Possible Fungus?

[Noreun]

*]Test Results for the Following:

[*]Ammonia Level? 0

[*]Nitrite Level? 0

[*]Nitrate level? <20

[*]Ph Level, Tank (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)? 7.4

[*]Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops? API Drops

[*]Tank size (how many gals.) and how long has it been running? 200L

[*]What is the name and size of the filter(s)? Aqua One 1000 Canister and an extra filter inside

[*]How often do you change the water and how much? Weekly, 50%

[*]How many fish in the tank and their size? 8, one 3 inches, the rest under 2 inches. It's overstocked at the moment but some are getting rehomed shortly

[*]What kind of water additives or conditioners? API water conditioner

[*]What do you feed your fish and how often? Hikari Lionhead + occasionally zucchini, lettuce or peas. Fed once or twice daily.

[*]Any new fish added to the tank? No

[*]Any medications added to the tank? No

I think one of my fish might have some sort of fungus growing. After researching it on the internet, I found no picture that resembles what my fish might have so I'm not entirely sure. She acts completely normal except the white growth on her body and clamping her fins for a period of time. She swims fine, the clamped fins just make her speedier and she ate like no tomorrow when I fed them all today.

If it is fungus, is it contagious? I'm concerned seeing as my baby ryukin keeps having a nibble at whatever is growing on her. So far, none of the other fish are displaying any problems. I did place her in a separate tank today, but it was just stressing her out too much. She was thrashing about the tank and wouldn't calm down so I had to put her back in the main tank. I probably did more damage than good trying to separate her then putting her back in

You can kinda see the growth on her in these photos. It's a bit harder to spot without the light on. The photos also makes it seem towards her tail, but there's actually more on the front half of her body.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/noreun/DSC_0100.jpg

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/noreun/DSC_0091.jpg

Here's a pic of her clamping her fins. She clamps all of them including her dorsal except the pair at the front. Lately, she'll just keep clamping and unclamping a couple of times throughout the day.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g415/noreun/DSC_0094.jpg

Sorry, for my lame photography skills.

[Lupin]

Hi Noreun,

Have these fish been treated with praziquantel before?

No labored breathing?

How do the gills look? Pale? Healthy red?

Any history of parasite infestation?

How does the poop look?

No, this isn't fungus. I'm guessing columnaris or bacterial infection is more likely since the white coating is almost always associated with bacterial infections.

When you separated her, did you use the same tank water? Lights off? Same temperature? What about the filter? I'd separate her though. Keep the lights off to keep her from stressing out. If you plan to add plants for her refuge, plastic ones are always a good idea otherwise disinfect the live plants.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Lupin

[Sakura]

It looks like excess slimecoating to me. Slimecoat is a good thing (it's the fish's natural defense) but when a fish is afflicted with parasites it will produce excess slimecoat to try and get rid of the parasites. The clamped fins certainly could be indicating parasites as well. Have you noticed any strange, neurotic swimming? Often when a fish is afflicted with parasites they will "flash", which means they quickly scrape their body against surfaces in the tank. Have the fish ever been treated with prazi or salt? Or any other anti-parasite medication?

Only separate the fish if you have at least a 38 liter tank with a filter. The filter should be filled with media taken from the main tank's filter. Also, just a note... you plan to rehome some fish soon right? In the meantime since you are so overstocked, I'd recommend at least 75% water changes weekly, rather than just 50%.

[Noreun]

No previous history with parasites and no prazi treatments so far. I haven't noticed any laboured breathing. I've checked all the gills of the fish, they look nice and red.

I've noticed today that the other fish are pooping out colourless thin poops as well. So a sign of bacterial infection?

I have no idea how to treat that.

[Lupin]

Hmmm...Let's just slow down and look at our options.

The first thing I would do is start the 0.3% salt treatment. Salt will keep bacteria at bay but not exactly eliminate them. This will slow down any possible progression of infections while we try to observe for additional symptoms which will help further verify the existence of bacterial infection.

To do a salt treatment, you must add three sets of a teaspoon per gallon salt (pure sodium chloride) every 12 hours. When you do a water change, remember to redose salt per the water volume changed as only water changes can remove salt easily.

As precaution, let's look at other options but do NOT start unless advised to do so.

Do you have metronidazole with you?

Which antibiotics do you have access to exactly?

Seeing as you're in Australia, I'll note the access to some meds may be limited. It's best that if you have access to aquarium brands of antibiotics, the active ingredients must be listed down. Some antibiotics are purely for gram positive or gram negative bacteria. Most of the infections are gram negative however.

[Lionchu]

G'day Noreun, looks like you have some water quality problem here. Since you may not have access to metronidazole (which can be obtained from your local vet @ A$3.50 per 200 ml tablet). Praziquantel is even more expensive about A$9.50 for 6 small tablets brand is Aquarium Science. Dosage is 1 tablet per 20L of water.

So, If I were you, following Lupin's suggestion of using salt makes sense. Also I would increase the w/c by 50% for the next 2 days.

Cheers

[Noreun]

Sorry, I didn't reply sooner. Year 12 is keeping me on my toes.

I started the salt treatment yesterday and have increased my water changes.

Hopefully, things are on the up and up.

Thanks for the info on the medications lionchu. At least, I'll be prepared for whatever comes

Once again guys, thanks for all the advice. I'd be totally lost without all your help.

[Helen]

Hi Noreun!.. i'm from australia too!.. melbourne.. okay.. here's some good news.. you can treat with prazi by buying this from your local LFS:

aaaaand.. the metro's they're talking about is the Flagyl we humans use.. you can get a prescription from your doctor and treat the fish! or, i do have some left over, i will be more than happy to give you some. my email address is sparez@bigpond.net.au send me an email and we'll take it from there..

[Lionchu]

Hi Stakos, thanks for showing that Aquamaster brand, I was looking for fluke tabs the other day and couldn't find anything suitable and ended up going to my vet for some strong Prazi tabs. Metronidazole( Flagyl) is also called Metrogyl here in Australia. I feel bad asking my GP to write scripts for Flagyl too many times otherwise it's a lot cheaper than the vet.

[Lionchu]

Sorry, I didn't reply sooner. Year 12 is keeping me on my toes.

I started the salt treatment yesterday and have increased my water changes.

Hopefully, things are on the up and up.

Thanks for the info on the medications lionchu. At least, I'll be prepared for whatever comes

Once again guys, thanks for all the advice. I'd be totally lost without all your help.

You're on the right track, I'm sure it will clear up within a few days.

Edited November 2, 2010 by lionchu