Ich or fungus?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

howmanyds

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Mar 27, 2013
Messages
337
This Lwanda has been developing white patches since he was fighting with another peacock several weeks ago. No one else in the tank, including the guy he was beating up on has these patches. May I treat with API general cure? i've been putting melafix in the tank every day for almost 2 weeks.
ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1411328953.709789.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
Hey man, even though I don't really know what that is, I would try pimafix if you think it is a fungus, and maybe try a dip for like 10-15 mins if you see no improvement from adding it to the tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
How do I do a dip?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
So I would say for a dip maybe 1 teaspoon per 3 gallons? Maybe more, if you see any signs of intense stress move the fish back immediately


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
As this is sort of a last resort I would first try doing what the label says and do more frequent water changes and add 1 teaspoon of pimafix per ten gallons.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
I'm all freaked out having been reading about fish TB. Could this be tuberculosis?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
Can I use tetracycline and General Cure (metronidazole) at the same time? How about along with Pimafix and/or Melafix?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
Make sure you are removing the activated carbon from the filter or the entire filter bag while medicating but keep the filter running. If the carbon is in there, it renders meds useless.

I think pimafix is appropriate for fungus. If it were ich, you'd probably see symptoms on other fish and would have to treat the whole tank. Seems like the injury got an infection or fungus or something.

Make sure your water is pristine. Sometimes fungus is the result of poor water quality.

I don't know anything about the fish you have, but be careful with salt baths or salt in general as some fish - especially scaleless- cannot tolerate it and it would probably do more harm than good.

If you end up doing a salt bath, I would try to find a more precise dosage rather than guessing. I've guessed wrong.
 
My two fish in quarantine are peacocks. The picture is of the fellow who is doing worse, but the other guy he was fighting has some white marks as well.

How about the show tank they came out of? What should I be doing about everyone in that tank? They are mostly smaller Tangs and some more peacocks.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
My two fish in quarantine are peacocks. The picture is of the fellow who is doing worse, but the other guy he was fighting has some white marks as well.

How about the show tank they came out of? Which might be doing about everyone in that tank? They are mostly smaller Tangs and some more peacocks.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Oops, sorry. I mean I don't know anything about those types of fish. I hope you didn't think I was rudely saying you need to give me info about the other fish!
 
Go to a "fish" store and buy a product called "Rid Ich Plus" it treats both ich and fungus. Its made by kordon and a good fair fish store sells it for $6 for a whole bottle.
 
That isn't ich. My screen is petite, but I am not sure if it fungus either. Is it fuzzy? It looks more an bacterial type infection than it does a fungal one. It is possible though, I cannot see the picture very well.

EDIT: I got on a bigger screen. Your second one does look like more like fungus, the first pic doesn't. Both seem to have some scale loss and some infection going on though. I would treat with something that also deals with the bacterial element. Which things do you have on hand? Skip mela or pimafix if you don't already have them. They are very low strength and don't accomplish much more than clean water alone will.
 
Last edited:
I have melafix, Pimafix, tetracycline, and API general cure ( metronidazole ).

Up to this point I've only used melafix daily and two doses of the general cure 48 hours apart. And I'm keeping the water clean.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
i agree that is not ich and i would avoid using rid-ich because it is going to stain the seams of your tank blue.

im not an expert but i agree it looks like an injury that has gotten a fungal infection. definitely not ich. have you recently tested your water's parameters? that is always a good idea, as is a water change.
 
I want to give them a bath, but I'm unsure of the dosage, and whether I should be using aquarium salt or Epsom salts.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
I want to give them a bath, but I'm unsure of the dosage, and whether I should be using aquarium salt or Epsom salts.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

My understanding - which could very well be wrong - is the epsom is for constipation or bloat and the aquarium is more for injury or fungus. Aquarium salt has them retain water while epsom is to reduce it. Again, you seem to have lots of experts on this thread so for sure defer to them.
 
Like novice said, this one is for aquarium salt (or some similar salt). Honestly, salt baths have a limited effectiveness against fungus. You can try it though. I do not know the dosage off the top of my head.
You can also try swabbing the area (out of the water) with hydrogen peroxide and removing any fungal growth with a tweezers. It is invasive, but if you can do it speedy it isn't a big deal.
General cure will not likely help you.
Frankly, I dislike melafix and pimafix because they are low dosage and have a very limited effectiveness so I rarely recommend their use. Since you already have them though, you could go ahead and try a mela/pima combo treatment and see if it helps along with clean water. Pimafix is the one that is said to sometimes help with fungus, so if you want to use those, I wouldn't do the melafix alone.
The tetracycline will help for the overall infection and the sores that seem to have formed if you want to go that route and would be more beneficial than the general cure for what seems to be going on. The ingredients in general cure are by far best at parasite eradication, not so good at bacterial issues.
 
Back
Top Bottom