URGENT: Unknown disease

[Necronius]

I need help asap. I ordered fish online, and they are supposed to be here today. my water quality has been great lately, but thismorning when i got up, my knife fish is covered in a white slime, and another fish in the tank has white around his gills and the edges of his fins, and the fins look like they are becoming ragged. I have no idea what is causing this, but I need to find out so I can start treatment before it gets out of hand. the problem is compounded by the new fish that are arriving today.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

 

[fishfreek]

Well the first thing I would suggest is a rather heafty water change. If at all possible quarinteen the sick fish in another small tank. Like a 10 gal tank or something.

 

[justDIY]

how old is your tank, what are your water parameters, is there any smell to the water?

what type of filter do you have?

sorry to answer your question with questions, but I need more information to diagnose your problem ... also a pic would be worth 1000 words

as far as your new fish arriving today - please go to walmart or k-mart and buy an inexpensive 10 gallon kit - should be no more than $15 ... that way you can have a clean tank with clean water and a new filter to hold your new fish while you sort out your main tank.

 

[Allivymar]

*agrees with justDIY*

You should be QT new fish anyway; never know what THEY are coming in with. A 10g at wallymart is around 10$. That and a cheap filter won't set u back much, and you'll be protecting both sets of fish. Just be sure to stay on top of water parameters in the uncycled tank.

 

[Necronius]

Thank you for the advice, but I think I have the problem under control now. I did a 50% water change and am treating them with MelaFix. This has already made an improvement in one of the fish. As for the tank parameters, they are all fine. The tank is a little over a month old, and has an Eclipse 3 hood.