White film on goldfish

[mtber]

54 gal tank w/UV sterilizer - plastic plants only
2 med orandas
3 zebra plecos
4 panda cories

nitrites and total ammonia (ammonia 0) are very low (tank is about 3 months old), pH ~7.0

The goldfish have what looks like a thin milky white film on at least parts of them, can see it on the crown of there head. They act fine otherwise.

I have a piece of driftwood that has white fluffy stuff all over it (fungus?)

Any ideas about what might be on the goldfish? Suggestions? I'm very concerned about using any meds or salt that could hurt the zebra plecos.

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya mtber and welcome to Aquariumadvice

Your parameters look good, so I don't think its any sort of ammonia burn. Hrmm.

I suspect columnaris, as a true fungus would be more fuzzy then a film, kinda like a forgotten bit of food in the back of the fridge. There's a good article about it here:http://www.aquamaniacs.net/flex.html . Understand its a guess; columnaris can look like a white film, and is one of the most prevelant diseases of the skin in fish. However, there are usually other signs (lethargy, poor appetite) which you are not seeing.

Can you get us a pic? It might help.

 

[mtber]

White film Picture

Hi Allivymar.

Here is a pic. I'm not sure about it being columnaris. It's been around for several weeks and the article indicates that columnaris progresses rapidly.

We have another orange oranda and we couldn't really tell for sure if it had the film. We added the black and gold one last week, and then thought we were seeing it on his head. (I know, should of quarantined.)

Any additional thoughts will be appreciated.

As I mentioned in the original post, I want to proceed cautiously so I don't kill my plecos with the "cure". (been there done that and was not happy)

Thanks,

Mtber

 

[Allivymar]

Yeah, that doesn't look like columnaris to me (awesome pic btw!). Is why I didn't make a treatment recommendation; just wasn't sure. And I don't blame you for being conservative with treatments. For most minor infections, good fresh treated water is the number one way to go (obviously parasites and more virulent infections like columnaris and aeromonas require more drastic measures). Gives the fish's immune system a chance to fight it off themselves.

Is it actually a film? It sorta looks more like its faded to me. I ask because orandas are known to lose color if not exposed to sunlight. From http://www.goldfishinfo.com/ :

'Color Changes- If the goldfish was once black and has turned orange or was once orange and is turning white it could be that the fish has been kept indoors and without full sunlight. (which would be the case if you had a tank in the house). The fish is suffering from pigment loss in the skin. Red Capped Orandas are famous for losing the red cap. Orange comets are famous for turning white. The key is as follows:


Water quality is great
Discolored areas are not raised compared to the other skin
Discolored areas are not depressed under the rest of the skin
Fish is acting good, eating normally, and fins are erect and white ( no hemorrhaging) "

At the moment, I wouldn't treat. I'd do exactly what you are doing now; keeping water parameters pristine, and keeping a close eye on em. I would remove the driftwood and boil it to remove the fungus just in case.