[Gardengirl]

I took on a trio of really large, adult goldfish from a girl who was moving. She won them at a carnival about five years ago and grew them out in tanks at home. Anyway, she had to move and I offered to take them for my pond. There are two males and a very large female.

Right now the three fish are in a quarentine tank in my fish room. It's a 70 gallon fiberglass tub with a Skippy-style upflow filter. I keep a close eye on water perameters and change the water frequently to keep their conditions pristine. So, I've noticed that the large female loses scales from time to time. She is not flashing off of objects or anything. I just turn on the lights in the morning and there will be a few scales on the bottom of the tank. I've treated the three of them for flukes (two treatments of Fluke Tabs), and they will get a Proform-C treatment in a week (three days). That's become standard for any fish going in my pond... So, I was just wondering if losing scales is normal in larger adult fish like this.....?

She does not appear to be spawning in the QT. The male fish are not chasing her around. There are bricks holding up the filter bucket, and those are rough, but I do not see her flashing or scratching herself on them.... Also, there is a night light on in the fish room so the fish don't bang themselves up at night....

She does not seem to be in any distress -- eats like a pig and has no visible signs of disease (no gasping, frayed fins, ich spots etc). The other fish are fine as well, but these scales have me wondering...... I definately do not want to put her in the big pond until I have a definative answer. Anyone???

[Jackie Ramo]

Could these scales have been damaged before, when she was captured and moved to her new home and now are falling out?

[Gardengirl]

She's been here a couple of months, so I don't think so Jackie..... I'm going to do the Proform-C this week. I do it anyway on QT goldfish, so maybe that will help. I don't really see any indication that there are parasites though -- no ich grains or velvet dust or signs of secondary infections (thank Go!). She's not acting sick at all. She's a real character -- splashes me with her HUGE tail. :)

I did a google on "goldfish losing scales" this afternoon and aside from the normal things like ich, I found that older goldfish sometimes just lose scales, so maybe that's all it is.....

[Jackie Ramo]

Maybe she's shedding!! Is it one patch or random scales?

[Gardengirl]

Random scales.... Do goldfish shed or are you just pulling my leg?? LOL.

[Jackie Ramo]

Does your foot tickle???? I'm sure that fish must shed scales from time to time. Although I also think there would be an underlying reason for them to drop scales enough for you to notice. Are you just seeing the scales or can you see where they are missing on the fish?

[Gardengirl]

I guess a picture would be better so I just bowled her and shot a few horrid pics. Slippery fish would not hold still! Anyway here they are.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/gardengirl_7/Sunshine4.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/gardengirl_7/Sunshine3.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/gardengirl_7/Sunshine2.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/gardengirl_7/Sunshine1.jpg


http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/gardengirl_7/Sunshine.jpg

It almost appears as if she's losing scales and then growing them back in white or clear.... Maybe it's an age thing? She's four or five years old and very large. Or maybe she just grows clear/white scales back and they color up after awhile? I'm posting another thread about the one male with pics of him too. He's got some kind of deformity under his chin.... Take a look and tell me what you think.

[Jackie Ramo]

It does look like many of the scales have grown back or changed colour. She certainly looks fat and healthy. I wonder if fish get thinning hair syndrom <LOL>

Are you actually finding a lot of scales or are you assuming the ones that have changed colour have fallen out and regrown. Scales don't grow quickly.

[Gardengirl]

Jackie Ramo, on Jul 8 2008, 10:14 PM, said:

It does look like many of the scales have grown back or changed colour. She certainly looks fat and healthy. I wonder if fish get thinning hair syndrom <LOL>

Are you actually finding a lot of scales or are you assuming the ones that have changed colour have fallen out and regrown. Scales don't grow quickly.

I find one or two a week on the bottom of the QT. Not a lot -- not like dozens or anything like that, just a couple at a time..... that's why I wondered if she was sort of shedding. She was grown out in a small tank -- 29 gallons -- and I'm sure the girl did all she could, but the water perameters couldn't have been that great for such a large fish. She was also fed "Goldfish Crisps" her whole life, so her nutrition was sorely lacking. At my house she gets a variety of pellet food, live brine shrimp, floating duckweed and anacharis to graze on, frozen bloodworms, shelled peas, algae chips, and little dried shrimps and shrimp pellets. Her condition has improved a lot since she's gotten here, but there are still those couple of scales from time to time..... :mellow:

[Jackie Ramo]

It could be that she is growing fast in her new environment. It seems in the pics that the scales missing are smaller scales and they may not grow back but be grown over with the bigger scales.

[Gardengirl]

I guess we'll see. No scales today. I gave them the second of three Proform-C treatments. If all goes well, they'll head to the big pond by the end of the month. I emailed their original owner and asked her if the female ever lost scales. I'm waiting to hear back from her.

