help please

On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 08:47:06 -0000, Mel wrote:
The fish aren't flashing at all, but are breathing very heavily and a lot
are at the surface. They have patches of fungus,mouthrot, and big white
areas on the body, and chunks out of their fins. Some of their scales are
falling away. We have been treating for columnaris (with Interpet anti
fungus and finrot - it claims to treat columnaris/flex on the bottle - we're
in the UK) since yesterday but today even more fish are affected so this
doesn't appear to be working.

I would do the following personally....

- Check the filter is working well. When I had an outbreak of
mouthfungus, I later found the pump had got clogged and needed
a good clean around the impeller and outlet tube. This meant
that only about half the usual rate of water was coming out.
Although my nitrites, ammonia etc all were 0 too, when I cleaned
the pump so the filter was running at full efficiency it made
a real difference.. the fish started getting a lot better. Maybe
there were lots of dissolved organic compounds or some kind of
pollution (fumes from roadworks/tar boiling outside has caused
my fish to be unwell too, and it's not something you can detect).

- Do a large water change, such as 30-50%. Although your water
params read ok there must be something wrong; the diseases you
describe often break out in dirty water etc... can't hurt. Will
also remove some of the meds. I dont think the interpet ranges
are that great myself, havent had much luck with them. YMMV!

- If you can find it, get a bottle of Esha2000. I think it's
great stuff. I don't know where in the UK you are, but I can
tell you where to find it in East London if that's any good!
Or try the company - http://www.eshalabs.com/esha2000.htm
I swear by it. It treats more than one illness at once, great
if you have an outbreak, it doesn't harm fish or filter, and
it's helped when I was having a crisis in similar circumstances
to yourself... cleared up my finrot and mouth fungus while I
was hunting for a cause. So you can use it for all the illnesses
you describe.

If it was me I would treat in this way at once, but keep looking
for a cause - tankfuls of fish don't often get ill like this.
Is the tank overcrowded? Has the pH crashed? Just some thoughts.

Good luck!

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