Fuzz on my Platties

[pandao]

I have a 15 gallon communal tank and recently added 3 Red Platties.
I already had a Dwarf Gourami, Rainbow Shark and a couple of juvi Mollies in my well established tank.
The Platties are showing signs of fuzz on their bodies. I have kept up a teaspoon of salt for each gallon and I always used Copper Aid to keep Ick at bay for every water change.
My tank temp is 80 degrees and all my parameters are stable.
I treated with API fungus cure and have the 2nd treatment scheduled for tomorrow, 48 hours after the first treatment.
I thought I would see some abatement of the symptoms after 35 hours but there seems to be no reduction so far.
Is there anything else I can do or is it a simple case case of sit and wait it out?

 

[coralbandit]

If it is not fuzzy looking it is not fungus. It would be a bacterial infection.
Got a picture of sick fish?

 

[pandao]

Little sod kept on moving.

 

[coralbandit]

If the patches look smooth instead of fuzzy I would look at columnaris.
Salt is a good start along with lowering the temp.
Next if good clean water does not help you might want to look into antibiotics.
Kannamycin and furan2 used at the same time are still the chosen method to treat columnaris.

 

[pandao]

thx for the help

 

[Angellove78]

Salt will work you just gotta keep on it with water changes. And a tsp is not gonna do much. It's suppose to be a tablespoon per gallon. And salt will not filter out. So I wouldn't treat with anything else until you get the salt out first. Platies like temps alittle lower too. And check your filter. Might need to be cleaned. The salt will take a few days sometimes 3-4 days to start seeing good results. I'd water change every other day 50% and mix the salt in a bowl with same temp clean water. Let it dissolve and add to the tank. It will get better.

 

[pandao]

OK Thx, So lots of salt.
Will the Rainbow and Gourami be able to cope with the additional salt?
Your help is much appreciated.

 

[Angellove78]

I have a Otto catfish, I treated him with salt for ich and he's healed. Otto's catfish are small algae eaters. Just watch them, give them alittle bit to ajust if they act funny pull them out or do water changes to get the salt out. Did you check the filter?

 

[Angellove78]

I have a Otto catfish, I treated him with salt for ich and he's healed. Otto's catfish are small algae eaters. Just watch them, give them alittle bit to ajust if they act funny pull them out or do water changes to get the salt out. Did you check the filter?

Oh! and sorry I assume you used aquarium salt. That is what I used and told ya the wrong dose. I double checked, it says a tablespoon every 5 gallons. Sorry!

 

[pandao]

Thats OK, I use Seachem brackish salt and have the tank slightlty brackish anyway.

 

[pandao]

The filter has not been changed since the tank was cycled. That was 3 weeks ago. I had read to leave the filter and media alone for a couple of months.
Not sure what to do now.

 

[coralbandit]

Rinsing the pad or media in a bucket of tank water won't hurt anything.
Do a 5g water changes and rinse off the filter media..

 

[Angellove78]

The heart of the tank (filter) has to breath. As you learn your tank you will understand more. Everybody's tank is different. What they say not to do, sometimes you need to. Sometimes letting them go too long will cause problems.

 

[pandao]

Ok thanks everyone, I’m going to give my filter a wash tonight.

 

[pandao]

One of the Platties died this morning, she has been off her food for a couple of days.
The others seem to be fuzz-free and happily swimming around.
So the fungi treatment, temperature reduction and filter clean seems to have done the trick apart from the single loss.
Thanks everyone, your help has been invaluable.