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A few weeks ago I had two fish get into a no-joke fight. Soon after, fungus covered their wounds--I tried to save them by dosing the tank with Jungle Labs "Fungus Clear"--they were dead within a 72 hour period.

Must be some type of SUPER-FUNGUS!
One thing I noticed is this stuff will grow on un-eaten food. So in trying to keep the tank clean and the water quality up I've been doing 30% water changes every-other day.
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm
pH 7.8
Temp 78F

So far my remaining fish has experienced no symptoms until now. I just noticed the edges of my fish's pectoral and tail fins are turning white and starting to look rugged.

What are some good remedies or meds to treat Fin Rot.

I also noticed a few of the scales on my fish are starting to raise. Could this be some type of bacterial infection?
Columnaris? ? ? I would appreciate help with diagnosis.

Also... a thought about temperature. I've heard both sides. What is your opinion with temp. and dealing with fungus/bacterial infections???
Right now my tank's temp is 77-80F... So. Cal weather.
Should I raise temp, or lower it?

Also... a thought about Salt. A lot of people recommend using it. I've been using it on and off with every-other water change. What does it actually do? Kill the fungus... or help the fish fight the fungus, both, neither, or what?
I ask because I just ran out and wonder if I should buy some more.

Thanks



Last edited by livebait at 25-Sep-2004 09:37

You should post the species of fish you're having problems with and the size of the tank...

Almost all fungus problems are caused by poor water quality providing a good environment for fungus to thrive.

A properly cycled tank should not require weekly water changes. Most of the time the frequent changes will do nothing to stop fungus from attacking weak and stressed fish.

Poor diet, poor water quality, a bad mix of species, lack of good oxyginated water and insufficient filtering will create stressed tropicals unable to fight off disease.

Immunity is the name of the game with tropicals. Provide the ingredients I mentioned and your fish will thrive disease free.

I have no evidence that salt is a cure-all or a disease preventative. In fact, some fish will react adversely to the dosing of salt.

For now, until changes are done, you can try a mild ich med for fungus problems. Rid Ich Plus, dosed according to directions, may kill the fungus.

The med you tried may have been dosed too strong, and, of course, the result for weak fish was death.

--garyroland.

Gary, Thanks for the info.

1. My tank specs were in my sig. which seems to have disappeared, and when I try to add it back, it gives me an error message saying invalid password...but I have to type my password just to get to the profile page...oh well.!@#$%

Tank specs:
60 USG 48"x15"x18"
Eheim 2215 canister filter
Maxi-Jet 600 powerhead
Ebo-jager TS 200w heater

fish:
1 5" Parachromis loisellei

Tank has been setup and running since May '04.

The two fish that died were new to the tank...more loisellei..this was my attempt at finding a mate for my female loisellei. The tank was setup with a divider with the new additions on one side. (see my thread in the American Cichlids Forum entitled: Jag and Loisellei.)

I keep my tanks pretty clean so the only way I think the fungus got in there to begin with was either on the two new fish, or possibly a bad batch of guppy feeders.

Here's an excerpt I just found about the use of salt with treatin flexibacter/columnaris:

"A recent study from the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures at Auburn University in Alabama showed that keeping some freshwater fish in water with salt of increasing concentrations can prevent Flexibacter infections, presumably by preventing adhesion of the Flexibacter to the fish’s body. When fish were exposed to Flexibacter, those kept at a 0.1% salinity (one teaspoon salt per gallon) had mortality rates reduced by one third, while those at a 0.3% salinity (one tablespoon salt per gallon), experienced no deaths. In the freshwater control group (salinity= 0.03%), there was virtually a 100% mortality (except goldfish, which had a 67% mortality). Whether the findings of this study hold true for aquarium fish is unknown, but it suggests that salt at concentrations that are commonly used in the hobby may help to prevent a Flexibacter infection."

http://www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm

Update:

Thanks Gary.
I followed your advice, discontinued using meds, and hoped for the best. Water changes were cut down to 20% weekly.
One thing I did improve on was adding different foods to her diet, which I believe helped alot. She's on a great speed recovery, her fins are growing back at a fast pace, and with the added diet she's putting on size, almost 6 inches SL.

http://images.snapfish.com/342345%3A723232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2333%3D94%3C%3D929%3DXROQDF%3E232367%3B65%3A833ot1lsi

Last edited by livebait at 11-Nov-2004 21:13

I'd call that very exciting...

It sure is a pleasure to see a trop gaining health and strength.

Salt, my favorite mineral to avoid at all costs, may be fine for freshwater game fish but for tropicals it's out of the question.

There's plenty of trace amounts of salt in all water and our trops will extract this amount to replace the constant "leaking" of salt from their bodies.

Keep in touch and let us know how your trops are doing.

--garyroland.

--Vero Beach, Florida