Gbr Fungus?

GBR developed a cottony sort of growth just behind one of her eyes, behaviour and appetite unaffected. Possibly related to adding new fish, they did come from a trusted source although I neglected to quarantine them.

I have been treating with 30C water temp and Pimafix, is this the correct course of action?

The serpae tetras in this tank also seem to have reddened gills, although I have tested for ammonia and nitrites and both are 0. Nitrates are ~10-20ppm max, I do weekly water changes to keep it nice for the rams. pH was ~7.8 constant until the fungus appeared, so it's not the cause of any of my problems. I have since added peat to soften the water and CO2 to help my plants and over the course of several days the pH has now dropped to 6.6 which "should" be better for the rams! (that said, they were quite happy at the high pH I had previously).

It is possible that household chemicals are getting into the tank as my flatmate is fastidious about cleanliness (she bleached the heck out of the bathroom the other day) and has been burning a bit of incense so the smoke could be causing some irritation?? Will change water biweekly until it settles down.. my main priority is keeping my pair of GBR alive and healthy.

Cheers

Geoff

oh yeah, pics would help *facepalm*

nobody? really?

Pimafix hasn't been doing much even after 5 days or so, the growth is bigger now. I gave my GBR a bath in malachite green/methylene blue for about half an hour.. maybe a touch long as she came out of it with clamped fins but after a while in the normal tank she recovered. I have her separated in a breeding net now so I can keep a close eye on her. If she looks OK tomorrow I may repeat the bath at a lower dose / less time. The tank just has residual Pimafix and I added some Melafix today. I'm trying to avoid using the harsher chemicals (malachite/methyl blue) in the main tank unless necessary. Pimefix and Melafix are "natural oils" so their impact should be less.

Only other thing I haven't yet tried is salt, as I hear it's bad for rams. I have heard it can help reduce electrolyte loss in fish that have open wounds, though.

It's hard to say what's caused the problem, but I'd suspect an injury that's developed the fungus as a secondary infection. I don't think it's your flatmate's cleaning or incense!

I would get a proper fungus remedy from your LFs; Pimafix and Melafix are useful as preventatives, but once an infection has taken hold they're just not powerful enough to effect a cure.

I'd steer clear of the salt too; it's very useful, but rams are too sensitve to it.

Well the wound keeps growing.. The spot under her mouth is also red on that side which probably means an infection or something. She ate this morning but has lost a bit of colour since lunch so instead of the bath (which would just cause more stress) I have dosed the whole aquarium with Multi cure (malachite green, methyl blue and acriflavine). These are pretty potent antifungals. Also added some more Melafix so it's a last ditch.. I'd say if I don't see an improvement overnight she won't survive.

green circled area is the fungus, arrow pointing at the redness on one side.

RIP Mrs Sparkles

After a week in a breeding net fighting her infection she passed away yesterday. Nothing I added to the tank seemed to help, she was a real fighter though.

The boy's still alive and healthy: