hi everyone!

so my common goldfish mr. whiskers has been getting used to the aquarium light, but in the process he has been thrashing himself about (which he is slowly getting over). anyway, he somehow brushed himself against something ( an ornament or piece of broken glass) that took off a scale. it is only one scale and really hard to see in pictures, as i've tried to get illustrative pics.

so should i add salt to the tank so it will heal, or, since it is just one scale, should i just leave it alone?

(my tank does have broken glass in it but the sharp edges have been filed down so that they are round, and it has been in the tank for ten years.)

Fred, salt does never hurt, but a missing scale usually will grow back just fine without any attention. Unless of course you'd see a bloody spot where the scale was, and the fish has ripped out more than just the scale.

I really wouldn't worry too much about one scale. They grow back.

Maybe when turning on the light you could turn on the room light first and let the fish get used to it? Or you could always feed when you turn on the light, so the fish associate FOOD with the funny bright thingie.

Or you could cover the light with something and slowly remove it; anything to reduce the shock. I mean, goldfish don't have eyelids, so a sudden darkness and a sudden light might be rather painful.

^^

Bah, Ranchugirl beat me to it. XD

oh ya, i got advice on the light in an other thread. i have been warming them up to it and they don't thrash nearly as much as each day passes, mainly because they expect food soon!

thanks for the advice, i'll just leave a good thing alone for now. my tank has been very stable for many years and i don't like to use salt unless absolutely necessary!



(no blood on the scale, just white 'skin')