need diagnosing please

[adamsri]

my roommates lampeye tetra has some white growth on its nose. here is a pic

any ideas of what it is?

[TLH]

Looks like fungus but your pic is a little blurry so can you check whether it is furry in appearance please. If it is treat with Pimafix and Melafix or add a ½ teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon of water. Methylene Blue will also work but it stains silicon.

[adamsri]

ya its fuzzy a little bit. sorry but i can't really get a better picture. damned fish won't sit still. any reason why this stuff forms?

[TLH]

Maybe your fish got injured or scraped its nose in the substrate or something. Fungus spores are present in all aquariums but mostly they are harmless unless your fish are weak or stressed, then they can move in and exploit the weakness.

Got test kits? Have you checked your water conditions lately?

[adamsri]

my roommate said it looked like he got nipped. I tested the water for him but just the nitrate level. it was high. greater than 50mg/gal or whatever so he changed out like 1/3 the water (its a 55gal) the other day. But he kind of neglected to notice he had three dead fish chillin at the bottom of the tank. he took those out before the water change. anything else i should test for? I got a full kit.

[TLH]

Hmm, not sure mow mg per gallon equates to parts per million. Aim to keep it around 20ppm but under 40ppm if you can. Good idea to keep up the changes for a bit if you had 3 dead fishes in there. Any clue what they perished from?

I should check ammonia and nitrite now and make sure they are both zero.

[Lupin]

Fungus indeed. Methylene Blue is too strong a solution for tetras. Jungle Fungus Eliminator if you can get this one. No need to add salt as the med I suggested has heavy salt content in it.

[adamsri]

not sure what they perished from. thanks for the info guys

[waterfaller1]

Quote: "A bacteria, Flexobacter (Chondrococcus)"

http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/...h-Diseases/13/