I did several ich treatments, but one fish still has a few white spots on his tail. Not good. I had to stop, though, because the affected fish started developing black scales. At first, I thought it might be black ich (another parasite), but it doesn’t look at all like that. It looks like ammonia burns, and the symptoms match. He’s lethargic, “panting,” and won’t eat. He just sits at the bottom of the tank.
The other fish, bless his heart, hangs out with the sick one. He occasionally rests his “chin” on the sick fish, in a way that looks for all the world like he’s trying to comfort him. These guys have been joined at the proverbial hip since day one. They swim the tank next to each other, and when they sleep, they’re usually touching. I don’t want to guess what goes on in little fishy brains, but they seem to be deeply bonded.
As far as the ammonia burns, it looks like there’s not a whole lot I can do, besides stop feeding, add some salt to the water, and do a 1/4 tank change every day. It’s strictly wait-and-see. I should remove the sick fish to another tank, since he’s still got a couple of white spots on his tail, but I’m not going to, because I don’t want to stress him further. Maybe if the two goldfish weren’t so attached to each other, it would be different.
red paper boat 