Tetras With Fungi :(

[PufferLuffer]

Hello, My tetras have fungi, they have foggy white patches along each of their sides that weren't there before and they are scratching themselves off the rocks in our tank. We've tried treating it with a medicine called "Protozin" by Waterlife, it claims that it cures fungus but since we used it, unlike the first few times we've used it, the condition has worsened. I would be very grateful if anyone could recommend a different medicine or treatment
We've had the tropical tank for about a year now, It's 60 litres, We have 2 bolivian rams, 1 figure 8 puffer fish (he's soo cute!), 1 clown plec and 8 tetras. We do water changes probably once a month of 20/25%, and use the gravel vacuum every time, the chemicals we put in before putting the fresh water into the tank are: Nutrafin aqua plus (to make tap water safe for fish), Nutrafin cycle biological aquarium supplement (Ammonia and Nitrate elimination) and every other water change we use Filter Care filter clear (a flocculant which assists the filter for clearer water). And in our filter we use Elite carbon filters (but have took them out while we used our last treatment).
At this point in time our water test kit says:

6.4 PH
0 alkalinity
7 hardness
around 250 nitrate
and 0 nitrite.

Our last water change was undertaken roughly 2 weeks ago.
Thanks

 

[Skins]

Hello, My tetras have fungi, they have foggy white patches along each of their sides that weren't there before and they are scratching themselves off the rocks in our tank. We've tried treating it with a medicine called "Protozin" by Waterlife, it claims that it cures fungus but since we used it, unlike the first few times we've used it, the condition has worsened. I would be very grateful if anyone could recommend a different medicine or treatment
We've had the tropical tank for about a year now, It's 60 litres, We have 2 bolivian rams, 1 figure 8 puffer fish (he's soo cute!), 1 clown plec and 8 tetras. We do water changes probably once a month of 20/25%, and use the gravel vacuum every time, the chemicals we put in before putting the fresh water into the tank are: Nutrafin aqua plus (to make tap water safe for fish), Nutrafin cycle biological aquarium supplement (Ammonia and Nitrate elimination) and every other water change we use Filter Care filter clear (a flocculant which assists the filter for clearer water). And in our filter we use Elite carbon filters (but have took them out while we used our last treatment).
At this point in time our water test kit says:

6.4 PH
0 alkalinity
7 hardness
around 250 nitrate
and 0 nitrite.

Our last water change was undertaken roughly 2 weeks ago.
Thanks

First step would be to perform water changes(small if tap and tank ph levels have a large difference), this will help bring your nitrate levels down.
Try and get nitrate levels down to 40ppm. Tap water needs dechlorinating(no other chemical) and matching temp to that of your tanks, i would recommend cold tap water mixed with boiled water from kettle to acheive this.

Keith.

 

[Skins]

In my opinion your high nitrates may be the reason why the meds are not working as well. When you have brought down your nitrate level then i would try the meds again. I use the same meds as you and they have always worked for me, hopefully other members will be along to give there opinions and advice.

Keep us all posted, Keith.

 

[PufferLuffer]

Ok thankyou I'll try more water changes and keep ya posted!

 

[L4byr1nth]

Temp. of the tank?

Did you recently add any new fish?

Ben.

 

[WILDER]

Your tanks overstocked.

Do you use liquid test kits, or test strip cards.

You need to reduce your stocking.

Good gravel vac by removing ornaments to vacum underneath them.
Rinse one of your sponges in old tank water.
Water changes.
Increase aeration.
New filter floss.
Remove dead plants leaves if you have live plants.

The symtoms you are describing can also point towards bad water quality aswell as parasites.

Seen as you are overstocked you need to be maintaining the tank twice a week.

