[ovenmit331]

SO i have a bunch of guppies in a 30g hex. one of them is much larger than the others and VERY VERY pregnant. in the last day she has developed this sort of whitish/clear fuzziness on her back where her top fin should be... any ideas?

 

[jaidexl]

Possibly Columnaris. First, I would move her to a clean, separate tank. On both tanks do a water change, vacuum the gravel, lower temp to around 75F if possible, increase aeration with an airstone and by lowering the water level, if it has a HOB filter, and treat with Maracyn and Maracyn II together for at least ten days. Don't know what effect the treatment would have on the babies, but that's what I'd do if I wanted to save the fish.

Otherwise, just get her away from your other fish ASAP before it spreads and kills them all, and still do everything mentioned for maintenance to the main tank and keep the temp down, O2 up.

 

[ovenmit331]

well, sadly she passed on. but i noticed the "fur" that was on her back is now growing on some small pieces of food left over from last night's feeding. at least i think it's the same fur...

 

[jaidexl]

I'm sorry to here that the fish didn't make it.

i noticed the "fur" that was on her back is now growing on some small pieces of food left over from last night's feeding. at least i think it's the same fur...

If it is the same then you're dealing with a fungus, on a fish it's usually associated with a pre-existing condition caused by something else like flesh damage of some sort accompanied by bacterial infection. Columnaris is more commonly seen, but fungus is still possible. For fungus, things like Jungle Fungus Clear or any other that has methylene blue in it will work, but you also have to take into account that there is most likely other underlying issues that may need their own treatment. The tank maintenance also comes into play since fungus likes to thrive in stagnant water.

 

[ovenmit331]

I'm sorry to here that the fish didn't make it.



If it is the same then you're dealing with a fungus, on a fish it's usually associated with a pre-existing condition caused by something else like flesh damage of some sort accompanied by bacterial infection. Columnaris is more commonly seen, but fungus is still possible. For fungus, things like Jungle Fungus Clear or any other that has methylene blue in it will work, but you also have to take into account that there is most likely other underlying issues that may need their own treatment. The tank maintenance also comes into play since fungus likes to thrive in stagnant water.

thanks, i just wanna make sure it's not transported to my other fish.

i think it was a pre-existing condition. her lack of fin leads me to believe that.

if it's not a fungus, and i put jungle fungus clear in the tank, will it cause a problem? will that hurt any plants or shrimp?

as for maintenance, i do weekly 10g water changes. every once in a while i do a 15g. possibly fed too much a couple times, like the first time i dropped a while frozen bloodworm cube in then realized it was probably too much the next morning when there was a bunch left over on the bottom of the tank.

but ammonia and nitrite are always at 0 when i test and nitrates have never been more than 20...

 

[ovenmit331]

thanks, i just wanna make sure it's not transported to my other fish.

i think it was a pre-existing condition. her lack of fin leads me to believe that.

if it's not a fungus, and i put jungle fungus clear in the tank, will it cause a problem? will that hurt any plants or shrimp?

as for maintenance, i do weekly 10g water changes. every once in a while i do a 15g. possibly fed too much a couple times, like the first time i dropped a while frozen bloodworm cube in then realized it was probably too much the next morning when there was a bunch left over on the bottom of the tank.

but ammonia and nitrite are always at 0 when i test and nitrates have never been more than 20...

so another one of my fish (same species of guppy bought at same time) appears to be coming down with the same thing. swimming REAL slowly. weird whitish spots developing on her back. getting fatter. HELP!!!

can i dose jungle fungus clear in the tank without hurting anything (refer to bolded section above)?

i've got some hydra in the tank. found a thing on rex grigg's site that said flubendazole is VERY useful in treating hydra (http://rexgrigg.com/Algae1.html). found an article on using flubendazole to treat hydra (and a BUNCH of other things) (http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/FlubendazoleTreatment.pdf) asked rex where to get this but he doesn't know. searched online and can't find it. from the article it sounds like this might help... any thoughts?

 

[jaidexl]

If other fish are getting it then I would do the above mentioned (my first post) ASAP. It's a bit of a coincidence that they would also have preexisting dead flesh for mold to grow on, I think columnaris is running them down one by one.

Body fungus has a different look, does it look like an entangled cottony mess smeared on them or does it have more of a spiky mold look with fibers protruding straight out and puffy like a cumulus cloud? Do you have a pic? Maybe you could google images and compare to try and be sure before you start dumping meds in.

