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My guppy has some fungus on his face. He also got fin rot about a week ago. I bought Pimafix by API(Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, INC.) about a week ago and have been dosing as directed on the package. I hoped it would cure the fungus, hasn't happened. the cashier at the LFS confidently said it would cure the fin rot, hasn't happened.

The guppy lives in a 2 gallon hex, I do 50% water changes every week. the light in the hood burnt out about 2 weeks ago and my dad is delaying the replacement of the light bulb so I took off the hood and left the clear plastic lid on and turn a 100 watt lamp on during the day and off at night.

help! my family doesn't understand the fish obcession.

Hi there,
well the issue is, that there is actually
3 different kinds of illness that resemble
fungus.

One is a bacterial infection called Columnaris.
It causes fungus that resemble tall stalks with fuzz
on top and often comes out of red spots/wounds.
It often is present on the body.
Columnaris will not be removed by Pimafix.
The only treatment is a wide spectrum Gram Positive
antibiotic, such as Maracyn or Triple Sulfa.

The second illness is cotton wool disease, which is
a gram negative bacterial illness, which is best
treated by Maracyn 2 or Furan 2. It looks like fuzzy
white cottony fluff, usually on fins or mouth.

The third illness is true Fungus. The best treatment
for true fungus is aquarium salt or pimafix.
If the pimafix isnt working, Id guess you have one
of the other 2 illness I described.
Id recommend treating with both Maracyn and Maracyn2
at the same time, to cover both illnesses.

Heres what Id do:
Change 50% of the water today.
Run fresh carbon for the rest of the day.
Remove the carbon tomorrow, add 1 tablespoon
of aquarium salt per 10g to the tank, predissolved
and added in small amounts over 24 hours or so.
Get the maracyn and maracyn 2, start treatment
with both. They will not interact with the salt.
Good luck. This should cure your problem.


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carbon yeah um where is that?

my tank is just a cheap 2 gallon hex with a giant plastic undergravel filter thing with an external air pump.

yeah and what about the finrot?

I would like to ask a few questions.
Is there any thing else in the tank other fish?
How deep is the gravel over the under gravel filter?
How long has the tank been going?
When did you last give it a good cleaning and how did you go about it?
How often and how much do you feed as this could cause mant problems in a small tank?

The reason for asking this is how and why your problem occured.

SVS has given you some excellent step by step advice on exactly what to do. The Fin problem should clear up after all the treatment. All medications take time to work as long as the problem is not increasing you will notice a very slow improvement.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Did you read my post?
I gave you clear very good treatment
methods for treating the fin rot.

With a UGF there is obviously no carbon.
Disregard that, it was in case you had carbon
in the filter.
2g is awful small for guppies.
The finrot is probably due to poor water conditions.

What fish do you have in the tank?
What are your readings for ammonia, nitrItes
and NitrAtes?
How often do you clean the tank?
Do you suck the gravel and put your gravel vac hose under the filter to suck all the crud out?


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ok I replaced the light bulb in the hood today.

As I said in the first post I do 50% water changes once a week, I take out half the water then remove the plant, floral marbles(gravel), and under gravel filter and give all a nice scrub. The gravel is only about 1 or 2 marbles thick over the UGF.

The orange guppy is the only fish in the tank.

I think I got the fish about 1 month ago(tank started then)

I feed a small pinch, 1 or 2 med sized flakes broken, in the morning before I go to school. I might give 1 flake later in the day if I notice him "eating" the plastic plants.

How do I find those readings if I can only go to the LFS once a week and I just went today, tuesday?

~Cassie

oh and his fungus is more of a blackish color with no visable sores

~Cassie

As I said in the first post I do 50% water changes once a week, I take out half the water then remove the plant, floral marbles(gravel), and under gravel filter and give all a nice scrub. The gravel is only about 1 or 2 marbles thick over the UGF.

By doing this, you are causing the tank to recycle
every single week. This is why your guppy has finrot and fungus.
Do not take the filter out and clean everything weekly. In fact never do this.
Change 50% of the water weekly, and dont take out the filter. Leave it in the bottom.
Use a gravel vaccuum to suction the available crud off the bottom. You would do much better to replace the marbles with an actual gravel, it would be better for the fish, prevent food from being lost between them, and would enable your tank to cycle properly.

You should buy test kits for your tank,
ammonia, nitrItes, nitrAtes, and PH
are sufficient, but if you can only get 3,
get the first three. Many master test kits cost
around 20 dollars and contain all these tests and more.
Avoid the cheap dip type tests they need to be replaced
monthly to be effective.

Heres an article on the nitrogen cycle for you to help you understand why not to take the filter out monthly.

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

When did you last give it a good cleaning and how did you go about it?

There was a purpose in asking this question. It was to see if you are completly pulling the tank down for cleaning at each water change.

A SVS has stated and what I thought you were doing this is causing all the problems.
I have said it many times the smaller the tank the harder it is to keep it in perfect running order as you have very little room for any errors. Even with my 35+ years experience setting up my Betta tank caused me a few concerns until I got it all right but it still requires every thing to be done correctly.

It looks like all the info you were given at the begining was wrong re setting up and using such a small tank. YES you must get a good test kit if you are to maintain that tank corectly.

Personally I think a few marbles on the bottom is near to useless as the good bacteria can not establish its self.
You should have at least 2ins on a good 1-3mm natural substrate.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW