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I have tried,tried and tried again to rid my 5 red flame gauramis of cotton mouth fungus. They are in my hospital tank and have posted a couple of topics for help with no remedy. Can someone PLEASE help with something that WORKS and kills it FAST!!! I made sure the meds were removed when using new but this is what I've tried. Melafiwhen I first noticed it),Jungle fungus gaurd,Fungus eliminator,and the fungus clear fizzing tabs. I am now treating with maracyn plus but everything seems to just relieve the problems and not kill it. They eat good and act rather well--considering. At this time I dont know what to do,after all the $$$ I've spent I cant give up! I feel so sorry for the poor guys.

ALSO] If one of the fish LOOK
better could I go ahead and put him in my 72 gl tank without the risk of it popping back up & infecting it or should I have him wait it out with the others?

Thank u for the help!

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-09-01 11:29][/span]

If you can issolate the fish use antibiotics.

Here is a link.http://www.max-discus-dream.de/mddnew/Medications.htm

the maracyn plus I believed is an antibiotic. Why is it not working?

It depends on the strength of the antibiotic, you might need to use one called Erythromycin.

I used maracyn to treat one of my discus for popeye (with lots of cotton like fungus covering his eye) and it worked. I wouldnt move the one fish until they are all well. If the maracyn plus doesnt work I would call a local vet who may get you a strong antibiotic. Call a local vet anyway.

Melafiwhen I first noticed it),Jungle fungus gaurd,Fungus eliminator,and the fungus clear fizzing tabs. I am now treating with maracyn plus but everything seems to just relieve the problems and not kill it.

That's a LOT of meds! Sounds to me like your fish might need a break from all that medication. Over-medicating can actually do more harm than good, as it will stress the fish out and can even prolong infection. In this case I'm a little surprised they've survived all of those chemicals.

You'll have to complete the treatment of maracyn plus now that you've started it, following the directions on the package. That SHOULD work, as mouth fungus is actually a bacterial infection and not really a fungus at all. If the fungus isn't totally gone, don't panic. I hardly ever recommend it, but you'll want to do some extreme water changes on that tank to get them in some good, chemical-free water for a while. By extreme, you may even want to do a 100% change to get rid of any and all chemical residue. When doing large water changes, ALWAYS match the exact temperature and pH to the tank water to avoid shock.

Don't add anything to the new water other than simple dechlorinator and maybe 1 tbsp/5 gallons Aquarium Salt. Give them a break on the meds: I would suggest a full week before you attempt treatment again. Watch out for ammonia, test your water for it daily and do enough water changes to keep it at 0 ppm in the hospital tank. Ammonia burns are a perfect entry point for columnaris bacteria, and this could really make the situation worse. POST your numbers for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, please. You may have a water quality issue.

Make sure you disinfect all of your equipment you're using on that tank with a 50% bleach and water dip followed by a LOT of rinsing to prevent any cross contamination between your main tank and quarantine tank. It's even a good idea to purchase extra nets, siphons, tubing, etc. for your quarantine tank and make sure it never comes near your main one.

Following the maracyn plus treatment AND a week of nothing but clean water and aquarium salt, the cotton mouth should be better. If it isn't, do a second round of maracyn plus according to the package directions followed by another week of clean water again. If you're still having issues, which is unlikely with cottonmouth, pick up some Kanacyn or Furan-2, treat according to the package directions, allowing 1 week of pure, fresh water between rounds.

If your fish are declining again after 3 days or so of the pure water you can dose some melafix OR the second round of antibiotic early, but only do this if they look really awful and the cotton looks like it's spreading again or you notice a really negative change in behaviour.

I know it's a long post but I hope it helps.