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One of my rescue fighters has developped a bad case of fungus, its almost slimy looking, more greyish, it started on the edge of his tail and has spread up to his body now. It's hard to say whetehr it is actually on his body.

At the first sign I treated with Triple Sulfa and Aquarisol, not knowing whether it was bacterial or fungal.. but it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

help some more please?

If it's in a bowl, try bettafix.

I would try PimaFix which is basically Melafix intended for fungal diseases. Since it is made with natural ingredients it doesn't hurt fish or plants and seems it always works. I have had a lot of sucess with both, good luck to you and thanks for saving a betta it is so sad people cannot treat them right. ]

I'm using melafix along with the other meds.. This definately needs something stronger, I'm just at a loss as to what to use. Tomorrow I will pick up some Jungle Fungus Eliminator to have on hand.

This stuff is moving fast.

EDIT: sorry, I forgot to say thank you for your help I'm slightly frazzled.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Lyndzi 2004-07-11 22:16][/span]

I applied a JFE past topically, and moved him into clean, salted water with JFE. I'm going to repeat in a couple hours.
It's not looking good.

And another one has it around his gills, but he is looking more promising. I'm treating with salt and JFE and melafix.

slimy looking, more greyish

You just described a bacteria. Use Maracyn Plus, or if you don't have that then just plain Maracyn.

I agree with Jake. Fungus Eliminator can work too and it has salt which is good. But it may be good to have the Maracyn on hand (not Maracyn-2) as backup. If you don't see results with JFE, move to the maracyn after a water change.

You are describing a classic columnaris infection. If it has gone on a few days, don't mess with anything less than antibiotic.

If it is really bad, I suggest Pepso Food along with the JFE, if you can find it and if he is eating. Jungle also makes this. They recommend feeding for three days when bacterial infection is involved. Oftentimes, secondary infections can set in and these require oral meds much of the time. There are two powerful furanoids milled into Pepso Food.

http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.phtml?item=NJ169

[span class="edited"][Edited by Cory_Di 2004-07-14 22:19][/span]

Thank you very very much... but he did die. Then another one (who was previously the healthiest one, go figure) caught a bit and died too, despite treatment.

I had been using an antibiotic on the first one, full spectrum, along with Aquarisol. That didn't work so I tried the JFE. What I did notice though, is where I swabbed the fungus retreated almost immediately - the visual difference was shocking.

I got a closer look at the fungus, and it was gray in some lights and white in others. The filaments stood out perpendicular to the flesh, and paralell to each other. I did get pictures, but I'm waiting for my friend to upload and send them to me.
I've seen white cotton ball-like 'fungus' on discus before (pictures) and I always thought that was the bacterial kind

Sorry you lost them

Are you thoroughly washing your hands between bowls and tanks? Are you sharing equipment, nets and other stuff? If so, you could be transferring these things between your containers and tanks. Even one drop of water can contain boatloads of deadly columnaris bacteria.

Thanks,

yes I was being very very careful. Apparently not careful enough. They were even on opposite sides of the room and I went back to the old bleaching method, between every single water change the bowls/nets/thermometers were bleached.

The one that originally had the fungus is perfectly healthy - all four survivors are swimming, flaring, and blowing me bubbles New finnage is coming in already.

I did manage to get some pictures, but my friend who has the camera has gone off to the UK for a couple weeks, so once she gets back I'll show everybody my little fighters

And, after much deliberation, I've decided I'm taking every single one on the plane with me across the country for university. They deserve the best care possible and I can only promise them that while they are with me.

i had that, he dident make it