Here's what happened - Sat. a.m. I notice Xaiyou had 2 white spots on the base of her tail. Looked pretty big like grains of salt attached. First though was ICH!! I've seen at LFS, and was pretty sure that's what it was.

So - went out right away and got Jungle Ich treatment. When I got home and was setting up, I had Xaiyou and Finnley together in their fish bucket. I notice that Finnely was picking at Xaiyou, and was a little concerned at first, but realized he wasn't harming her.

Upon emptying the bucket, I notice 2 tiny white things at the bottom. Could this be from Xaiyou, had Finnley picked off the Ich? I went straight over and sure enough, the white specks are gone!

I treated them both and the tank for Ich anyway, but I'm confused, was it Ich? Is it normal for fish to groom each other like that (pick stuff off each other)? I'm just glad he didn't eat it, and they were in the bucket when this happened so I could get rid of what ever she had on her.

hmmm, its possible I suppose.

Really, it depends on a few things:


Are any of the fish new? Any new plants?

How long have the fish been together in this tank?


Post back soon.


Paul

1. The got both fish at the same time and they have been together now for almost 2 months.

2. I have no live plants.

They're both very active and eating well.

Hmmm. Well, if you have had them in the tank for two months without any episodes of ich, I would think that you don't have to worry about it. I have yet to hear of a case of ich that broke out, out of nowhere. Usually, ich will present itself, very clearly, within a matter of days in any aquarium with goldfish.

So, I am wondering what these two white spes were:

Do you still have them?

Do you have a high powered magnifying glass or maybe a microscope?


Either way, I think that if your fish are active, seem healthy, and retain a healthy appetite, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.....

Oh good, thanks!

Unfortunately, I don't have the white specs. I threw them down the drain, I was afraid to touch them!

They were opaque white, and were the size of a large grain of sugar/salt. I probably would have fished them out with tweezers and had a look if I had a microscope.

I wonder what it could have been? Hmmm.... the mind boggles.

I have solved the mystery!!! I think.

In natural light, the you can't see the spots, but when I turn on the flourescent light, they reappear, it's like magic!

After having my face pressed against the glass I think it may just be a color change. They looked raised but after further inspection, I think it may all just be an optical illusion! Her tail is mostly black, with a few white/clear areas left (she's be changing color a lot lately), and these two new white spots look so white, they look like Ich.

Strange........

That was to be my next suggestion! Good thinking, you!


Well, they surely would seem to be raised a bit. Goldfish have several layers of skin with a different pigment in each. If you look really close at a calico colored goldfish, it looks as though the different colors were painted on them, with several layers of gloss in between each color. They seem to be foating on the fish.

If you would like to investigate (Goooooooogle) this further, a very good keyword to use would be ..... fish goldfish "melanophore migration".....


If you ever start to see white dots, that ARE raised, on any of their faces or pectoral fins (arms), that would surely signify you have a male......


Paul

Thanks for the link, I'll look into that!

I'm very eager to find out what sex my fishies are, but I think they're too small yet. Only a few months old. I'll keep an eye out for those breeding tubercle (sp?) thingy mabobbies.

Exactly!

I tried to look into that link you sent and all I'm getting from it is that melanophore migration is ammonia burns. Is that right?

I do not think she has ammonia burns, her color change went from mostly orange, with white underbelly and black freckles on her (it's) head to chocolate. Although on one side she still has some orange. Her fins used to be really pretty, with black outlines, white in the very center and orange towards the outside, now they are mostly just black with some white still left over.

My params at 6pm today were:

NI - 0
NA - 0
AM -0
PH - 8
Soft 75
Total alk 300

It may see strange that I have no nitrate levels, but I did about a 75% water change when I thought they had Ich. My tank is still cycling, and I have been keeping the ammonia levels between .25 and .5.

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like I was saying ammonia burns were what your seeing. There are other reasons for melanophore migration. It doesn't just have to be from black spots forming. Blackness receding is also melanophore migration. Fish and skin celss are a very complex thing. After all, their skin and slime are their primary immunological defense....


No worries?

Oh those crazy fish skin cells! Thanks so much for all your help.