Pimafix and Melafix safe?

[RachelG]

I got a blue mickey mouse platy yesterday, and she has a little bit of white fuzz on the corners of her mouth now. She is swimming actively, and is eating the flakes I just just fed her. She did not have the fuzz this morning when I left for work. The other two platies are fine. I also have three cherry shrimp and live plants in the tank. If i treated the tank with pimafix and/or melafix, would the plants and invertebrates be harmed? Is there a better medication anyone can suggest?

My tank's temperature has climbed to 85 degrees in the past few days, due to summer heat. Perhaps this plus moving the fish into a new tank has caused the fungus to appear on her? How in the world can I lower the temperature in the tank? I don't have air conditioning or a lot of money(rent is due ).

I pointed a fan at the tank, uncovered, before I left for work. It didn't lower the temperature. It was really humid today, is that why it didn't lower it?

I read something about a salt bath clearing up the bacteria that cause the "fungus". Anyone know how that works?

 

[AngelFishGirl]

It sounds like Columnaris. If this is true - you need medicine to treat both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. And it needs to be taken care of fast. Columnaris - if left untreated - can kill your stock VERY quickly. It is highly contagious. If it really is Columnaris and it goes untreated - your fish will be dead in a week.
Hopefully another member can chime in on this as well to confirm.

 

[Cactuspixie]

Pretty much anything is better than those (or any other) herbal remedies.
IMO, anything that can't be treated with frequent water changes/heat/salt should be hit hard and fast with an appropriate, reputable medication.

 

[RachelG]

Pretty much anything is better than those (or any other) herbal remedies.
IMO, anything that can't be treated with frequent water changes/heat/salt should be hit hard and fast with an appropriate, reputable medication.

Dang, really? I just spent twenty bucks on these earlier. They will help at least, won't they? this case seems not too bad, since it is just a little bit around the corners of the mouth. And all the fish are acting like they are not sick. Should I still dose them, or wait until a couple days when I can return it and buy something else? That might not be until Tuesday late in the afternoon...

And what would be an appropriate, reputable medication? Help me out, I obviously have no clue what to buy if the ones I decided looked best on paper are crap.

I have a little bit of aquarium salt left. Would putting some of that in the tank help at all?

 

[Cactuspixie]

Dang, really? I just spent twenty bucks on these earlier. They will help at least, won't they? this case seems not too bad, since it is just a little bit around the corners of the mouth. And all the fish are acting like they are not sick. Should I still dose them, or wait until a couple days when I can return it and buy something else? That might not be until Tuesday late in the afternoon...

And what would be an appropriate, reputable medication? Help me out, I obviously have no clue what to buy if the ones I decided looked best on paper are crap.

Can you post pics of the affected fish as well as tank and stock specs?
Eg. Tank size, pwc schedule, test results, number of fish, whe last fish were added etc.
in the meantime I'll post a couple of links for you to check out.

 

[Cactuspixie]

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/fish_palace/tropicalfish_disease_identification_1.html

http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/canadasangel/FishDiseases.html

http://www.vetbook.org/wiki/fish/index.php/Index_of_Diseases

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/aquariummedication2.html

http://www.algone.com/articles/fish-health/antibiotics-for-aquariums

 

[RachelG]

Can you post pics of the affected fish as well as tank and stock specs?
Eg. Tank size, pwc schedule, test results, number of fish, whe last fish were added etc.
in the meantime I'll post a couple of links for you to check out.

It's ten gallons, lots of live plants on driftwood, three cherry shrimp, three female platies, a gravel substrate, aquaclear 20 filter. The test last night read 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, an between 0-5 ppm nitrate, as it usually does. Ph 7.8, moderately hard water. I did a water change of two gallons last night after the test, which i have been doing about twice a week.

The cherry shrimp and platy that grew the white stuff on her mouth were added two days ago, and the other two female platies have been in the tank for about two weeks. The plants have been in the tank since it was starting to cycle. It is cycled now, of course.

I can't get a decent picture of the fish. She is swimming around too actively, so the photos are all blurry...I noticed she is breathing a bit hard. I take it that means her gills might have the white stuff, too.

It is tiny fuzzy white spots on the sides of her mouth and a tiny bit stringy, if that helps. Maybe a millimeter wide, and a millimeter long for the little stringy bit.

 

[RachelG]

And the tank has been around 85 degrees f for the past few days. I don't know what to do about that. I suspect that may have aided whatever this stuff is in growing on the fish.