Fungus, Fungus, Fungus

[NSP]

Hi All!

My tank's curse continues, I'm afraid.

One of my molly's appears to have a fungus film on him that is white
and fluffy. I saw remnants on my female molly as well - but hers was
worse before and is getting better.

I did a water change today and added some aquarium salt to the water
(2 tablespoons in a 25 gallon tank - I didn't want to go overboard).

My plan is to monitor the fungus for a few days to see if it gets
better

In the event that medicine is needed, what would you recommend that
would not damange the biofilter? I had a horrible experience with
Furan-2 - and I don't want to repeat that.

On a separate matter, a few of my fish seem to have missing wedges in
their rear tails. Is this an indication of fin nipping, or is it an
underlying disease? The tails don't look eroded - more like sharp
triangle cutouts.

Regards,
Neil

[NetMax]

"NSP" > wrote in message
m...
> Hi All!
>
> My tank's curse continues, I'm afraid.

So do your posts. There was 'tank of death', 'should I euthanize my
fish', 'ich ich ich', 'comedy of errors', 'death stalks you at every
turn' and others. You're turning into a real ray of sunshine here, ...
not.

> One of my molly's appears to have a fungus film on him that is white
> and fluffy. I saw remnants on my female molly as well - but hers was
> worse before and is getting better.
>
> I did a water change today and added some aquarium salt to the water
> (2 tablespoons in a 25 gallon tank - I didn't want to go overboard).

If you fish are not salt tolerant, you could probably add another 3
tablespoons, otherwise, if they are all salt tolerant, then add in
another 4-5 tablespoons.

> My plan is to monitor the fungus for a few days to see if it gets
> better

Fungus exists in virtually all water without bothering healthy fish, so
if your fish have 'true' fungus, they are seriously stressed by something
else. Fungus typically originates from a wound, so a strong probability
is that it's not fungus, but rather a bacterial infection that has
started. You can monitor it for a few days to see if it gets better, but
if it's a bacterial infection, then their survival chances are not very
good. Previously healthy fish treated early have a better chance of
survival. Previously un-healthy fish treated late are usually a waste of
money & effort IMO, but ymmv. A lot depends on whether they are under
any other sources of stress.

> In the event that medicine is needed, what would you recommend that
> would not damange the biofilter? I had a horrible experience with
> Furan-2 - and I don't want to repeat that.

I think RedForeman's advice (Dec-19) was quite good. Take care of your
basics (ie: water parameters under control) and wait it out. Everything
you add to the water, whether uninformed, or recommended, will still
cause stress to the fish, regardless of anyone's intentions. When fish
are very sick, medicine will often only accelerate their deaths. Low
level aquarium salt concentrations and Melafix are the only low-stress
additives of which I'm aware of. Keep in mind that if fish were
irreperably damaged by ammonia, they might always be weak and more prone
to disease (ie: parasites (ich), fungus and/or bacteria), indicating that
they are still under stress and that their immune systems are not well.
Overall, they might not be 'keepers'. It's not pretty, but that's life.

> On a separate matter, a few of my fish seem to have missing wedges in
> their rear tails. Is this an indication of fin nipping, or is it an
> underlying disease? The tails don't look eroded - more like sharp
> triangle cutouts.

Triangular cutouts would IMO be fin nipping. Some passive observation
will verify this.

NetMax

> Regards,
> Neil

[NSP]

> > My tank's curse continues, I'm afraid.
>
> So do your posts. There was 'tank of death', 'should I euthanize my
> fish', 'ich ich ich', 'comedy of errors', 'death stalks you at every
> turn' and others. You're turning into a real ray of sunshine here, ...
> not.

LOL!

You are right, of course. Failure is a prerequisite for success.

They should contract me out to produce wartime propaganda to
discourage enemy troops!

> If you fish are not salt tolerant, you could probably add another 3
> tablespoons, otherwise, if they are all salt tolerant, then add in
> another 4-5 tablespoons.

I'll stick with things the way they are for now. The fungus already
looks better than it did yesterday.

The first time I ever added salt, I had more in the water, but my male
guppy bloated like a balloon. My first thought was "This Guppy's Gonna
Blow!"

So, I did a water change to reduce the concentration and the guppy
returned to normal.

Your fungus/bacterial explanation made sense to me. Fortunately, the
salt appears the be benefitting the fish.

> Triangular cutouts would IMO be fin nipping. Some passive observation
> will verify this.

If it is fin nipping, it doesn't appear to be that severe - and I
can't find any obvious culprits. Is occasional fin nipping standard
practice in a fish tank?

Thanks again,

Neil

[NSP]

> If it is fin nipping, it doesn't appear to be that severe - and I
> can't find any obvious culprits. Is occasional fin nipping standard
> practice in a fish tank?


I found the culprit. It's my Dalmation Molly.

Noone ever suspects the Molly ;=).

Regards,
Neil