Older goldfish losing scales

[chicknmania]

My apologies if I seemed presumptuous.... I have kept Aquarium fish for more than fifty years now.... Just not gold fish... I do know the common gold fish live a good forty years with good care... I worked in An an aquarium store with more than two hundred tanks half of which were Salt water fish.... Some were exotics.... I paid attention so I could give my clients good advice.

deb

I think the age thing is totally a matter of opinion. I respect the opinions of all but I'm happy with the opinions of the first people who answered my post, because i've talked to others since then who agree that age was and is probably a factor. I have no intention of turning this thread into a big argument with anyone. We have not gotten any more fish yet because I am being cautious, but my remaining goldfish continues to do well, she does rest on the bottom every day but the rest of the time she swims actively and eats well. I am very sure at this point that she is just an older goldfish, and is not ill.

We've had fish of various kinds my whole life...decades. I'm not a novice. These particular fish are the longest living fish I've ever had. People do learn from experience.

These three fish never showed any signs of being ill with anything for their entire lives. I was happy that the other two lived as long as they did. I know we gave them the best care possible for us. and continue to.

 

[chicknmania]

I'm glad that the fish is doing better. As was mentioned previously, scales are typically knocked off due to trauma, but diseases, such as pacan lead to "flashing", where a fish will try to scratch itself, and it can also be caused by poor water quality. Have you noticed any flashing?

No. That is one of the first things i looked for.

 

[chicknmania]

The goldfish life span is said to be 10 years to 60 plus. That being said I believe 12 years is a decent age for a goldfish. It's similar to how it's said chickens live to 10-15 years, but very few people see that. Goldfish will live longer in a large clean pond, but most people can't do that. Considering most goldfish are destined for a very short life, 12 years is impressive to me.

I have never seen worms in my fish nor know of any diseases that make individual scales fall off without some sort of physical trauma. I think the OP feels bad enough they lost fish, they don't need to be told everything they are doing is wrong, without helpful advice on how to proceed.

I too would not add more fish directly to the tank. They will need a proper quarantine period, and even with that, new fish can add diseases they are immune to, but current fish aren't. Goldfish are happiest with company of their own kind, so for the mental well being I would definitely consider adding more if the OP plans to stay in the hobby, and wants to commit another decade or more of caring for more fish.

Goldfish can be simple to care for if you keep them clean, with good size water changes, and you give them plenty of room, at least 5-10 gallons per fish minimum, and more if possible.

Thank you. Yesterday I noticed that she does rub against rocks or whatever aquarium fixtures are in there, because she's searching for food thatsometimes drifts there when I feed her. Part of this is because she is visually impaired. That is probably why she has lost scales, and why, actually, she needs other fish, because she was using her goldfish companion as a guide part of the time, for various things like finding food.

 

[chicknmania]

Thank you all for your advice. All I can say is that fish are fish. They die from things, just like any living creature does, including people, and a lot of times we don't know why and we don't think it's right that they have. But unless there's something obviously very wrong, there's not much I can do.

Oldhenlikesdogs is right; estimated average life spans for anything are very rarely accurate. The oldest chicken we ever had was ten years old; the average life span of ours is 6 to 8 years old and from what I've seen on here over the years that I've been a member, that's the average life span of the average backyard chicken. And I would seriously challenge anyone who dared to accuse me of not giving our birds excellent care. So as I said, it's a matter of opinion.

I fully intend to get more goldfish, and possibly another loach if i can find one. And we'll just see how it goes.

 

[chicknmania]

Update: new Fish (goldfish and loach) have arrived. All new arrivals and existing older fish appear to be doing very well at this time.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's good to hear. Why type of loach? And goldfish?

 

[chicknmania]

That's good to hear. Why type of loach? And goldfish?

Dojo loach, (our other one was a golden dojo loach but this one is natural color); one fancy and one single tail gf. They get along quite well. I really wanted to get two small loaches, but this one was the only one they had; for some reason they are very hard to find here. He is very friendly with BG, our old goldfish; he treats her as if she's another loach, which I believe is pretty common.

 

[chicknmania]

Dojo loach, (our other one was a golden loach but this one is natural color); one fancy and one single tail gf. They get along quite well. I really wanted to get two small loaches, but this one was the only one they had; for some reason they are very hard to find here. He is very friendly with BG, our old goldfish; he treats her as if she's another loach, which I believe is pretty common.

I know I could probably have gotten more fish, but I am very anxious about water quality and keeping it clean. If they do well, might get another loach if I can find one.
BG seems invigorated by her new friends; she still rests on the bottom for a few minutes every afternoon around 4:00PM, but the rest of the daylight hours she is quite active. I'll post some pics later; I know I keep saying that.....

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Dojo loach, (our other one was a golden dojo loach but this one is natural color); one fancy and one single tail gf. They get along quite well. I really wanted to get two small loaches, but this one was the only one they had; for some reason they are very hard to find here. He is very friendly with BG, our old goldfish; he treats her as if she's another loach, which I believe is pretty common.

I've had those once. I found them creepy. They remind me of snakes. They were good at hiding. They are said to be a gentle species. Loaches are hard to find here too.

 

[chicknmania]

I've had those once. I found them creepy. They remind me of snakes. They were good at hiding. They are said to be a gentle species. Loaches are hard to find here too.

They are a little creepy, but sort of cool. Our golden loach was given to us. This one has a different personality, but it is interesting to see him cuddling with the goldfish.