Guppies serious fungus - please help

[d.a.mcfarlane]

Tank size: 20 gallons

Occupants: 30 guppies (most not fully grown, approximately 10 adults), 9 tetras

I have had the tank running for 8 or 9 months and have never had a problem with the fish before. There has been nothing added to the tank for at least three weeks and I have performed a 20% water change since. The only changes that have been made to the tank are I changed one pad of the Fluval 2 plus filter 6 - 7 days ago, and recently stopped making weekly water changes, leaving it 2 weeks instead.

Last night I noticed a sudden spread of fungus, mouth fungus, cloudy eyes and finrot on almost all of my 30 or so guppies. Since then I've had two quick, unexplained deaths (the guppies appeared healthy) and three very long, drawn-out deaths in which the fish span around wildy, laid upside down and gasped for breath. These seemed to be suffering from fungus and cloudy/swollen eyes. They also seem to have transparent/white trailing feces. Although they all still eat well.

I have treated the tank with Interpet anti-fungus and finrot and also Interpet anti-internal bacteria as I feared this could also be a problem and did not see anything in the usage instructions saying not to mix the medications. I have performed a 30% water change, added salt and Stresscoat and raised the temperature slightly to just over 80 degrees farenheit. Could the mixing of the medicines be a problem? There has been no change in the fish and I am concerned about having used both the treatments at the same time.

Please help, I don't want to lose any more fish.

Thank you very much

 

[cation]

Firstly, ! I hope you find these forums useful and enjoy your time with us. When you have a moment, introduce yourself in the newbies section - we're always glad to see new faces!


Step up those water changes. Your tank is borderline overstocked, so there is not reason to perform less waterchanges then you were before.

Clear feces and stringy poo are often signs of internal parasites.

Don't know what to tell you about mixing meds, it's not usually a good idea unless you know they will "play nicely" together.

Do you have carbon in your filter? It removes the meds, so you always need to take it out before treating a tank.

Do you have test kits? What are your pH, ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte readings? If you don't have kits, you really should get them.

 

[d.a.mcfarlane]

Do you think it would be a good idea to put a treatment of aquarium salt into the tank? I want to catch this fungus before it gets really bad and some of the fish aren't looking good.

I don't have any test kits, but I promise you will buy some tomorrow!

The medications are both the same make, and I felt it important, as some of the fish were dying in a spectacular way that didn't seem to be down only to the fungus, to treat quickly for both just in case. I checked the packaging for warnings on mixing medicine and it said to wait seven days before redosing "or using another treatment" in the small print on a leaflet, but not on the bottle or the packaging. This worried me.

If it was you, would you peform a water change and use carbon to remove the medicine and redose with either just salt or the anti-fungus again?

 

[cation]

If it was you, would you peform a water change and use carbon to remove the medicine and redose with either just salt or the anti-fungus again?

Yes. Finrot is usually bacterial if i'm not mistaken, though - so you may be looking at bacterial. In fact, "body fungus" is often really Columnaris - a bacterial infection! Most Mardel remedies can be used concurrently - you might want to pick up some Maracyn for the antibiotic, and some Coppersafe for parasites - they sound like they have them too. These can safely be used together.

New meds and tests tomorrow!

Tonight, new carbon (if you can) and a 30% water change. Add salt. (read the side of aquarium salt and dose accordingly, although I'd do a half dose tonight after the water change, then another half dose tomorrow. The salt does not evaporate out of the tank, so this gives them a chance to adjust to the salinity change. take out some tank water and dissolve the salt in it, then pour it back in.

 

[d.a.mcfarlane]

Thank you very much for your help.

I've just done a 30% change again, added a carbon filter and half a salt dose. I've had one more death and one on the way. They seem to stop moving their mouths (like they're stuck open) and stick at the surface of the tank, then they just spiral round turn upside down and die. It really is very distressing to be losing all my fish like this so if anyone has anymore advice please help me!