 

[mirrorpad]

Hello, My tetras have fungi, they have foggy white patches along each of their sides that weren't there before and they are scratching themselves off the rocks in our tank. We've tried treating it with a medicine called "Protozin" by Waterlife (Not a fan myself), it claims that it cures fungus but since we used it, unlike the first few times we've used it, the condition has worsened. I would be very grateful if anyone could recommend a different medicine or treatment Maracyn is what i would recommendWe've had the tropical tank for about a year now, It's 60 litres, We have 2 bolivian rams, 1 figure 8 puffer fish (he's soo cute!), 1 clown plec and 8 tetras. We do water changes probably once a month of 20/25%, and use the gravel vacuum every time, the chemicals we put in before putting the fresh water into the tank are: Nutrafin aqua plus (to make tap water safe for fish), Nutrafin cycle biological aquarium supplement not needed/required (Ammonia and Nitrate elimination) and every other water change we use Filter Care filter clear Also pointless (a flocculant which assists the filter for clearer water). And in our filter we use Elite carbon filters I wouldn't use carbon in FW tanks unless you have a reason to do so. It doesnt really do anything unless using spent carbon to catch particles (but have took them out while we used our last treatment).GoodAt this point in time our water test kit says:

6.4 PH
0 alkalinity
7 hardness
around 250 nitrate To highand 0 nitrite.

Our last water change was undertaken roughly 2 weeks ago. With your bio load and Obvious Nitrate reading this needs to be done more oftenThanks

This (without seeing pictures) sounds like a bacteria infection. This is down to poor environment, but i suspect....
the cute little Puffer. These are not community fish dispite what you may have read/heard. This fish fairs better alone and may be nipping at your fish. The area gets infected (Bad water conditions) and then fungus. Your PH is also too low for the Puffer, with figure 8 needing 7-7.5.

Set up a smaller tank for your specimen or trade in. Large water changes to get Nitrates down and i would reccomend Maracyn for the fungus.

 

[PufferLuffer]

Temp. of the tank?

Did you recently add any new fish?

Ben.

Hello, we added our 5 little tetras roughly 2 months ago and the temps constantly 26/27 degrees

 

[PufferLuffer]

Your tanks overstocked.

Do you use liquid test kits, or test strip cards.

You need to reduce your stocking.

Good gravel vac by removing ornaments to vacum underneath them.
Rinse one of your sponges in old tank water.
Water changes.
Increase aeration.
New filter floss.
Remove dead plants leaves if you have live plants.

The symtoms you are describing can also point towards bad water quality aswell as parasites.

Seen as you are overstocked you need to be maintaining the tank twice a week.

Hello
i dont mean to be rude, but our tank isn't overstocked according to 2 aquatics stores which we've been to, our fish are'nt all big, we've gone by how many cm's of fish we can have /litre and we're spot on the maximum amount at the moment (according to these stores).
We recently put in some new filter floss and I've done a water change this morning which i'll keep up weekly/2-weekly from now on, no plants any more but plenty of shelter etc
we vacuum the gravel allover each time we water change so x-fingers
Thanks

 

[PufferLuffer]

Hello, My tetras have fungi, they have foggy white patches along each of their sides that weren't there before and they are scratching themselves off the rocks in our tank. We've tried treating it with a medicine called "Protozin" by Waterlife (Not a fan myself), it claims that it cures fungus but since we used it, unlike the first few times we've used it, the condition has worsened. I would be very grateful if anyone could recommend a different medicine or treatment Maracyn is what i would recommendWe've had the tropical tank for about a year now, It's 60 litres, We have 2 bolivian rams, 1 figure 8 puffer fish (he's soo cute!), 1 clown plec and 8 tetras. We do water changes probably once a month of 20/25%, and use the gravel vacuum every time, the chemicals we put in before putting the fresh water into the tank are: Nutrafin aqua plus (to make tap water safe for fish), Nutrafin cycle biological aquarium supplement not needed/required (Ammonia and Nitrate elimination) and every other water change we use Filter Care filter clear Also pointless (a flocculant which assists the filter for clearer water). And in our filter we use Elite carbon filters I wouldn't use carbon in FW tanks unless you have a reason to do so. It doesnt really do anything unless using spent carbon to catch particles (but have took them out while we used our last treatment).GoodAt this point in time our water test kit says:

6.4 PH
0 alkalinity
7 hardness
around 250 nitrate To highand 0 nitrite.

Our last water change was undertaken roughly 2 weeks ago. With your bio load and Obvious Nitrate reading this needs to be done more oftenThanks

This (without seeing pictures) sounds like a bacteria infection. This is down to poor environment, but i suspect....
the cute little Puffer. These are not community fish dispite what you may have read/heard. This fish fairs better alone and may be nipping at your fish. The area gets infected (Bad water conditions) and then fungus. Your PH is also too low for the Puffer, with figure 8 needing 7-7.5.

