Fungus!!1

[Oilers]

I just went home today and saw what looks like fungus on my fish. what is the fastest treatment to get rid of it, and should I treat the whole tank or just the one that has it?

[ShinShin]

Fungus spores are ever present. Fungus attacks only dead tissue. Certain dyes are absorbed by dead tissue. Methylene blue is one. This will prevent the fungus from spreading. If you can isolate the discus, that would be good. Treat with MB. Watch the affected area for secondary infection. Perhaps a neomyacin/sulpha treatment will be needed.

Are you sure it is fungus?

[Cosmo]

does seem a little strange that fungus would suddenly appear.. was there an open wound or scrape before ?? MarOxy is also good on fungus and ShinShins right, a secondary infection would be a concern as well and that a hospital tank would be a great idea too if you have one.

Would help to know more about your aquarium.. Is this a planted tank ? BB ?, other substrate (gravel) ? ... regardless, clean the tank as well as possible (if not already done regularly, wipe down the tank walls, bottom if BB, etc - or vacuum the gravel clean). Large volume WC's would be good idea if not already part of your routine.

In addition to the MB, (unless you're planted) .. 2 tbls/10 gal non-iodized salt couldn't hurt either.

Keep a close eye on him/her and if you don't see an improvement, antibiotics may be called for..

good luck
Jim

[Oilers]

It looks like two white bumps joined together on its left side near the upper body of the discus. Almost round like a white mushroom. I treated them all in a salt bath yesterday with 1tbs/ 2 gallon yesterday and turned on the heat to 90 F. Also did a 40% water change. (mad at self for not having a picture :( )

But as soon as I put them in the salt bath, they seemed happy. Especially my turquoise, his dark coloring was gone and the other ones had the fins fully fanned out. Probably doing another water changed today. Was wondering if I'm approaching this the right way, that is without the use of medication?

Tank Specs.: bare bottom tank, with no plants, ph around 7.3, just noticed a nitrite level of less than 0.1 (I think I made the mistake of cleaning my sponge and hang-on filter), tank has been up and running for 7 months, 20% water changed everyday.

[roger]

Salt is a good general cure for many things.

You can use it as a high salinity bath for a short time or as a low salinity bath over a longer time (days etc ...)

You can also start slowly raising the salinity up by about 1 cup per day and monitor your fish. You eventually end up with a high salinity bath but your fish can adjust to it over time. If you notice your fish having problems, since it was done gradually you can do a water change to lower it again.

Peace,
Roger

[ShinShin]

I do not understand why one would use a strong solution of salt to treat fungus. A long period of time to adjust to a stong salt enviroment is not 2-3 days, or even 2-3 weeks. Salt (NaCl) is a substance totally absent in the discus' natural habitat. Why expose discus for a long term bath of salt when other fixes less taxing to the fish are available? A short term dip could elimenate any bacterial infection that could be starting or even causing the fungus attack. It is possible that the fungus is actually the secondary infection here, brought on by the death of tissue surrounding a bacterial attack.At best, a short term dip in NaCl could be used for certain circumstances.Methlyene blue is one of the safest products available and is effective in stopping the spread of fungus. One can never rid fungus from a fish tank. Spores are ever present. So actually, The presence of fungus is a symptom caused by dead tissue. One needs to find out why the tissue is dead.

Salt has become the most misused product for disease control since the PP infatuation of the 90's.

[Cosmo]

if the mushrooms aren't fuzzy.. you may not be dealing with fungus.

Agree with both Roger and ShinShin on the salt, but how and when you use it depends on what is ailing your fish.. The salt will help ease stress and improve gill function and may even slow down if not stop a secondary infection. I've noticed my fish visibly perk up and even swim over to hover above the salt as it "melts?"

Don't think it will help an actual fungus, but then, I never tried it for fungus ??

If you are convinced it's fungus, I'd continue with a salt solution for a few days, (I like Roger add it gradually to allow the fish to adjust.. depending on the situation I usually start with 1 or 2tbl/10 gal then add 1.5tbs/10 gal of each WC. I've gotten as high as 1tbls/2 gal to deal with a real nasty problem, but only once thankfully :) )

I'd also add either methylene blue or malachite green as ShinShin suggests, but if it were me I'd also add some MarOxy as well... the combination should knock out the fungus rather quickly..

Salt is not good as a long term solution and should gradually be removed thru WC's after 3 to 5 days if your fish look like they're feeling better(IMO)..

good luck, hope your fish improves :)

Jim

[Oilers]

First off, I like to thank-you all that have responded to my problem. :)

It wasnt fuzzy, it was almost like a boil people get.

I noticed that the whiteness of the spot is less, but now the other discus are not eating. The one that is infected is eating but not the my other 2 PB, and the my brown is barely eating, while the turqoise is still dark in color is still eating a little. And the turqoise is showing some flesh through it's skin, I'm just wondering if this was caused by it flapping around the net or it is a inflicted wound.

When treating the discus, I just put some aged water and salt in a bucket, and let them swim around for about 25 minutes. After that I put them in another bucket with some aged water to with a less salinity. Then I did my 50% wc, and put them back into the tank.

I think the problem might be the water conditions, as I mentioned above with the nitrite.