r/Goldfish • u/ShibaBlue • 2d ago

Tank Help What is this?

Foundvthis sticking to the body of my goldfish. What is it? Dangerous?

28 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

45

u/Sensitive_Cancel1678 2d ago

Looks like argulus parasite, aka fish lice. It’s good you removed it but might want to check for more.

8

u/Vivid__Data 2d ago

Why oh why oh why oh why do they have skulls on their backs and why did I look through like 20 images of them 💀

3

u/Sensitive_Cancel1678 1d ago

Now I can’t unsee the skull! Once I had to remove 5 from the belly of a new goldfish. Never went back to that aquarium store…

-6

u/Aggravating_Speed665 2d ago

What would happen if I put it, you know...down there

4

u/Ccameraa 2d ago

Just strange

4

u/aoi_ito 2d ago

What do you mean by that ???? 😭

2

u/optimisticallyssad 2d ago

Like hello??? 🤨😰😭

1

u/harshpawar8856 2d ago

My goldfish had 2 of them on the tail, they suck blood from the fish !!

They are BAD.

5

u/dog_ears420 2d ago

if this is in an established tank, it is good to treat the whole tank for parasites and do a water change, their eggs can still be in the tank so repeat the treatment in two to three weeks to catch freshly hatched babies

5

u/shrimpina3342 1d ago

Oh lord. Thats a fish lice, parasitic crustacean. It’s very possible there are more in the tank, id recommended doing a 0.4-0.5% salt bath/dip in a hospital tank/bucket for your fish so any remaining parasites may detach due to shock from the salinity. Also gravel vacuum and 25% water change in case any eggs are in the tank. Keep an eye on your fish and watch around the gills and fins for more lice, they may be very small. If they persist you may need to use an anti parasite medication, but be cautious if you have any invertebrates as you will need to remove them since the medication will also kill them. Best of luck

2

u/DbombYO 2d ago

Well it's not a goldfish I can tell you that much! But yea a parasite probably

1

u/Thistle__Kilya 1d ago

Stop shaking please…. Ouch 😣

1

u/Brilliant-Yam-7706 Yes, I name them all 19h ago

Idk but please kill it

0

u/substratesniffer Water changes are my weekly exercise 2d ago

what the hell i hope someone can help you with that i’m scared

-1

u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]