Help please!

[hello kitty]

i have got 2 silver sharks both were fine yesterday. i have come home from being out today and one of them has what looks like white cotton wool on a part of its body. i got 2 new fish yesterday a gourami and a red tailed shark. could it possibly have been attacked? can it infect my other fish? what should i do? any help would be greatly appriciated!

 

[WILDER]

First off we need to no your test results in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, what size tank, how many fish and which type, white fluffy bits on the body can be body fungus or columnaris.

 

[hello kitty]

hello! i have posted also in the emergancy room

 

[WILDER]

Looked at it but you haven't given much information on water quality and tank size, is there any fluffy patches anywhere else on the fish, how are the fins.

 

[hello kitty]

my water levels are all normal ph bout 7.4. his fins are fine, no fluff anywhere else just on the side of his body.

 

[WILDER]

Have you treated the fish for fungus, if it appears anywhere else on the fish you are dealing with columnaris, i would do some water changes, and can you tell us the size of the tank with the silver sharks, and red shark.

 

[hello kitty]

not yet the shops were closed when i noticed it i just hope the little guys ok till 2moro. yes my tank at the mo is 120 litres, but i dont think its the red tailed thats attacked him, rt keeps self to self i think it was the gourami. the guy at my lfs said this set up would be ok obviously will need a bigger tank when balas get bigger. )

 

[WILDER]

Good luck yes with the bala or silver shark as they are called talking of a 120gal, if it's fluffy on the body it's fungus, but watch if it appears anywhere eles, do plenty of water changes adding the right a mount of med back to the water removed..
http/www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm

 

[hello kitty]

that infos great thank u, i just have one more question, can this be transferred to my other fish? thanks for all your help im going down lfs first thing 2moro.

 

[sylvia]

Yes, it is contagious. While your at your LFS, also get an anti-bacterial med. in case it does turn out to be columnaris.

Your gourami will not have been the one to attack the balas. In fact, I doubt a fish attacking them caused this. It is probably stress. I don't know how big these balas are, but even small ones need a large tank to swim in and they are schooling fish so keeping any number below 3 makes them stressed and nervous (especialy as they are small). Eventualy, you are going to need a 125 gallon minnimum - that's about 500 litres.

A note on the RTBS - they don't like any similar-looking fish. Oftentimes, this includes balas. Once the RTBS is mature, it may become a serious threat in that it will stress the balas out by constantly chasing them around.

 

[hello kitty]

they are about 2 inches long at the moment. the guy at lfs said 2 would be ok ifits going to stress them ill have to rethink. ill ask at lfs what i need 2moro when i go and hopefully ive noticed it before its too late.