Now I'm wondering if our cold winter weather will bother these three fish. They've never gone through a winter as they were kept inside in aquariums. I don't suppose it makes any difference if they are healthy and fattened up by fall, but still. I'd be ashamed of myself for taking them and then having them die. The female and the one male with the deformity will be the largest fish in my pond once they move. I'm hoping she won't get hassled to much by the males, but will float an isolation basket for her if she does to give her a break. She's slower moving due to her size and I don't want her to get bullied. The pond is plenty big enough for all of them, I just worry.....

Both she and the male have the LONGEST flowing tails of any comet I've ever seen. If they breed (and I hope they do) they would produce lovely babies with long, long tails. I'd love to see her breed with one of the shubbies in my pond. Oh, the babies would be so pretty! :) :) :)

[Jackie Ramo]

Maybe they will breed and you will have bald fish!!! <LOL> with long flowing tails of course!!! Hopefully the proform C has found the underlying problem and no more scales dropping off.

[KoiKitten]

Sherry -
I have several ponds here in FL and in my smaller one I have a few goldfish just like yours. My oldest is about 8 yrs old. Didn't think they lived so long....anyway in all the yrs that I have had her she has gone through many changes including losing some scales. Usually this happens when she has her growing spurts. Due to the contour of their body shape the scale loss is more noticeable. It's really nothing to worry about, even in moves they may lose a few from netting or water differences but they are super hardy.

Several years ago mine got stuck in a plant container where I felt like during my rescueing her I had to have smushed her face in, but it was the only way to save her. She lost vision in one of her eyes and I medicated her open wounds from the cuts and she is still here. Also as long as you don't have really long (months) freezing weather they will survive the cold water. If your pond is well established they will survive by eat the sides etc. They do require air is the only catch.

Don't worry,
Connie

[Gardengirl]

LOL Jackie - bald fish. I'd have a new breed.... scale-less goldfish from Virginia -- Virginiana scalelessii, LOL.....

Thanks for your kind reassurance Connie. The three fish had their third treatment of Proform-C yesterday and have pulled through really well. They go back to fresh water today and if all goes well they'll be in the big pond within a week. I'll be glad for it too, as I'm sick of all the water changes on the QT, lol.

This pond does freeze, but I use a deicer and don't worry if there's a covering of ice, as the ice acts to insulate the water somewhat. I figure the fish will be fine. They are healthy, fattened up and I've done the best I can with them.... I can't wait to see them in much bigger water -- more than they've ever been in. :)

[Jackie Ramo]

I'm sure, like you, the fish will be glad to be out of Q and into the pond.

[Gardengirl]

Proform-C treatment is over and there was a scale in the QT yesterday, and two today. Grrrr! :angry: :angry: :angry:

I'm giving them a few days of fresh water, then will probably go ahead and put them in the pond. I really think this is just an anomaly. She is fat and healthy and doing fine. All of them are.... thankfully.

[Jackie Ramo]

If she was contagious the other two fish would show some signs by now. Like Connie, I think this are growth spurts since she is so fat!!!

[Gardengirl]

Now that a little time has passed, I'm pretty sure the scale loss was from her being "molested" by the young white common tail in the QT. I noticed him going after her on several occasions. She's a big girl and it wouldn't surprise me if she was full of eggs. I moved the white fish out to the pond a few days ago and he's zipping around like he's in fishy Heaven, lol. The remaining two are in QT but will probably go in the pond today.

I need to come up with some kind of containment system for that big female, just in case she's getting harassed by the other fish. If I zip tie pipe insulator foam to a laundry basket that will float and give her a resting spot. OR, I could sew netting around a hula hoop, cover the hoop with pipe insulator and make a netted containment area for her like that...... OR, there's always the QT, but I'd love to get that huge vat out of my fish room. It takes up so much space!

[Jackie Ramo]

She may need to get rid of the eggs. Its not fun to watch and often there is damage but mom nature knows what she is doing. This year the males just about pushed poor Bullet my sarogoi out of the pond trying to spawn, she ended up with a huge gash in her side and most of the scales missing off one side of her tail. She's healed up nicely with no treatment from me. Although watching that gash open and close as she swam made me queazy. Just to keep it fair though old Tweet had a few bruises of his own to prove he was in there with the best of them.

Pool noodles tied to a laundry basket???

[Gardengirl]

Jackie Ramo, on Jul 20 2008, 01:44 PM, said:

Pool noodles tied to a laundry basket???

Jackie, the pipe insulation from the hardware store is a dark charcoal grey. It's a little smaller than pool noodles but works beautifully and is cheaper. It blends in with the pond better than bright orange or red pool noodles, LOL. :shocked3:

I'm going to scrounge around for an extra laundry basket to have on hand, just in case the old girl gets the stuffing knocked out of her in the next couple of days. She is very thick around the middle and if she gets beat up I'll QT her again..... either basket or back to the fish room. Gosh, when will I ever get that vat out of the middle of the floor of the fish room? LOL. :blink: