Fungus, Bacteria, Injury, or something else?

[librarygirl]

Hi everyone. On Thursday I received 12 Celestial Pearl Danio in the mail from a breeder. After a long drip-acclimation I was watching them in the tank and noticed that of the Celestials has a white mark on its side. I'm hoping against hope it isn't fungus, but....if someone can see it and give some opinions it would be much appreciated.

I couldn't get any pics as my camera won't pick it up, but I inadvertently got a shot of him in the video below. You can see the fish with the white spot at 0:22-0:24 seconds in (clicking on the video and going to YouTube and then watching in Full Screen gives a better view).

Also one of the Celestials has something on its chin (?). It looks like something protruding from its chin under its mouth....looks white and pale, can't tell if it's cottony or what and not sure if it's the same thing the other fish has. The mark isn't large at all, very small, and doesn't seem to be affecting his mouth or eating (it's hard to really follow him when he's moving though).

I also just got two horned nerite snails (in the mail as well) and noticed one of them has a horn broken off. Will it repair itself and is there anything I can do to help it? It was just added last night -- perhaps it was damaged during shipping.

CPDPanda - YouTube

Thanks in advance!

 

[jetajockey]

It's really hard to see anything close, but the tank looks really nice.

 

[librarygirl]

It's really hard to see anything close, but the tank looks really nice.

Thanks, yeah sorry, they're small fast little buggers. You see a fast bright white spot about 22 seconds in, that's it. Even with my eyes practically pressed to the glass I can't get a good look at it. It looks like it bulges a bit though when the fish faces front, so I know it isn't something that should be there. I'm just not sure whether to treat now to be safe or watch it and hope it doesn't get worse. I bought both Melafix and Primafix today to have on hand in case I ever need them. I'll watch it for another day or two but if it doesn't go away I'm probably going to have to try something. Thanks for looking anyway.

Oh, any thoughts on the snail with the broken horn?

I'm not having very good luck at this fish thing so far....

 

[jetajockey]

Oh, any thoughts on the snail with the broken horn?

I've never kept horned nerites but if it's part of the shell then it's probably fine, if its chipped at all you could put some clear nail polish on it. I don't think they grow back, but I could be wrong. I know with the nerites that I have whenever the shell is chipped or whatever I don't notice any change in it over time.

I'm not having very good luck at this fish thing so far....

Sure you are, you have way more fish that are doing well than ones that have issues. You can't expect everything to be perfect, you'll drive yourself insane trying to fix things that are often out of your control.

 

[librarygirl]

I've never kept horned nerites but if it's part of the shell then it's probably fine, if its chipped at all you could put some clear nail polish on it. I don't think they grow back, but I could be wrong. I know with the nerites that I have whenever the shell is chipped or whatever I don't notice any change in it over time.



Sure you are, you have way more fish that are doing well than ones that have issues. You can't expect everything to be perfect, you'll drive yourself insane trying to fix things that are often out of your control.

That's true, thanks. If the fish is sick or something though I just want to help it (and I hate that it's happening now on my, what, second official day of owning fish?!).

If I do have to treat this fish (and maybe the other one with the mouth issue too), I have a 5.5 gal unused tank they can go into for treatment -- or should I treat the whole tank (although the Corys are going to be a problem)-- should I start with Primafix (for fungus) or Melafix (bacterial) or something else? Darn, this is what I was afraid of, I really didn't want to have to deal with sick fish this soon!

Sorry for all the questions. Fish diseases are tricky.

 

[librarygirl]

Was just watching my new Panda Corys play and one has a white spot on its head. Not sure if it was there before, but I've only had them since last evening. It looks bigger than an Ich spot (salt spec) but it could be the start of Ich, or the same white thing that's on the other one, or just something that got stuck on its head in the tank.

Geez I give up.

Edit: got a photo of the white spot on the Cory. I can't tell if it's the same as the white spot on the Celestial but it looks similar; both spots seem to protrude when looking at them from straight on. Help?!

Edit2: Got a pic of the CPD with its white spot as well.

 

[librarygirl]

I think the Celestial with the white spot is worse. The white stuff looks like it's hanging out/off more, like there's more of it and it isn't swimming right. It takes a lot of effort for it to swim, its front fins move fast like a hummingbird, and it swims with jerky movements. I think it looks more like mucous than cotton but it's really hard to tell.

Because I don't know what it is, I'm not sure what to use to treat it. Can anyone give me some advice here, please?!!

BTW, the tank is fully cycled (fishless). Water parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, .25 nitrate and just did a 5 gal water change last night (it's a 20 gal aquarium).
The breeder I received the fish from is very reputable, so I'm wondering if it's something related to shipping: an injury or stress, perhaps, but I have no idea. Could also be a parasite maybe? Should I treat the whole tank (I have Corys in there so not sure they'll be able to stand some treatments). I'm also very concerned about treating the whole tank with any meds that will nuke my beneficial bacteria; it took me months to cycle this tank and I really do not want to have to start over again.

Help please!?!

 

[librarygirl]

Well thanks to one member's help, I came up with a course of action and we'll see what happens.

I had an empty 5.5 gal tank that was never used. I filled it with half tap water (dechlorinated) and half tank water. I let it aerate and heat for a while (my tap water has a much higher PH out of the tap and then levels out after it settles, so I usually let it aerate in a bucket until the PH drops). I bought a very cheap small internal filter too.

Since Melafix should be used with a KH of at least 50 and my tap water is very soft with a KH of something like 2, I decided to just try the Pimafix and aquarium salt. I dosed the tank with Pimafix and a half dose of aquarium salt and let it circulate.

I then tried to net the Celestial with the white mark. For some reason, the mark doesn't look as white or as protruding as it did this morning. I have no idea if it's my eyes, or the lights or what. But the fish is swimming in a very jerky manner (which is making me nervous thinking it may be an internal disease at this point). I also read that CPDs can be prone to Neon Disease of which a symptom is jerky movements. But I guess we'll see.

So after a half hour of not being able to net the fish b/c of the others in the tank and the amount of driftwood and places to hide I had to take out the DW to get a better shot (thereby probably freaking out the other inhabitants who are all probably having strokes right now). I did manage to net the fish and drip acclimated him to the QT tank water for a good half hour, then put him in QT (no substrate other than some bits of sand that got in from siphoning the main tank water, and a new cave I bought so it can hide).

I shined a flashlight and again the mark doesn't look as bad as it seemed to earlier, so I'm at a loss. It's swimming is clearly off though.

So I'm going to try to at least see if the Melafix and salt work this week. If not, well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there I guess.

If anyone has any other ideas please let me know.

 

[librarygirl]

It's dying. I just watched it move the heck out of its fins yet it wasn't moving in the water. Then it dropped to the bottom and it's starting to roll. I've put cold water in the freezer to use the ice water method if it doesn't die on its own by the time the water freezes.

 

[eco23]

Sorry Librarygirl . We'll do what we can. They're in the most caring hands they could ever hope for at your house.

 

[librarygirl]

Thanks. He died though.

At least he isn't suffering now, if he was before. I just hope the others aren't sick too. Thanks for all of your help Eco.