PArasite or Fungus

[Relic1882]

I'm a fish noob, and I don't know what I'm up against yet. I have a 29 gal tank and my fish are getting very weak along with a few of them with white cottony stuff around small areas of them. My pink kissing gourami is in bad shape. He sits at the bottom of the tank unless he needs to eat, and I've been watching him and he's even then having trouble.

I bought some medication for parasites and for fungus because most of them seem to have the symptoms except for the parrot fish and pleco. My other 2 gouramis are just kind of staying at the top of the tank around the filter and they neevr seem to open their mouths. Oh, and one of my small Angels's gills are out a little all the rime. On the directions it says to remove the carbon filter, which I did before using, and do a water change in 48 hours and retreat if I need to.

The meds I'm using are the Jungle Start tablets. Will they work well enough? I still have my filter in some seperate tank water to keep my bacteria. Should I do a water change sooner or should I follow their instructions.

Does anybody know if they work well enough to save my ponk gourami? He's a really cool fish.

You guys at this whole site rule because you give the best advice. Thanks for your help! (Assuming someone replies )

 

[Nina]

First, have you tested your waters? How new is your aquarium and how many fish do you currently have in it?

Check this site for some general understandings..
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Diseases1.htm

Do you have a QT tank you can set up to treat your gourami?

 

[Relic1882]

Well I know that I really screwed up. I had my tank for about 2 weeks now and after the first week, the cloudiness went away and at that time I had a few platys in there. Now I have the fish on my signature below, and I know I put too many in and I'm in trouble because I'm stupid. My gouramis look sick, my fish have ragged tails and fins, a few fish have red around their fins and gills and the pink gourami has white cloud over his eye. Oh man, this really sucks. I kinda plunged into things without knowing enough, I know.

I used the Tank Buddies fungus tablets and the bacteria tablets for a couple days, and I just changed 25% of my water. The pH is about 7.2, the nitrates and nitrites seem ok for what I've read they're supposed to be. The ammonia level was pretty high so I put some detoxifier in the tank. The only fish that seem ok are 3 of my platys and my pleco. One platy died yesterday. A QT isn't gonna do me any good now because I think they're all sick with multiple fungus and parasite diseases.

I'm really screwed here and I know some more fish are going to die before I get it all corrected. Is there advice someone can give me to help me along? I'd appreciate it.

 

[An t-iasg]

The symptoms that you describe -- ragged fins, red gills, cloudy eyes -- are probably bacterial. Red gills can be parasites also, but do you see any other signs of parasites, like white spots, or a yellow "dust" on the fish? The cottony spots are probably fungus. Are you using Jungle products? Read the label to see if you can do a second course of treatment. I would try treating with a bacterial or fungal med. If you want to try a different med, Jungle Fungus Eliminator says it works on both bacteria and fungus infections. I have had good results with it. Do a water change, about 50%, and run some carbon to remove the meds you have in there now, then use the Fungus Eliminator. I have a small corner filter that isn't normally in the tank, to use for carbon. That way the normal filter isn't exposed to the medicine or the bacteria/fungus. I would run the carbon for at least 4 hours, and then throw this carbon away.

Try lowering your water level a little, so the filter will cause a little more agitation on the water surface to increase oxygenation. This may be why the gouramis are at the top. My betta did this once too, but I didn't increase his water movement. He perked up after about 6 days of the Fungus Eliminator. I hope this helps some!

 

[Relic1882]

Thanks a lot. I've been using the Jungle Fungus Eliminator for a few days now. I don't know how long it takes to work before you notice a difference though. I also have an internal/external parasite med by Jungle too. Is it ok to use both of these at once? I've been using both for 3 days now and I did a water change last night. Should I be doing water changes and adding the meds in every 2-4 days like the package says or should I redo the meds and a water change every day? I wouldn't think that they are lacking oxygen because I have an air stone that goes halfway across my tank and it produces a lot of bubbles. Oh, and the fungus med seems to create a LOT of big bubbles that sit atop the water when the airstone operates. Is that normal?

Thanks for the quick response and the help!

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi Relic1882,
I used the Jungle Fungus Eliminator for 2 doses -- about 8 days. It worked well for me. It sure perked my betta up. You should read the labels to see if you can use two meds together. My jar of Fungus Eliminator doesn't say if you can use parasite meds with it also, so you'd have to read the parasite label. If you have been using them together, then just watch for stress and keep an eye on your parameters. Anyway, I'm not sure that your fish do have parasites. Of course I can't see them, but parasite symptoms are usually thin, listless fish that don't eat, white spots, visible "worms", or a "yellow dust" on the fish. I've read that it's easy to see the yellow dust (this is called velvet) on the fish by using a flashlight. Are you seeing any signs of this?

I usually do a water change and add new meds every other day. Some meds do say every day, then I follow those directions. I know the Fungus Eliminator says add the second dose in 4 days. I did a water change, and added a partial med dose equal to what I removed every other day with the Fungus Eliminator. I thought 4 days was a bit long to go without a water change in a QT tank. Hang in there; the Fungus Eliminator should help! I have never used it with an airstone with the med, but I don't think the bubbles should cause any harm.

I noticed that your tank has been set up for 2 weeks. Is it cycled? Keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite readings. If these are too high, it can stress the fish, and stress can lead to disease like you're seeing now. If you know the ammonia has been high, keep doing your water changes to get it down. The water changes, plus the meds, may slow the cycle if it hasn't cycled already, but it will be better for the fish. And after the meds are out of the tank, watch for a mini-cycle as the good cycling bacteria catch up again. It's good that you put the filter in some tank water while you're treating the main tank. That will help. I took my sponge filter out once, put it in tank water in a baggie, and put it in the frig. Every few days I sprinkled some fish food in the baggie to "feed" the bacteria on the sponge. When I put the sponge back in the tank and did an ammonia test, it was still 0!

Good luck! Finish out the medicine dosing, and keep an eye on the ammonia levels so the fish don't get stressed again.

 

[Relic1882]

thanks a lot for the advice! Well I got a much better look at my fish today and after my research, I decided to filter the Fungus Clear med and use Maracyn-Two. Every symptom my fish have is exactly what Maracyn-Two is supposed to clear up, so I'm going with that because I think it's more focused on my issues. My levels are ok for now. Ammonia is pretty low and nitrites are almost 0, but not quite. I'm going to change the water every day by around 20% and replace the meds as necessarry to keep my levels down. I'm really hoping my little dudes start showing improvement.

 

[An t-iasg]

Sounds like you're on the right track! I think (if I remember correctly ) that Maracyn 2 is dosed daily. The first day, you add a double dose, and the next 4 days are the normal dose. The box tells how many pills to give for your tank size. In my case, I put a full pill in on the first day, and cut the pills in half for the rest of the doses. My fish tried to eat the pill as it fell, so the next time I dosed, I tried to let it fall behind them!

 

[Relic1882]

Well thanks for the help! I appreciate it. Ya know what sucks, my pleco algae eater died yesterday! I don't even know what happened, he didn't appear sick at all. Oh well, it had to be an internal infection. :'( He was cool too. Only 2 inches long though. Well, I'm giving Maricyn-Two daily with water changes so I hope things start perking up. Thanks again for the help!

 

[An t-iasg]

You're welcome! But sorry to hear about the pleco. I've seen them that little, and they are so cute! I hope the Maracyn 2 gets all the fish back to normal!