Fishkeeping - Fish Disease & White Fluff in Tank

"Ersatz Anarchist" wrote in message
...
I am a newbie at fish keeping and have two problems I was hoping to
get advice on. I have a 29 gallon tank with 4 firemouth cichlids, a
striped rafael, a banjo cat, and a candy striped pleco. All fish are
juveniles between 1 1/2 and 3 inches. I filter using a Whisper hang on
the back filter. I am not currently using activated carbon in the
filer due to medications, but I am using the white fibrous filter
material (or envelope) that the carbon would be put in for mechanical
filtration. The tank has a 1/2 inch substrate of gravel and one amazon
sword plant in a small pot. My ammonia level tends to stay at 0.5 -
1.0 ppm, my nitrite level is consistently 0 ppm, and my nitrate level
is around 5 ppm. The water is relatively soft (2-3) and the pH is
about 7.5. I vacuum the gravel every week and perform a 5-10 gallon
water change while vacuuming the tank.

Your filter is not up to the task. Add a 2nd filter, or replace the
Whisper by something more substantial. If you are on a budget, an
AquaClear300 with 2 sponges (alternating which you clean and their
location). With a bit more money, look at canister filters. The
detectable presence of ammonia indicates your tank is not cycled/cycling
properly. Always fix your water basics before attempting to medicate.

Your next problem is to alleviate the stress on the fish while your new
filter is getting established. Feed less, pick up some Ammo-lock
(converts your toxic ammonia to non-toxic ammonium ions) and do more
frequent water changes (to dilute the inevitable NO2 spike). Using your
old filter's grungy (good) filter floass will help seed the tank with
bacteria (brown slimy filter media is packed with nitrifying bacteria
which remove your ammonia and NO2).

Problem # 1,
One of my firemouths had a small spot or cist on both sides of his
dorsal fin (where the fin meets the body). I tried treating with
Mardel CopperSafe in case it was a parasite and Mardel Maracyn-Two
in case it was a bacterial infection. A second firemouth has since
developed similar looking spots or cists on both sides of his dorsal
fin. The firemouths have also gotten darker in color and seem to have
a black edge along their fins All of the fish are behaving normally
and eating well. None of the fish seem to be gasping or having trouble
breathing. Last night I put in some Ick medication (fizzy tablets that
turned the water blue, I cant't remember the name). I decided instead
of just pouring random medications in the tank, I need to get some
expert help. Any ideas what my fish have?

Treatment of fish in unhealthy water is unpredictable. Imagine you took
pills to reduce a fever while you are suntanning, it's probably not going
to happen. Here are the links I use for diagnosing diseases (I don't
like giving medical advice).

http://www.angelfire.com/or2/cichlid...toms_index.htm
http://www.cichlid.nl/Cichlids%20of%...diseasesEN.htm
http://animalatlas.com/encyclo/infor...h/Diseases.htm
http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/symptoms.html
http://www.thekrib.com/Diseases/ich.html
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/
http://www.fishesrus.com/disease.html
http://www.fish-disease.com/Diseases.htm
http://www.2cah.com/pandora/Disease.html#External
http://www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html

Problem #2,
My tank seems to be growing "white fluff". It grows on the tank walls
and on the artificial plants in the tank. It is somewhat stringy and
the water is cloudy because of the fluff. Occasionally one of the
firemouths will suck in a piece and then spit it out. The fluff clogs
up my filter and I need to put a new filer cartridge in after only 3
days. Any ideas what it is and what I need to do about it.

Doesn't sound particularly healthy. More an indication of an inbalance
than anything else. Either a fungus, mold or algae. I would
mechanically remove as much as possible without messing the tank up too
much, and get the water parameters in line (filtration & water changes).
Many 'weird' growths disappear once there is no ammonia or nitrites in
the water column for them to feed off of. hth jmo

NetMax

Thanks for any assistance you may be able to provide.

Mark