Fungus? Bacterial infection? Fin rot?

[Jill]

A little background....

Picked up a free 10g tank yesterday. Inhabitants were a CAE (about 4-5 inches long), a betta, 2 glow light tetras (I think...they school with the neons), 3 neon tetras, and 2 peppered corycats. Couldn't really see the fish when I picked it up...they were all hiding. I assumed from the CAE since she did mention that he picked on them. Got home and removed the cories and the CAE from the tank. Then I noticed a white cottony spot on one tetra's tail and a protrusion on another tetra's mouth.

I think we can all assume that their water quality wasn't great since there were so many fish in the tank. The cories are full grown, and the CAE is large. I didn't test their original water . The old owner was a a clean freak, and I think she kept the filters changed and the tank scrubbed clean (maybe too clean). I don't know her water change routine, but I kind of doubt there was one. The water parameters are perfect now that they are here, and they've had a 85-95% water change.

What do they have? How do I treat it? Is it contagious?

Thank you.

ETA that the one with the tail problem is missing a little bit of his tail where the spot is. The spots look cottony.

 

[jlk]

I would try aq salt first along with healthy water first & see if theres any improvement over next 2-3 days. If there isnt, i would try treating with antibiotics (maracyn 2 or kanamycin) in addition to the salt. Do not use anything used in this tank (nets, water changer, etc) in another tank without disinfecting it first (10% bleach solution, soak for 15mins, rinse well). Good luck & keep us posted!

 

[Jill]

Thank you so much for your help. And the betta will be okay with the salt too? He looks a little ragged himself.

Should I worry about the cories that I put in one of my other tanks? I would have put them in QT, but there's a sick guppy in there already. The cories look fine....they're plump, in fact.

 

[jlk]

Just keep the salt at a low dose for now (1 tablespn per 10g) & see how everybody does with it. Its intended to be theraputic & not the level for treating ich. I would just keep an eye on the cories if they seem to be doing well! Let us know how everyone is doing over the next 48hrs- if the sick fish start to deteriorate or they dont improve, its time for meds. Good luck!

 

[Jill]

Just thought I would give a quick 24 hour update. The spot on the tail *might* look a little less fuzzy today...it just looks better to me somehow. All of the tetras pick at the food, but I haven't actually seen anyone eat.

Should I be doing daily water changes? Or just keep an eye on the parameters?

 

[jlk]

Keep an eye on your parameters & do a water change if its needed. Keep us posted!

 

[Jill]

Daily update:

Everyone in the tank was very hungry this morning. The fish with the spots aren't healed, but I swear they look better. The spots look less "fuzzy". Should I continue with salt? I do have some anti-bacterial food I could feed if you think that it would help. I also have maracyn 2 on hand (although I hate meds unless absolutely necessary).

Thanks jlk!!!!

 

[jlk]

Yes, continue with the low dose of salt (re-add only the amount you remove). Maracyn2 is a very safe med to use so dont let it scare you! I would suggest doing a course of treatment with it if you dont see marked improvement in the next day or so. Keep us posted!

 

[Jill]

Will do. Thanks!

 

[Jill]

Yes, continue with the low dose of salt (re-add only the amount you remove). Maracyn2 is a very safe med to use so dont let it scare you! I would suggest doing a course of treatment with it if you dont see marked improvement in the next day or so. Keep us posted!

Re-add only the amount I remove? So if I do a 50% pwc, I should add half a tbsp? Am I understanding that correctly?

 

[ocminpin]

Re-add only the amount I remove? So if I do a 50% pwc, I should add half a tbsp? Am I understanding that correctly?

That's it!

 

[Jill]

Uh oh....I've been dosing 1 tbsp per day, and I've only done one 50% pwc.

So that's 3 tbsp of salt over 3 days with only 1 pwc. Should I do a pwc now to lessen the salinity?

 

[ocminpin]

Uh oh....I've been dosing 1 tbsp per day, and I've only done one 50% pwc.

So that's 3 tbsp of salt over 3 days with only 1 pwc. Should I do a pwc now to lessen the salinity?

Oops! Yep

 

[jlk]

A 50% pwc & dont re-add salt- you should be fine! That will bring it down to @ 1 1/4 tbs which is good. Then, with future wcs, just re-add 1/2 tbs.

 

[Jill]

Got it. Filling tank back up now.....lol.

 

[Jill]

No marked improvement today. Should I start maracyn 2? Will it disrupt the bb?

 

[jlk]

Yes, lets try treatment. Hopefully, it wont disrupt your bb- theres always a risk that it may so just make sure you are monitoring your water parameters daily. Keep us posted!

 

[Jill]

Ran the treatment and saw NO improvement. Then I realized that the filter cartridge has carbon it. I never even thought about it because I ALWAYS remove it when I add a cartridge, BUT this was not my tank. The tank is also infested with planaria so I've been starving the poor little guys.

Plan of the day today is to replace their gravel with PFS to help rid it of the planaria. Should I start feeding them anti-bacterial food? I don't have enough maracyn 2 for another round of treatment.

Next time someone is giving a tank away, it had better not come with fish....I'm done being fishy savior.

 

[jlk]

Oops! The carbon likely sucked up some of the meds. Good luck on the substrate switch- just make sure you rinse the pfs sand very well before using it. Also make sure you wipe the glass (and everything else) to remove worms, too. They are a pain in the butt! Give the med food a try & see how they do for a course of treatment. Good luck!! Keep us posted!

 

[Jill]

Substrate change went great....no more icky worms.

I moved the tank out of my girls' bedroom and into my bedroom so I could keep a closer eye on the sick fishies. I've since noticed that Roger (the betta) spends a lot of time chasing the tetras. Is it okay to move the tetras into another tank or would I be risking infecting the fish in that tank? Roger doesn't stand a chance of catching anyone, but I'm sure he's stressing them out.

And I thought Roger was a nice guy.