sick fish need help

[bootchman]

i have an hap obliquendens, he has grown a white cotton like growth on his face and it has gotten larger over the last few days. he wont eat and is lying on his side on the bottome of the tank. i have dosed the tank with melafix. what else can i do to treat this fish. my water parameters are fine. i do 50% water changes weekly and all the other 16 fish in the tank are doing great. i have all peacocks and 1 yellow lab from lake malawi. i discovered after purchasiiing this fish the he is from lake victoria. could this be the reason he has gotten sick?

 

[bootchman]

75 gallon tank just did my water tests

ph8
amonia 0
nitrate 0

if this is that cotton thing is it contagious should i isolate him from the rest of the tank?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Anytime you have a sick fish you need to isolate. Keep up on the treatments but its probably to late if blots laying on its side.

 

[Rlavassor86]

I'd qt right away so no other fish get sick and it'll help the fish relax too, as most of the time healthy fish will pick at a sick one. I've had fish that I thought had no chance come back before. Laying on the bottom, swimming erratically, breathing heavily. Key is keeping the water absolutely pristine and follow the directions in the meds. No lights on qt tank though. It will only cause undue stress.

 

[HUKIT]

I'd recommend treating the entire tank, the other fish have already been exposed and are potentially infected currently.

I'd recommend lowering the temperature into the low 70's a using Jungles Fungus Clear, this will clear the Columnaris outbreak and cure any secondary infections that arise due to their immune system being lowered. Follow the directions of the meds and treat three full doses, I'd also recommend adding aquarium salt dosed at 1-1.5tbls per 5 gallons(replenish the only the salt removed with water changes).

I agree with leaving the lights out during treatment, I also feed a medicated flake for bacterial infections during treatment followed by a immune boosting flake food after a disease outbreak for 10-14 days. Below is a link to the food.

http://www.angelsplus.com/FlakeMedicated.htm

 

[bootchman]

thanks everyone for the advice. added the salt and still dosing the melafix to entire tank. if he gets worse i will go get a 10 gallon to use for quarantine. still gonna treat the main tank also.

 

[HUKIT]

thanks everyone for the advice. added the salt and still dosing the melafix to entire tank. if he gets worse i will go get a 10 gallon to use for quarantine. still gonna treat the main tank also.

Melafix will do absolutely nothing for Columnaris, this is nasty infection that will kill every fish in the tank in no time. You need to start treating immediately, I've lost dozens of fish even while treating

 

[bootchman]

sorry its actually pimafix. this other treatment that you recommend will it kill my beneficial bacteria? also is there anywhere you can get medicated food besdies the internet? i cant seem to find any of it at the local fish stores.

 

[HUKIT]

Pimafix won't help either, especially not with a gram negative bacteiral infection.

I've seen medicated pellets at Petsmart but I prefer the flakes since they're readily accepted by all fish.

Some medications do have a effect on the biofilter but honestly it's a minimal risk over the alternative(losing all your fish). Plus you'll be doing water changes every 1-2 days so I wouldn't worry about that.

Fungus Clear can be purchased at Walmart or Petsmart which has the same forumula but they sell the Tetra brand called Fungus Guard. Please don't take this lightly as other members here can attest to the damage this can do.

Here is one of the other members thread,
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f100/disease-or-bully-237935.html

 

[bootchman]

okay salt is dosed, heater turned down to 75, once my wife gets home im going to get the fungus guard or whatever you said. thanks alot i hope i can stop it in time. i did a 40% water change earlier.

 

[HUKIT]

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Rlavassor86]

I used maracyn to treat the columnaris one of my platy caught. He was in pretty sad shape but by day 3 he was back to swimming again. And turn the temp down as mentioned. The maracyn was a 5 day treatment and the platy has since been moved back to my DT and has been doing great. The stuff was a little expensive though. Like 25 bucks for 24 packets and each packet only treats 10 gal for one day. I'm not sure on price for the others.

 

[bootchman]

ok i put the fungus guard in makes the tank look groovey lol and that fish has died already. two days since i noticed the initial sore on his face. this stuff moves fast.

 

[GBHammbone]

Just wondering, for these treatments, should any carbon be taken out of the filters? I dont run my tanks with carbon, but many others do and i was just wondering for knowledge sake.

 

[aaronjohn20]

Anytime you treat with meds you should take the carbon out because the carbon actually "sucks up" the meds

 

[GBHammbone]

Thats what i figured, luckily i have never needed to treat for anything, but i did not see it told to OP to take carbon out of his filter before treating.

 

[aaronjohn20]

Good eye!