I don't have experience with M and M II or jungle fungus clear killing plants or shrimp, I always used a hospital tank and those plants seemed ok. I wouldn't put the shrimp through unnecessary meds though, at least move them if you plan on treating the fish in the main tank. The meds will fix the fish, the tank just needs the temp lowered and O2 content increased to make it a less hospitable place for flexibacter columnaris and fungus, a vac and a bunch of water changes to to really kick it. The fish might not have it in them to deal with all that, that's why a hospital tank is good, you can dose it, cover it and they'll be chill the whole time while you detail the tank. I also wouldn't want the cloudy yellow Maracyn water in my main tank.

 

[ovenmit331]

looked online and found Melafix as a recommended treatment. trying it now.

also dropped the tank heater to 74º (won't go below 76º during the day probably due to the lights.) should i kill the lights this weekend to keep the temp down?

and i'll lower the water level to increase aeration since i've got HOB.

I'll do a 40-50% WC today. the dosing rec for melafix is for 7 days with a 25% wc after. i'll probably do it for 2 weeks just to make sure

so far 3 down. only really seems to effect the guppies...

 

[jaidexl]

I don't have much experience with melafix, I've heard it isn't substantially effective, and generally, water changes can achieve the same results. Good luck though.

I would remove the light if it's increasing beyond the ambient temp, if it's staying at 76 anyway then I wouldn't worry about it. 76 isn't bad, a few less degrees would go a long way with bacterial critters but still not bad.

 

[ovenmit331]

we'll find out...

anyone else have experience?

 

[jaidexl]

Well, the good news is, I've read body fungus can be fought off with water changes alone, so if it is just fungus, the combo of changes and melafix should really give it a run for it's money.

 

[ovenmit331]

how often should i do WC for the next week or two?

 

[jaidexl]

Hmm, that depends on what melafix says. If it's a daily dosing regime like Maracyn, then the med content is being replenished daily, so partial water changes can be done before dosing to help keep the water somewhat clear. I'm not positive though so you might shoot them an email and see what they say. I think Aquarium Pharmaceuticals is pretty good about responding, IIRC. If it's going to weaken the med at all, I wouldn't do any, the minute you let up throughout the whole cycle, whatever it's fighting will try to build a resistance.

 

[jaidexl]

Maybe we can get someone with Melafix experience in here to help. Seems the plants are hogging all the attention. :hihi:

 

[ovenmit331]

go figure on a planted tank forum...

the directions say to dose daily then WC 25% after a week and repeat if necessary/desired...

 

[jaidexl]

I just hunted through some med conversations at a few places I consider having knowledgeable people with valuable info, looking for the best med for both fungal and parasitic infections. Seems like Kanaplex is popular for both and good for situations where you're not too sure what it is you're looking at, or want to kill two birds with one stone. Might be a good bet if this turns out to be a long battle for you, although if you've already started treatment, it's probably wiser to stick with the plan rather than making medicine soup.

Apparently, Melafix is tree oil claiming to prevent bacterial infection and even kill certain bacteria although some state their tests show this is a false claim. Many believe it is to fish medicine as herbal tee is to human medicine. As far as non bacterial related flesh damage, everything I've read shows it's a good performer. I won't bother to site all of the sources I read since it's just the internet so who knows what's true, basically all of it came through google. Here's one seamingly unbiased melafix test though.

 

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

melafix is wonder stuff. however its more of a tonic than a cure. with cases of damaged scales and fins it speeds up the healing process dramaticly (i have mbuna, so have had to use it on a number of occasions)

there is also primafix, which is supposed to help with internal bacterial problems though i'm yet to try it (no need yet)

IMHO the biggest benifit of both melafix and primafix is that their not harsh and deffinatly (well melafix anyway) help. it is the first product i turn too. if any further treatment is needed the melafix will help anyway, (i've treated with melafix and whitespot medicine with one batch of fish in the quarantine tank (i'd bought from a less than reputable chain store due to the rarity of the fish))

 

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

My experience with Melafix is that it is not great for curing problems but it certainly is great at helping fish heal. I have only ever dealt with Ich twice but both times I treated with salt and also added Melafix daily. Once the Ich was cleared up the fish had absolutely no scars on them as a result of the experience. I have found it to heal injuries quite quickly. If you want a cure for a fungus then use Pimafix to actually cure the fungus in conjunction with Melafix to help heal any damage as a result of the fungus. If you read further info on the two products, you will find that they are meant to be used in conjunction with each other to combat many external issues.