What is wrong with this fish??? See pic

[outflying]

Hello,

I just started to cycle a 135 gallon tank yesterday with minnows. Today this one fish has something on him. I ordered a test kit online and it has not arrived yet.

Does anyone know what is wrong with this fish?

How long will it take for the ammonia levels to rise?

Will I be ok for a few days until my test kit arrives?

Thanks,
Barry

 

[theotheragentm]

Looks like fungus. Unfortunately, I am not up to snuff on my medicine knowledge. Can someone else list off some of the medications for fungal infections?

 

[black hills tj]

melafix for bacteria

pimafix for fungus

i'd wait for more educated responses though because thats all I hoestly know about meds

 

[bs6749]

You could treat with Maracyn and Maracyn Two (at the same time safely) for bacterial infections. One is for gram positive bacteria, the other is for gram negative bacteria. I believe it is pimafix that you want for fungal infections on the body like that. I had an otto and it had a fungal infection I believe. The stuff looked like it was growing right out of the fishes "pooper". I will try to find the pic later.

 

[Zagz]

I would start with some pimafix and melafix as a combo. You can treat with a stronger med if you want. Jungle's fungus elliminator is what I use to treat fungus. Treating a 135 gal tank will be very expensive. I would QT them if possible. How many minnows in the tank? I would recommend getting the minnows out of the tank and doing a fishless cycle. Depending of course on how many fish you have in the tank already.

 

[jsoong]

That does look like fungus, although columnaris can also look like that. So you would prob want to treat for both fungal & bacteria. (And you would want to treat all the fish as either is contagious.)

But as Anne said, a fishless cycle is prob more effecient with that tank size. If your original plan is to cycle with the feeder minnow & then dispose of them later, you may as well dispose of them now, clean the tank, & go fishless. For the cost of meds to treat a 135 gal, you can prob buy Biospira & have an instant cycle.

 

[Zagz]

LOL I meant get the minnows into a and treat them there and start a fishless cycle on the big tank. But if you have a ton of minnows it would be hard to put them in a smaller tank.

 

[outflying]

Thank you all for all of the fast responses.

But as Anne said, a fishless cycle is prob more effecient with that tank size. If your original plan is to cycle with the feeder minnow & then dispose of them later, you may as well dispose of them now, clean the tank, & go fishless. For the cost of meds to treat a 135 gal, you can prob buy Biospira & have an instant cycle.

I was going to cycle with feeder minnow. If dispose of them now, what would I need to clean the tank with?

I've read a lot about the cycle but I'm not familiar with Biospira and how that would have an instant cycle. Is there a sticky to read about this?

 

[jsoong]

Cleaning the tank: Depends on how paranoid you are & what you have in your tank. If you want to definitively get rid of any disease in the tank, you'll need to use bleach. Soak everything in 1:20 Bleach solution, then rinse very well, rinse some more, finally soak in water with an overdose of dechlor to get rid of any residue bleach. This should get rid of most pathogens and allow you to start with a clean slate. I think this is overkill for something like body fungus. IMO, the disease is opportunistic & affect fish with lowered immunity <Feeders are usu. loaded with all sorts of nasties due to poor living conditions .... most people avoid them like the plague.> Once the fish hosts are gone, there won't be anything for the bugs to live on. I would simple wash everything with hot water & resetup the tank, then wait a few days before introducing new fish. <Ich can survive the longest without fish host, but even ich would be gone in a fishless environment after a week at tropical temps.>

This is a pretty good summary on the 3 main cycling methods (fish, fishless, biospira): http://www.aquariumsecrets.com/Fishless.htm

Biospira is basically a culture of the nitrifying bacteria that you can add to the tank, saving you weeks compared to the "grow it yourself" bacteria culturing. Problem with biospira is that it must be refrigirated & properly stored & handled at all times, or the bacteria die & the culture is useless. Also, it can be hard to find (only in US, FAIK) & expensive ($60+).

Fishless cycling using ammonia is an alternative. If you have a source of bacteria (some media from a healthy tank), you can cycle in a week or so. <If you have A LOT of media, you might even be able to cycle instantly like Biospira.>

More fishless cycling info: http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Fishlesscycle.htm
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=52

 

[courtnee]

"dispose" poor fish.

 

[kickeralpine]

not to be rude but i would not waste the time or money to treat a feeder minnow take him out . and ya dont have to take the tank down to clean it iv had neon tetra diease in my tank got the sick fish out and all is fine nothing else has got sick and its been mouths now. maybe water change would be good idea 50% in that size tank .

 

[Jarred Darque]

NTD is heredetary though kicker.

But I also agree yu do not need to take the tank apart and clean out simply for a fungus disease, I do recommend treating it though, simply to make sure it is gone from the tank before you do stocking, which means you should keep the minnows in there as well so you know when the fungus is gone and so you can cycle the tank

 

[kickeralpine]

NTD is heredetary though kicker.

But I also agree yu do not need to take the tank apart and clean out simply for a fungus disease, I do recommend treating it though, simply to make sure it is gone from the tank before you do stocking, which means you should keep the minnows in there as well so you know when the fungus is gone and so you can cycle the tank

why do ya say its heredetary through me? here is a link if ya think ntd is somthing i made up
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/neondisease.htm

 

[Jarred Darque]

NTD is prevalent through inbred fish, for example tetras, very few are wild caught, and similiar to guppies, undergo massive amount of inbreeding, making hte disease prolific, when it does spread, which is rare indead, it is spread through eating an infected fish. Chances are more common that if a fish has NTD, it was born with the parasite from the mother, and fish with NTD can live long enogh to produce offspring in the smaller species. I have had fish with evident NTD survive for 6 months, and yet the disease did not spread to even other tetras in the tank, much less any other fish.

 

[kickeralpine]

im not going to hack this guys thread. i never said his fish has NTD i was saying iv had fish with it in one of my tanks and did not take the tank down to clean it like he was asking if he should do. so please dont make comments about me thats all im saying.