HELP - My Congo Tetras now!

[Regen311]

I posted about a week ago about my blue gouramis:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/blue-gourami-only-disease-117823.html

They developed a skin condition, and were the only fish affected. I put the two blue gouramis in a QT tank and treated them with maracyn. The one gourami is still in there. The other died. The one doesn't seem to be doing worse, but he isn't doing better. I treated the large (55g) tank with maracyn as well. Now I'm treating with a combination of pimafix/melafix (day 3). I didn't treat the gourami because I heard it was bad for them. Anyway, I noticed today that my Congo tetras (4) are now affected. It's going species by species.... Sunday I did a large water change (30-40%) and cleaned out the canister filter and all the tubing. I know if it's a fungus I could have shocked the fish making them more susceptible, but the tank is currently highly medicated. I don't know where to turn next. Here is the tank breakdown:

Currently set up: 3 years+
Medication history: 10 days of maracyn, currently on day 3 of pimafix/melafix.
Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates are all 0
Sickness: first gouramis, now congo tetras. First the eyes get cloudy, then they get a fungus looking breakout on their scales: white tufts.

It's not ick. I don't know what to do. I'm terrified that I'm losing all my fish! MY QT tank is only 10 gallons, but I'm thinking I need to get the congos out... I don't know what to do.

Any advice? Any medications I should try? I have maracyn TC also on hand, and a parasite guard medication. But I'm still not sure when to use each

 

[DragonFish71]

I use Jungle Lifeguard. It's a broad spectrum agent. I had a bad outbreak of ich last year. I tried treating with some blue stuff (can't think of the name off hand) Anyways, then some of the fish developed fungus on top of it. I bought some Lifeguard, dosed per instructions and everyone cleared up fine. No bad after effects (fish loss) didn't even lose any corys.

Jungle Laboratories Corporation

 

[Regen311]

Alright. I ordered some from big als online, along with some maroxy and fish food I've been meaning to get. Hopefully my fish don't all die... then the fish food would be a huge waste... I've never had problems in my tank before, this is incredible. It's awful!

Oh - also the tank is planted and the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates are always 0 or near 0 for nitrates. I check at least once every other week.

 

[Regen311]

So this disease seems to be going everywhere. All my congos have at least one cloudy eye, and there is one female who has white patches on her skin (not dots, patches). I've re-started the maracyn, because the one blue gourami who originally looked bad at least hasn't gotten any worse. I'm on day 4 now of melafix/pimafix and I've restarted maracyn. I have lifeguard and maroxy on the way from bigalsonline. I know I'm putting a lot of meds in there, but I don't know what (if any) is helping. I also put a dose of jungle labs parasite guard in the tank today. It's a one dose thing, I just wanted to cover all my bases.

So, the fish seem a little stressed. I have one large synodontis catfish that was a gift (he's probably 6-7 inches) but he is ALWAYS hiding in a cave. He looks healthy, but he's out. He's just hanging out in the open. I don't know what to do. I'm thinking of removing him so that way if everyone else dies at least maybe I can save him. All of my bottom dwellers look ok though. It's only the ones that stay near the surface (gouramis, congo tetras) that look bad. I feel like it's only a matter of time though...

Anyone have any advice? I don't know what to do - I'm terrfied of losing my fish. I've been reading all kinds of things on the internet but can't find anything that the meds I'm using shouldn't help. But... it seems to be spreading.

I checked my pH today. 6.6. Which is normal for here. Temperature is the same. Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates are all still 0.

Please help! Any advice????? Encouragement? Am I doing anything horribly wrong?

I've read conflicting things about raising/lowering temperatures. For some things it says raising temp is better, for others they say it spreads easier with higher temps.

Please help!!!

 

[Regen311]

I've got half a bottle of ich guard, benzaldehyde green, which would be enough for one treatment. I have several species of loaches though and I don't know if it would hurt them. It does not appear to be ich, however I don't want to miss something.... I'm so scared!

 

[hacket]

Since you say that it looks like white patches, it's definately not ich, so raising the temp would not work to get rid of your problem.

If you post some pics that would help diagnosis, but I'm about 95% sure from your description that what you have is a fungal infection. After googling the meds you are using, it seems as though they all treat fungal infections, so just trim your selection down to one. The only one I've used is Maracyn, and I can tell you it worked for me.

If you use that many meds, it can stress your fish out to the point of death. Also during this time you must follow the directions on the medicine package regarding water changes. If it says to change, then change. If not, then don't.

The big thing I'm trying to stress here though is not to use too many meds. If I were you I'd do a couple of pretty decent water changes and start using Maracyn. I really hope it works for you!

 

[Regen311]

Thank you! Initially I did a large water change, and then finished off a course of maracyn. After that the intial 2 fish that were sick... 1 died and one was stable. The next day I noticed the Congo tetras had the cloudy eyes. So, I did another small water change (25%) and started the treatment with pimafix/melafix. So, it was one at a time. I got kind of scared today because it seemed as though the pimafix/melafix wasn't working, and I didn't want my fish to die. So, since the one initial sick fish seemed stabalized, I thought maybe I needed another course of maracyn, which it says is ok on the packaging. I'm just terrified if I try one at a time, I'll pick one that doesn't work and then it will be too late. Pimafix/melafix are recommended to use together, so that should be safe. Maybe I"ll finish that off and wait a couple days before starting in with the maracyn again if I need to. The parasite clear was a one time treatment, and the main ingredient is aquarium salt it seems... so I just wanted all my bases covered. If it is fungal, the pimafix/melafix I would think would take care of it. But wouldn't I start to see more of a response after 4 days?

 

[Regen311]

I'll try to get a picture tomorrow. I'm thinking of keeping the lights off for tomorrow though. I don't know if that might help keep them less stressed...

And also, I don't use carbon in my filter, so I didn't have to worry about that. I have a canister filter and I only use a course and fine sponge and some ceramic pellets.

 

[hacket]

Since you already tried maracyn, just stick with the pimafix/melafix for now, like you said. It may take more than 4 days for the meds to really start making a difference. Follow the directions in regards to changing water and make sure you treat for as long as it states on the packaging.

If after you've finished the treatment period you don't see any improvement, it would be fine to try a different med. Just make sure you change a large portion of water. Since you have another med on the way, I'd try that since at that point the other two won't have worked.

 

[Regen311]

So, my lifeguard medication and maroxy came in the mail today. Now... my question is in regards to my yoyo loaches. They are considered scaleless fish correct? So using these medications might actually kill them... so what meds are safe to use with scaleless fish? I'm so confused right now, but this morning there were 3 fatalities. I don't know what to do...