Need advice on what this (fungus?) could be and how to keep them alive until get treated

[43jenn43]

Hi all, absolute newbie to the aquatic world as of this past April so please bear with me...
I acquired two 3yr old black goldfish and a 4-5yrold angelfish this past April. (I know the tank needs to be larger and promise I will figure that put if they survive!) They have all been thriving as far I could tell until Sunday, 2 days ago, I noticed my smaller goldfish wasn't very active, staying more toward the bottom and slower than usual movements except at feeding time. I checked tank temp °72 per the usual. Nothing else abnormal visually until yesterday afternoon I go to feed them and same fish is at the bottomon its side, not moving except for very labored breaths. And with what at first glance I thought was ich really not so sure how quickly or aggressively ich attacks. The other 2 fish I inspected and both looking and acting fine. I set up a spare 10 gallon for the sick one, put in a few gallons of the community tanks water as that's all I have besides tap. Her gills appear bloody, this white fluffy fungus like stuff is on her now tattered looking fins, around her mouth and eyes. She began swimming a bit again, trying at least, and I eventually did offer her a couple flakes of food which she chomped on but just spat right back out several times. There is only one pet store in my area which was closed yesterday so will be going with a water sample and pics today for help as well and can update this post as well. As for the other two, the Angel fish I noticed had 1 small white spot above an eye as of this morning which was not noticeable yesterday and the other goldfish looks to be developing a bit of the white stuff on its tailfins.
Ok, so I apologize for the long ramble with not a lot of actual info to give! Any advice, tips,suggestions on this are so greatly appreciated, I've grown quite fond of these fish and don't want then to suffer!

 

[43jenn43]

Nothing new has been added to the tank at all, filter cartridge is changed every 3-4 weeks and besides a total water change upon arrival in April nothing but "top offs" for the tank.

 

[connorlindeman]

HI!

So you don't do any water changes? IS your aquarium cycled? What are your water parameters?
When you added tap water to the 10g did you add a water conditioner?

 

[43jenn43]

HI!

So you don't do any water changes? IS your aquarium cycled? What are your water parameters?
When you added tap water to the 10g did you add a water conditioner?

Hi. Thanks for your reply! These fish & tank were a complete surprise, literally brought to my doorstep by an neighbor whom was moving and wasn't taking them along. So with that said When I initially took them, they were brought to me in a bucket with just a few inches water. I had no conditioner and best I could do was go to the grocery store and buy almost 20 gallons of distilled water for them to refill their tank. I have not done anything more since except as said top the tank off when needed with more distilled water. I've honestly just been caring for them as the former owner said that she did, they're all several years old so figured she had been doing the right things.. yes I feel completely awful now as I should have educated myself so much more! As for parameters I won't know more than the temp which is °72 until the Pet store opens and I can bring some water to them.

HI!

So you don't do any water changes? IS your aquarium cycled? What are your water parameters?
When you added tap water to the 10g did you add a water conditioner?

 

[43jenn43]

HI!

So you don't do any water changes? IS your aquarium cycled? What are your water parameters?
When you added tap water to the 10g did you add a water conditioner?

Oh sorry, also meant to clarify that I didn't use tap water for the 10gal. I took water from the original 20gal.

 

[connorlindeman]

Hi. Thanks for your reply! These fish & tank were a complete surprise, literally brought to my doorstep by an neighbor whom was moving and wasn't taking them along. So with that said When I initially took them, they were brought to me in a bucket with just a few inches water. I had no conditioner and best I could do was go to the grocery store and buy almost 20 gallons of distilled water for them to refill their tank. I have not done anything more since except as said top the tank off when needed with more distilled water. I've honestly just been caring for them as the former owner said that she did, they're all several years old so figured she had been doing the right things.. yes I feel completely awful now as I should have educated myself so much more! As for parameters I won't know more than the temp which is °72 until the Pet store opens and I can bring some water to them.

I would definitely get the water checked out. Also please buy some water conditioner while you are at the store. You will want to start doing some water changes on the tank.

 

[43jenn43]

I would definitely get the water checked out. Also please buy some water conditioner while you are at the store. You will want to start doing some water changes on the tank.

Thank you, yes, those are both definitely on my list. Hoping this smaller goldfish makes it until the store opens and this something that can be identified and treated..

 

[Colin_T]

Fin rot and excess mucous caused by poor water quality, which is caused by you replacing the filter media/ materials every month like the filter company told you to do but which is wrong.

--------------------
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for at least 1 week (preferably 2).
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Don't clean the filter for the next 6 weeks. When you do clean it, wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

Don't replace filter media unless it is falling apart. If it is falling apart, replace it with a filter sponge for a different brand of filter. Use a pr of scissors to cut the sponge so it fits in your filter. Try to add some sponge asap so you don't lose good filter bacterial when you eventually have to replace filter pads. Only replace one bit of filter media and wait 2 months before replacing another bit.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

--------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

 

[43jenn43]

Fin rot and excess mucous caused by poor water quality, which is caused by you replacing the filter media/ materials every month like the filter company told you to do but which is wrong.

--------------------
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for at least 1 week (preferably 2).
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Don't clean the filter for the next 6 weeks. When you do clean it, wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

Don't replace filter media unless it is falling apart. If it is falling apart, replace it with a filter sponge for a different brand of filter. Use a pr of scissors to cut the sponge so it fits in your filter. Try to add some sponge asap so you don't lose good filter bacterial when you eventually have to replace filter pads. Only replace one bit of filter media and wait 2 months before replacing another bit.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

--------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the info! Omgee, I'm truly hating myself for being the cause of this happening, wow.. With the world's wealth of knowledge at my fingertips there's really no excuse. But it sounds like after getting the water tested today to know where I'm at and following these protocols above it can remedied and at least the stronger two fish should be okay, with proper upkeep, correct?
I've been looking through other posts on the forum to learn more about all of this. Thank you again, fingers crossed for positive results.

 

[Colin_T]

If you can keep the water clean and free of ammonia and nitrite, there's a chance they will all survive.

There's not much to learn about it. Filter companies tell customers to replace the filter media every month so you keep buying their products. It's a sales ploy that is bad for fish but goof for profits. Just follow the info about filter cleaning above and don't replace the media unless you have to. Then have sponges instead of filter pads/ cartridges.

Once the filter is established you should never see this issue again.