Set up a smaller tank for your specimen or trade in. Large water changes to get Nitrates down and i would reccomend Maracyn for the fungus.

Hello with all do respect, we've had our puffer for just short of a year.. it's never bit any of our fish (and none of our current fish have bits missing), and to be honest, completely ignores their existance most of the time! I was aware of what I heard and read about them before i got it, and I watch him very closely to make sure he's on top behaviour We keep him well fed with mussel once a day and we make sure they've all got sufficient hiding/exploring places to keep all our fish occupado.. At the aquatic store we got our puffer from, they stated they'd be suited to 6.4-7.6 PH.
Anyhow I will definetly be trying maracyn, thankyou for your recommendation also, have you (or indeed anyone else) a knowledge of the treatment Pimafix? It's one I was thinking of trying to cure their fungus, but i haven't heard of before.
Thanks

 

[mirrorpad]

Hello, My tetras have fungi, they have foggy white patches along each of their sides that weren't there before and they are scratching themselves off the rocks in our tank. We've tried treating it with a medicine called "Protozin" by Waterlife (Not a fan myself), it claims that it cures fungus but since we used it, unlike the first few times we've used it, the condition has worsened. I would be very grateful if anyone could recommend a different medicine or treatment Maracyn is what i would recommendWe've had the tropical tank for about a year now, It's 60 litres, We have 2 bolivian rams, 1 figure 8 puffer fish (he's soo cute!), 1 clown plec and 8 tetras. We do water changes probably once a month of 20/25%, and use the gravel vacuum every time, the chemicals we put in before putting the fresh water into the tank are: Nutrafin aqua plus (to make tap water safe for fish), Nutrafin cycle biological aquarium supplement not needed/required (Ammonia and Nitrate elimination) and every other water change we use Filter Care filter clear Also pointless (a flocculant which assists the filter for clearer water). And in our filter we use Elite carbon filters I wouldn't use carbon in FW tanks unless you have a reason to do so. It doesnt really do anything unless using spent carbon to catch particles (but have took them out while we used our last treatment).GoodAt this point in time our water test kit says:

6.4 PH
0 alkalinity
7 hardness
around 250 nitrate To highand 0 nitrite.

Our last water change was undertaken roughly 2 weeks ago. With your bio load and Obvious Nitrate reading this needs to be done more oftenThanks

This (without seeing pictures) sounds like a bacteria infection. This is down to poor environment, but i suspect....
the cute little Puffer. These are not community fish dispite what you may have read/heard. This fish fairs better alone and may be nipping at your fish. The area gets infected (Bad water conditions) and then fungus. Your PH is also too low for the Puffer, with figure 8 needing 7-7.5.

Set up a smaller tank for your specimen or trade in. Large water changes to get Nitrates down and i would reccomend Maracyn for the fungus.

Hello with all do respect, we've had our puffer for just short of a year.. it's never bit any of our fish (and none of our current fish have bits missing), and to be honest, completely ignores their existance most of the time! I was aware of what I heard and read about them before i got it, and I watch him very closely to make sure he's on top behaviour We keep him well fed with mussel once a day and we make sure they've all got sufficient hiding/exploring places to keep all our fish occupado.. At the aquatic store we got our puffer from, they stated they'd be suited to 6.4-7.6 PH.
Anyhow I will definetly be trying maracyn, thankyou for your recommendation also, have you (or indeed anyone else) a knowledge of the treatment Pimafix? It's one I was thinking of trying to cure their fungus, but i haven't heard of before.
Thanks

People do keep fish in conditions which arnt ideal and get away with it although the day may come when the puffer does start his aggressive streak. LFS do give bad advice, check out "#112###" for better information. The way in which we keep our fish is ultimately decided by ourselves, we decipher the information from several sources and choose how we are going to keep our specimens, hopefully to the best of our ability and to the conditions which best suit our wet pets. On the primafix of was it Melafix? Can't remember but these are both usually regarded as being a waste of time. See "wetwebmedia".
I am sure you want the best for your fish and by being here asking questions. Keep up all your good work. I don't mean to insult or cause offence.