in at the minute mating

 

[WaterGardener]

You can raise it a little every day. So each day add more baking soda and test the water afterward.

The goal for KH should be a minimum of 100 to be sufficient as a buffer. Higher is fine and won't hurt anything.

 

[michaelsf90]

But raising the kh raises the ph as I've learned with my indoor aquariums. Changing the pH and tds wiped out my catfish which prefer softer water. So I put my snails and shrimp in their own tank with a kh of 4 and gh of 8. Ph is around 7.4. My main tank has a kh of 2. Gh of 3 and pH of 6.8 as all the fish are soft water. It's finding a balance. Im assuming goldfish are happy between 6.8 and 7.6. But if the kh is higher as you say it stops the pH swing. Il test tomorrow and see if its 6.8 still. It should be

 

[WaterGardener]

Goldfish are happy with a pH anywhere between 7 and 10. A specific number isn't relevant. What is important is keeping the pH stable.

The beneficial bacteria that is needed for the nitrogen cycle will struggle to survive in acidic water. It will thrive in a higher pH.

As long as you are raising the pH gradually, it will not be a problem. The important thing is to get your KH high enough to prevent a major pH crash and to stabilize the pH.

 

[michaelsf90]

I have a lot to do with the pond. I want to make it bigger next year but I think it'll be getting groundwork done for it this year. When would be the best time to replace/go over the existing liner. I know the liner is teaming with beneficial bacteria but il need a new one because it will be bigger. Il let you know the kh and ph readings at the end of the week

 

[Nia Roo Studio]

Just for comfort I cleaned the filter yesterday and the pump today. Netted some leaves out and changed 20% of the water. All in the middle of a storm and heavy rain! When I took the filter cover off the pipe being bent caused it to split. It's smooth on the inside but corrugated on the outside. Got it all up and running again but need to replace the pipe in spring. I may put a y valve/connector on further up so its easier to drain the pond when changing water and so it doesn't damage when removing the filter cover. I've tested the water and ammonia has always been 0. I wondered if it's with it being the fishes first ever winter in these temperatures. She was in a goldfish bowl indoors for 10 years before going into the pond in spring last year

I too like you live in the uk (in the borders of England/Scotland, east coast right on the North Sea), I had one with dots on it, but it was when it was changing colour and is fine and healthy and growing. I have 3 commons, 4 Shubunkins (Bristols) and 3 Calico Koi 3 to 4”. I have a hozelock filter with built in UVC, water has always been clear but this year has started with blanket weed, I have clean the algae off after removing the fish and water into holding butts cleaned out the filter and scrubbed down all the sides rinsed out then refilled with the water from the butts,left it for a few hours then placed the fish back in and everything is going fine (touch wood) I forgot to say it’s a 170 gallon raised wooden pond.

 

[michaelsf90]

I live in the North West. Bolton. Near Manchester. We get our water from the lake district. Very soft water. I'm not brave enough for koi. Very messy and my ponds too small. I do plan on making it slightly deeper. Probably get it to 800 litres then. Do you have frogs in yours as well? I get string algae on the falls and the stone at the bottom of the falls

 

[michaelsf90]

A week later and the pH is still 6.6 but kh has raised to 2 °dkh. It has rained a lot tho. I also have nitrite at 0.25 so as we enter spring im guessing a mini cycle has occurred. I'm doing a 20% water change today and adding some filter boost bacteria stuff

 

[WaterGardener]

You need to get that KH and pH up. Add more baking soda. Seems you are doing this too slowly. Also, your filters will work better with a higher KH.

Personally I feel those filter boost products are a waste of money. The type of bacteria you need won't live long enough to be bottled, shipped and put on a shelf until someone buys them. They need oxygen to live so sealing them up in a bottle would kill them. Those products you find in the store don't contain that type of bacteria.

 

[michaelsf90]

A week later and the pH is now up to 7. Kh is still 2. I agree with the filter products. I think it's more of a placebo for the fish owner to feel like theyre doing something good. I noticed last week that nitrite was 0.25 so I think the pond is mini cycling

It looks as tho the large goldfishs skin is peeling. Only way I can describe it. Around the edge of a bump. Is this damage from scraping on something? It doesn't look cottony like fungus as looks as tho say we had dry skin and you know how it peels around the edge? It looks like skin peel. I'm wondering is it worth treating with melafix or pimafix. Also there is a lot of frog spawn in there. I'd have thought the fish would eat it but will they only eat the tadpoles?

 

[WaterGardener]

I would think that with the KH that low that you may still have pH swings from morning to night. Testing early morning and just before dark could confirm, or eliminate that theory.

PH swings are very stressful for the fish.

Melafix and Primafix do nothing in my opinion. There are others here who swear by those products, but I've never known them to work. Didn't you use them before with no effect?

If you can get your pH up to 8, you can dump in as much baking soda as you want, all at once. The pH won't go over 8.2 or 8.3 no matter how much you add. You can dump in a whole box full at it won't hurt. Just don't do that until the pH is around 8.

Until you get the pH stabilized and the KH up where it should be, adding any medications to the pond won't be of much help. Always fix the water first. Most problems will disappear with good water.

I think you had a pH crash that killed your beneficial bacteria. So yes, your pond is restarting the cycle. Getting the KH up will help it get established.

You can use Prime to bind the nitrite and ammonia to keep the fish safe. It has to be dosed every 48 hours for that purpose. That is the only other thing I would recommend using at this point.