Thanks again

 

[d.a.mcfarlane]

Two more deaths. I don't really want to leave them with just salt in the water all night. Would you recommend giving the carbon a couple of hours and then redosing with the anti-fungus and finrot or waiting until tomorrow and buying something that I can mix with something to treat the other symptoms?

 

[s6king]

Do you check your ammonia and nitrite levels? I was slightly overstocked and having similar problems not too long ago. I got my levels under control finally and also used TMT and Ampicillin for them and have had only one death since (And that was my filter pulling him in --i fixed that with a nylon with runs in it so matter could still be pulled in but fish not)

 

[d.a.mcfarlane]

Since this I have done two 30% water changes, run a carbon filter to clear the medicine, added a strong dosage of salt, the eSHa 2000 and some melafix. I also checked the ammonia levels and got a reading between 0.25 and 1.5 mg/l, so I've added KIng British Safe Water ammonia neutraliser.

I have had at least 15 more deaths and every single guppy left in the tank with the exception of maybe three is suffering. Some have gone black, lost whole tails, their mouths furred up and stuck open, eyes clouded, swollen and red and are shocking states.

I am sure that the medicine has not touched anything, and everytime I look in the tank there are at least two more dead fish. What should I do?

I only have two very small other tanks (one a gallon and one 2 gallons) that I could possibly use, but they are not cycled. Should I remove the four or so healthiest guppies and save them or remove the sick ones and completely clean the tank?

If anyone can help me at all please reply as soon as possible.

Thank you

 

[cation]

Going black is a sure sign of ammonia poisoning. I am so sorry - what are the pH NitrIte and NitrAte levels? It may simply be too late for most of them - your ammonia has most likely been building for a while and slowly poisoning them. This has lowered their immune systems as well, leaving the door open for other problems (fungus, parasites, etc) to occur.

What about the neons? Do they all look okay?

 

[d.a.mcfarlane]

The neons all appear to be fine.. a bit concerned by the mass death around them, but fine.

The fish that look healthy, any suggestions what I should do I don't want to leave them to die.

Thank you so much for replying by the way, I'm really in a state here.

 

[cation]

I'll tell you what I would do, but this is just me - Leave the neons in the main tank. Remove the sick fish. If the healthy guppies look *really* healthy, leave them with the neons. If not, move them to the 2 gallon and the sickies to the one gallon (or you could read the pinned topic about euthinasia - sounds like the sick ones are not doing well at all.)


Throw out the ammonia lock. We want to keep unneed chemicals out of the tank. You need to get rid of the source of the problem, not just treat the effects. Plus, that stuff will give you false ammonia readings, so it is difficult to see if the problem is getting any better at a later time if you use it.

Once everyones moved, do a 50% water change. Do you vacuum your gravel? If not, it's definitely time to start.

Pull the charcoal again, get yourself some Maracyn, and treat the main tank, and any tanks of guppies you have removed from the main tank. It is critical that we find out the rest of your readings, so you'll need the test kits too.
I see that you got the ammonia - good start! But it only gives us part of the story.

 

[d.a.mcfarlane]

I'm in the UK and I could not find anything called Maracyn.

I vacuum the gravel once a week and it's only been for one week that I left the water change/vacuum.

What should I use into the new water into the main tank?

 

[cation]

Water conditioner, salt (just the amount needed for the water you're adding) and an antibiotic - a stronger one then MelaFix, which is tea tree and not strong enough. I'm going to ask some of the UK peeps to come in here and guide you in terms of meds - I don't know what's available to you!

 

[d.a.mcfarlane]

Thank you very much

Could I just trouble you and ask what you think I should do to the water (new or from the tank) to put in the 2 gallon sick fish tank?

Also, it's ten to twelve here and I won't be able to get hold of anything until tomorrow

 

[cation]

I would just give them fresh water. Salt, dechlorinater, just like the other tank. Meds when you get them. do you have a filter on the two gallon?

Also, if you have an airsone for either tank, you might want to keep them running. Meds decrease available oxygen content in the water - airation increases it!