grey covering on fish??

[Giniel]

DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started.

noticed a greyish coating on side of fish ,slightly clamped fins a little darker than usual noticed it last night.




2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/ white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds)

staying at the top of tank,clamped fins and slime is greysih




3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.

quick cure and salt dosage per bottle,salt 3 Tbls per 10 gall. started last night.no change in fish today yet.



Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish
55 gallon BB running for 6 years,5" fish 7 in tank ,with HOB filter sponge filter and large airstone strip .just divided it 2 weeks ago due to a breeder pair laying eggs.


5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?

90% water change every other day ,tap water ,BB, not aged

6 Parameters and water source;

- temp _84____

- ph __7___

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading _not sure___

- nitrate reading _not sure___

- well water __no__

- municipal water _yes___

7. Any new fish/plants added recently

nothing new added.

here is a picture of the one most effecteed. What I need to know is what is the best med to use on them. The other side of the tank has eggs .But the father is getting whatever it is ,so I am not worried about the eggs. 3 of the seven fish are fine with no symptoms. All fish still eat and have regular poo. I will have to ttreat whole tank as my quarantine tank is in use with new fish in another room,seperate equipment.No signs in any other tanks and I have 8 tanks running for now.
Thanks
Debbie

[Giniel]

another pic.

[Giniel]

these are the others not quite as bad but all at the top of tank

[Giniel]

this is the mom of the eggs ,she shows no signs what so ever.

[pcsb23]

Debbie,

On first sight it looks and sounds like a parasite infection. Also, and more worrying it fits the bill for columnaris which is bacterial. I would be tempted to do a PP or FMG treatment on them, this would be one of the occaisions where PP would be my first choice. If its skin parasites PP wil cure it, if its mild columnaris PP may help it. We should know in a couple of days if its parasites or bacterial this way. If it is bacterial (columnaris) the furan 2 or maracyn 2 should do the trick.

hth,

[Giniel]

What dosage should the PP be used at ?? I have never used it before and where can I buy some at??

What is FMG?? And how is it used?

Thanks
Debbie

[Giniel]

Oh and how much and often should I change water with PP? I don't used meds too often. Large water changes and salt and quick cure usually are the only things I need.


Debbie

[pcsb23]

Debbie,

FMG = Formalin and Malachite Green

With PP I go for 2mg/l to 4mg/l there are a number of recipes out there if you get the crystal form of PP. I use the NT Labs ready made as its easier and I don't have to worry about making up stock solutions.

If you opt for FMG, which is just as good and doesn't hit the bio filter quite as hard as PP then its easier to dose at 1 to 2 drops a gallon, or 1ml will treat 5 to 8 US gallons.

With either dose and leave it in the tank for as round 4 to 6 hours, do a 50% w/c, next day 50% w/c, 3rd day dose 4-6 hrs, 50% w/c, 4th day 50% w/c, 5th dose 4-6 hrs 50% w/c, 6th day 50% w/c and assess.

hth and sorry I didn't explain myself better.

[Giniel]

Thanks Paul, no problem on explaining. I just don't use much meds. Haven't really had to . So I really want to be sure what I use and how I am suposed to use it. I don't want to do more harm than good.

These are my babies and I hate to lose even one of them and I have about 50 of them.

I know they don't feel good and really want them back to the beautiful fish that they are.
Thanks Again
Debbie

ps: I will buy the stuff tomorrow and dose . Thanks for all your help

[Giniel]

Ok, I used FMG instead and today they aer nose up at the top of tank and slime coating is stringing off of them. Slime color is still greyish but with a yellow tint to it. They are shaking their heads and darting a short distance.
Still eating and good colored poo.

Do I need to leave the temp at 84 ? I am doing about 75% water change daily now and still adding salt.

Debbie

[pcsb23]

Debbie,

Did you add an airstone?? Its very important when using formalin based products as formalin (and PP) depletes oxygen. 84f is ok for temps, not higher though.

[Giniel]

yes I have a 12" air stone in the tank. Should I take out the divider ? they ate the eggs anyway. They all stay at the divider as if they miss being with each other. Now all but 1 are nose up at the top.

Debbie

[pcsb23]

No point keeping the divider in there if there are no eggs to protect so I would remove it. They often go near the surface with these type of treatments. Once the water change has been done they should perk up again, if necessary add 1 teaspoon Hydrogen Peroxide (3% H2O2 not the 36% stuff) per 10 gallons, it helps with the O2 levels.

If they went to the top real quick like in the first 30 mins I would reduce the dosage of FMG next time by about a quarter. They always perk up after a w/c for me.

[Giniel]

I just got home and did another water change tonight and dosed the FMG again. Some more of them are swimming around and are looking a lot better. More of the slime coat is floating around the tank, so I assume that what ever it is ,is coming off. Their appitie has gotten a little better too.

How long should I continue to do this treatment??

Thanks again Paul

Debbie

[pcsb23]

Debbie,

For this I normally do 3 treatments over five days and then reassess.

[lhforbes12]

Debbie,
Did you remove the divider yet? It seems to me that since the illness coincides so closely with you adding the divider that my first thought is more water quality than anything else. Where is the filter, or it's intake?
Top of the tank, as you know, suggests low O2 to me, the grey slime coat may be caused by, as Paul says, some sort of parasite problem brought about due to stress. I would definately remove the divider.

Larry

[Giniel]

I am leaning more toward stress than water quality as there is one that is a little larger than the rest that seems to be picking on the other 4 that were on one side of the divider. They are all reaching breeding age. and I wanted to see if the eggs would hatch before moving the pair so I divided the tank. I didn't see the larger one on the other side picking until this morning.I guess they are starting to feel better.

The divider is gone. Water is fine. Fish have color back with very little grey left on them.

My other breeding pair of turqs that eat their eggs -the female now has the same thing and I noticed the male picking on her all the time.Should I treat her in that tank or move her to the other ones that are being treated??
It is not on the male anywhere...kind of wierd...

Debbie

ps I have checked all other fish in the house and no other ones have this stuff. No cross contamination. just the turqs that are breeding or in the same tank being picked on.

[Emperor]

Just a quick question what is PP? My fish is showing a lot of the same signs after battle a bout of what could have been ick/ich.

[Emperor]

Never mind on the PP question, just looked it up in the abbreviations page, :-P.