Weird growth on lots of my fish

[Richelle]

For about 3 weeks now I've been fighting what I thought was a fungus. They are similar symptoms to a sick Roseline Shark I took to the ichthyologist at Long Beach Aquarium last year. That fish survived. In the past week I've lost a glass catfish, a Bosemani Rainbow fish and a Cochu tetra, all from the same 65 gallon tank. I still have the Chinese Algae eater, another Cochu tetra and two glass cats that appear to be sick. I've moved them to a hospital tank and am treating them with API Fungus Cure.


Today I looked in my 60 gallon angelfish tank and found what appears to be a reddening on the forehead of two angels. One has red bumps at the base of the right pectoral fin and the dorsal fin appears to be reddening as well. In my 135 gallon tank my goldfish seem lethargic and the wen on one of the Orandas appears to be whitening, but is not fuzzy.


I use my own Aquaticlife RO water with Seachem Equilibrium and Neutral Regulator. I change the water weekly and the filter media monthly. I replace 20 gallons each week from the 60 and 65 gallon tanks and add 64 grams Equilibrium and 4 teaspoons of the Neutral Regulator. I replace 40 gallons each week, sometimes twice a week, from the 135 gallon tank and add 128 grams Equilibrium and 8 teaspoons of the Neutral Regulator. Am I giving them too many minerals? The API 5-in-1 strips show everything is fine.


I'm about at my wits end and very upset/overwhelmed with so many sick fish, so maybe I'm not thinking straight.


Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[Autumnsky]

Are you familiar with the nitrification cycle?

Added new filter pads in the last couple months?

Are you using any other chemicals?

 

[Autumnsky]

Seachem mentions this that you should use alkaline regulator to maintain KH.
https://www.seachem.com/equilibrium.php

Do you have the test results before a water change, of pH / KH/ GH/ TDS, ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte?

What did the Ichthyologists say the problem was when you had consulted the specialist before?

 

[Richelle]

Thank you for replying! I've kept fish for a few years now. I have 5 tanks ranging from 10 to 135 gallons, all planted, with plans to build a pond in the backyard for the common plecostomus that are now 18 inches long. I do understand the nitrogen cycle being an environmental microbiologist by trade. I regularly change the filter media during the monthly tank/filter cleaning. I use Fluval (FX and 07 series) filters with the ammonia and nitrite pads and API Nitra-zorb. The ammonia and nitrite are zero and the nitrate is usually around 40 at the time of the water change. That's why I sometimes change the 135 gallon tank twice a week. Those plecostomus and goldfish are VERY dirty! After each water change I add Fishkeeper and Stability.



I had previously contacted Seachem about using Equilibrium, but do not recall if I asked them about the neutral regulator versus the alkaline regulator. I'll have to double check my e-mails and follow up on that suggestion. I started using Equilibrium about a year ago because my apple snails were getting pits in their shell and dying, not realizing the RO water was removing the calcium (stupid me, I know). Regardless, the pH is generally between 6.8 to 7.0 The 60 gallon angelfish tank does tend to be on the acidic side for some reason.


Last year the ichthyologist suggested the Roseline shark had a fungal infection as a process of elimination. I had treated it for weeks with kanamycin and doxycycline as if it were a bacterial infection, to no avail. Though these fish are in a different tank than the Roseline shark, the symptoms of raw flesh at the base of the tail and pectoral fins suggested to me it was the same problem with the glass cats and the Cochu tetras. The Chinese algae eater was getting red spots on its nose. Since it is in the same tank with the glass cats and tetras, I thought it might be the same problem, so put them all in the hospital tank and treated for fungal infection. One Cochu tetra died, but l last night the open wounds on the other Cochu tetra were gone. Hopefully the red areas within the gut of the glass cats is gone as well. The algae eater still had red spots on its nose. Maybe I have two things going on here.



This morning the goldfish seem to be doing better, except for the one with the wen whitening. He's still on the bottom in the corner, but he's wiggling around, so maybe that's a good sign. I had moved all of the goldfish to a hospital tank and treated with API General Cure. I'll do a water change in both hospital tanks today after work and get a closer look at the Angelfish. If the Cochu tetra and the glass cats are better, I'll move them back to their tank and put the angelfish in that hospital tank with the Chinese algae eater. Maybe kanamycin will do the trick.