Fungus?

[pnyklr3]

I have a silver lyretail mollie, and I suspect that there may be a fungus on her tail. The problem is this: she has been clamping her fins so it's hard to tell, and she's silver, so white doesn't show up well. I started watching her as soon as I noticed her clamping her fins, but last night I noticed what appeared to be white fuzz along the edges of her tail (no other places but the tail). I am confused because none of the other fish are showing any signs of stress or fungus.

My parameters are:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 80
Temp is 78F
I know my nitrates are high, but I have done several water changes and have seen no decline....so if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

~Jade

 

[Nisha]

Fungus happens usually because your fish have already been weakened by water conditions or other stress. You should do frequent water changes and check that the water circulation is good in your tank. Often fixing the water conditions will remove fungus on its own.

Your nitrates do seem very high. Have you checked the params of your tap water? Often tap water has lots of nitrates. You can help lower the nitrates by adding live plants that will use up the nitrates.

If you can, you should quarantine the fish and treat it separately. Treatment medication usually contains methylene blue and should be available at your LFS.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[pnyklr3]

The funny thing is, I did test my tap water and it has 0 nitrates in it. This may sound silly but, could my having done so many water changes have caused a form of "new tank syndrome"? Also, does new tank syndrome have high nitrates or high nitrites?

~Jade

 

[clutterydrawer]

new tank syndrome i.e. the re-start of the cycle would result in high ammonia followed by high nitrite.

High nitrate would be more indicative of overstocking or insufficient water changes. it seems very strange that nitrates didn't decrease after water changes, could your test kit be inaccurate? nitrate is notoriously hard to test for.

 

[pnyklr3]

My first reading a few weeks ago said the nitrates were at 200ppm. After a water change it read 80ppm. However, I have done water changes since then, and the readings have not gone down.

I suppose my test could be inaccurate (although my tap water tested fine). I am down to the last few test strips in the bottle, so perhaps that might be a factor. And now that I think of it, the strips have been saying that my ph is down (it was high to begin with, but has been that way for quite a long time; it's the local water and what the lfs uses) Can test strips "wear out" or lose their reliability? They are only about 5-6 months old and still has the drying-agent packet inside to keep the moisture out.


~Jade

 

[clutterydrawer]

I think high nitrates can actually lower pH.

do you have a quarantine tank?

 

[pnyklr3]

Wow, I didn't know that nitrates could lower ph. The quarantine tank is a touchy subject. I have a few tanks that are not set up because of a space issue. So to get a tank up and running would require a little bit of work. Has anyone every heard of "costia"? Someone told me that could be what the fish has, and that it was a parasite. It looks like a fungus to me, but I have never seen costia.


~Jade

 

[pnyklr3]

OK, so I'm a little irked by the fact that I was told it was costia. I did a little research and found that costia is a form of ich (not always bad to have, the article says). And that costia sometimes just sits around for a fish to get a little weak and then "attacks". After reading how to identify costia, I realized that what I had told the person has nothing to do with the signs of it. Its a good thing I didn't take their advice and treat the tank for somehting it didn't seem to have. *Sigh*

~Jade

 

[leck85]

eeep fungus ... well... definately treat it.. jungle fungus eliminator (wal mart sells it) works pretty well... its quite strong so dont overdose..

doesnt sound like your fish has it too badly, so you should be able to treat it.

good luck

 

[pnyklr3]

My only problem is that I have 3 clown loaches, so I have to be careful of what I use to treat the tank. She also lets her tail float up toward the top of the tank while she sits around. SHe swims straight, though, and has a good appetite, which is a good sign. I found something to treat the tank, so cross your fingers!