Live plants and fungus.

Sadly I had a break out of fungus in one of my tanks. Many of my fish have white fungus on them I believe it’s cotton wool disease. I want to treat the tank with salt but I know salt will probably kill my live plants. My questions is does fungus on fish live in plants so if I put those plants in another tank would they make my other fish have fungus?

If it is cotton wool disease or another fungus disease I don't believe the plants can get it but you may have to clean them off. You need to look up treatment on the internet. Depending on the treatment you may have to clean your tank, gravel and plants.

Erica27 said:

Sadly I had a break out of fungus in one of my tanks. Many of my fish have white fungus on them I believe it’s cotton wool disease. I want to treat the tank with salt but I know salt will probably kill my live plants. My questions is does fungus on fish live in plants so if I put those plants in another tank would they make my other fish have fungus?

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Retired Viking said:

If it is cotton wool disease or another fungus disease I don't believe the plants can get it but you may have to clean them off. You need to look up treatment on the internet. Depending on the treatment you may have to clean your tank, gravel and plants.

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i know this may be late but I’m having the same problem. Did you ever figure out the answer to this question with the plants?

Erica27 said:

i know this may be late but I’m having the same problem. Did you ever figure out the answer to this question with the plants?

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From what I could find on the web, plants are not affected by the disease. Poor water conditions is a factor.

Treat the fish, not the tank by moving the fish to a hospital tank (which may be as simple as a bin or a bucket). You will likely need a heater and filter as the fish may be there a week or more. (or an air line/stone and a cycled sponge from you tank filter so BB is present).
Since fungus like this is usually poor water quality, you need to aggressively clean your tank/filter, gravel vac, and do several water changes to get the tank back in shape. You should also test your tank and source water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
In the hospital tank, bin, or bucket, you might lightly treat with salt or one of many antibacterial meds. Treat lightly as often just the change to fresh water is enough for the fish to recover.

Can you post a picture of all the fish so we can identify the problem?

It is extremely unlike that all the fish would get a fungal infection at the same time. Fungus can only get into fish if there is damage to the tissue. Then it appears as white fluffy patches on the damaged area.

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If the fish have a cream/ white film over their body and fins, this is excess mucous caused by poor water quality or something in the water that is stressing the fish.

The best remedy for this is to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 1-2 weeks, or until the problem is identified.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Colin_T said:

Can you post a picture of all the fish so we can identify the problem?

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It is extremely unlike that all the fish would get a fungal infection at the same time. Fungus can only get into fish if there is damage to the tissue. Then it appears as white fluffy patches on the damaged area.

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If the fish have a cream/ white film over their body and fins, this is excess mucous caused by poor water quality or something in the water that is stressing the fish.

The best remedy for this is to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 1-2 weeks, or until the problem is identified.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

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Plants don't get fungal infections that affect fish. However, if you move plants from a sick tank into another tank, you can transmit disease organisms in the water on the plant leaves, stems and roots. Therefore it is not recommended to move plants or ornaments from sick tanks to healthy tanks. Leave everything where it is until the disease/ problem has been fixed, and then move stuff if you need to.

If you have a plant that you must move, then remove it from the tank and wash it under tap water to remove as much bad stuff as possible. Then put it in a separate tank that does not contain any fish. Leave it there for 2-4 (preferably 4) weeks so any disease organisms will die off and won't be transferred into a tank containing fish.

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Sadly all the fish have died...they were all female bettas. One by one they would get like a big fin tear then the white fungus would form in that spot....the last few that died didn’t get the fin tear they just would get fungus on there body’s....I really haven’t done anything to the tank since they all died about a month or two ago....but I still have all my live plants on three growing fine! I do want to add other fish to this tank but I’m scared that whatever that fungus was is still in the tank. Here is a picture of the fist betta that died. That is what their fins would look like then a big white fuzz would cover the whole in the fin.

As Coilin noted, there was most likely some underlying issue and this has not been identified by the sound of it. Fungus is usually secondary, appearing on open skin, sores, fin tears, etc.

It's possible they were fighting or one was a male.

If there are no fish in the tank then gravel clean the substrate and drain it completely, then refill with dechlorinated water. Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt per 20 litres of tank water and leave the salt in there for 24 hours. Then drain and refill the tank 2 times with dechlorinated water. Wait 24 hours and add another fish.