Deadly Fast Spreading Fungus...Please Help!!

[Silencedogood]

Colin said it was bacterial, not fungal. I’d try using Furan-2 if you can get it. It treats bacterial diseases.

No it's not fungus.

The Acriflavine might help but Malachite Green (Victoria Green) won't. Malachite Green is used for external protozoan infections and does nothing to fungus or bacteria.

I thought fungus was bacterial??
I thought it was from the new fish but I treated my main tank last week after adding the new fish and then three days ago (post-treatment) I added some of my young guppies (that I raised) into my main tank. Is this coming from my nursery tank? i just want to know what tank to treat.

 

[Silencedogood]

I would increase the salt. Most plants can tolerate some salt and unless you have rare plants, I would just replace any plants that die. Rare or expensive plants can be moved to a quarantine tank and treated there without salt

All plants are expensive for me lol

 

[FishGuest5123]

I thought fungus was bacterial??
I thought it was from the new fish but I treated my main tank last week after adding the new fish and then three days ago (post-treatment) I added some of my young guppies (that I raised) into my main tank. Is this coming from my nursery tank? i just want to know what tank to treat.

No, Fungus is in a different class than bacterial. I’d probably treat both tanks to be sure. Since you started a fungal treatment, finish it up. Wait 48 hours and do the Furan-2.

 

[Essjay]

Some bacterial infections are incorrectly called fungus. There are fungal infections but the disease experts say that what your fish have is not fungus but bacterial

 

[Colin_T]

You treat whatever tank has the sick fish in.

Fungus, bacteria and protozoans are completely different organisms that affect fish and other animals, including people, reptiles, amphibians and birds. There are also yeast and viruses that affect most creatures. All these organisms are tiny and require a microscope to see the individual creature, but when they have spread over a large area, you can identify the main type of infection just by looking at it.

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There are lots of good bacteria that live in and on us (and in and on our fish). The good bacteria help control yeast and fungus from infecting our bodies, and good bacteria in our digestive tract help us digest food and get more nutrients out of the food. Some good bacteria produce vitamins and chemicals to help our body function properly.

There are also bad bacteria and these are the ones that kill fish and other creatures. The fish in the picture has a bacterial infection caused by one of the species of bad bacteria.

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There are a number of different types of fungus that can infect fish and other creatures. The most commonly encountered fungus in fish tanks is Saprolegnia, which infects open wounds and looks like white fluff sticking up from the fish.

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There is a microscopic world on our bodies and fish's bodies. These microscopic organisms are at war with each other and compete for space. Yeast is tiny and common on terrestrial animals but not common on fish. Some bacteria eat the yeast and help control it.

A lot of good viruses hunt down and kill bacteria and help keep the bacteria under control. Some viruses are bad and cause the common cold and flu.

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There are protozoans that infect people's and fish's digestive tract (intestine). They are normally bad protozoans and cause a number of health issues and can kill people and animals (and fish).

There are protozoans that infect the outside of fish and can kill the fish if not treated. Whitespot, Velvet, Costia, Chilodonella and Trichodina are all external protozoans that affect fish. Whitespot is the most commonly seen.​

 

[Colin_T]

No, Fungus is in a different class than bacterial. I’d probably treat both tanks to be sure. Since you started a fungal treatment, finish it up. Wait 48 hours and do the Furan-2.

I wouldn't wait 48 hours to treat the bacterial infections. The bacteria will kill the fish within 24 hours of showing the symtpoms.

I would get some medication, then wipe down the inside of the tank with a clean fish sponge. Do a 75-90% water change and gravel clean all the substrate. Clean the filter and then treat with salt and medication asap.
Make sure the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Make sure you remove any carbon from the filter before treating, and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

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You don't have time to wait when it comes to this type of bacterial infection. It will wipe out everything in the tank if it's not treated straight away.

 

[Silencedogood]

You don't have time to wait when it comes to this type of bacterial infection. It will wipe out everything in the tank if it's not treated straight away.

What medication would you recommend? Obviously the one I'm using is not sufficiently treating this.

No, Fungus is in a different class than bacterial. I’d probably treat both tanks to be sure. Since you started a fungal treatment, finish it up. Wait 48 hours and do the Furan-2.

I just finished the treatment today

 

[Silencedogood]

@Colin
Just reread the label of the med that I'm using and it says that it treats secondary bacterial infections.
Should I retreat using the same treatment?

 

[FishGuest5123]

See if you can find Furan-2. PetSmart often has it. I order it with one day shipping from Amazon Prime. @Colin_T do you recommend any other meds if he can’t get the Furan-2?

 

[Colin_T]

If the current medication isn't working then do not re-use it because it doesn't work on the bacteria causing the problem.

I don't know what medications are available to you but you need something that treats bacterial infections. Deanasue mentioned Furan-2, if you can get that give it a go.

If you can't get anti-biotics or something to treat bacterial infections, put a heap of salt in the tank and get it up to half strength sea water. The plants will melt but it might save the fish.

 

[Silencedogood]

@Colin_T do you recommend any other meds if he can’t get the Furan-2?

@Deanasue I'm a she thank you very much loool

 

[Silencedogood]

If the current medication isn't working then do not re-use it because it doesn't work on the bacteria causing the problem.

I don't know what medications are available to you but you need something that treats bacterial infections. Deanasue mentioned Furan-2, if you can get that give it a go.

If you can't get anti-biotics or something to treat bacterial infections, put a heap of salt in the tank and get it up to half strength sea water. The plants will melt but it might save the fish.

I'll look into Furan-2. I just ran out of aquarium salt so I'll probably get that too.
I appreciate all of your help!

 

[Byron]

If Colin says otherwise, i will not argue as he knows more about these issues than I do. But when I had a bacterial issue (which I believed was columnaris but a marine biologist said it could have been some other bacterial issue) I took the advice to use a combination of antibiotics. Furan2 (furanizole) and kanamycin. API (I think) manufacture Furan2, and Seachem manufacture Kanaplex which is kanamycin. The reason for using both together (at the same time) was that kanamycin is more easily assimilated by fish and this drags Furan 2 in with it. I know it did cure the bacterial whatever it was. Start both on the same day and follow the individual instructions; from memory one is dosed on the 1, 3 and 5 day, the other on the 1 and 4, but don't quote that. Whatever the instructions say.

Plants will take a beating from the Furanizole. I lowered the water level to reduce the volume in the tak so I could use less, as these are expensive.

 

[Silencedogood]

Okay, I don't have plants in the 10 gallon right now so I'll look into doing that. Thank you so much.