Fish losing scales!

[Mao]

OK, my ~2 year old goldfish has looked like he was missing 3 scales for a long time, but is healthy, eats, and acts normal. Those scales have been missing since about the time I moved him from a 2 gal hex to a 10 gal tank about 6 months ago. Now my other goldfish which I just picked up is missing a small bunch of scales. I think I might have hit him with my glass scrubber, which I don't think I did, but I didn't notice missing scales until then, so I don't know. Is there anything I should be looking out for that could be causing them to lose a couple scales???

Isaac

 

[valdok]

mishandling could definitely lead to missing scales. as far as i know, most fish can regrow scales. i had a problem with a goldfish i had and its scales grew back. the area where your older goldfish is missing scales could be scarred which might not lend itself well to regrowing scales, which could be why he's not regrowing scales. if he is acting fine, i wouldn't worry about it. another possiblity is other fish attacking them, but i doubt it, since you only have goldfish and cory cats.

 

[Mao]

Yeah, fights are not a reality in my tank. I really was afraid when I got my first cory because of the huge size difference between them, but they would actually be right next to each other (or on top of each other) eating and not bother each other, so I don't think it happened from a fight.

I think I might have bumped my little goldfish with the scrubber because he was hiding between the rock in my tank and the back (he never goes there) and I didn't really expect him to be there. He didn't swim away scared or anything. Would he if I had hit him? My large goldfish just isn't growing back those few scales, but if you don't think I should be worrying about 3 scales, then it's fine. I will just keep an eye on his behavior.

Isaac