this might sound daft...

[big mick]

I saw my banjo catfish for the first tim in weeks today and he has a perfect mowhawk of fungus down his head.....in almost a perfect line.

My tank is heavily planted (which is why I never normally see the fella) and I noticed one of my male guppies looking a bit worse for wear about five days ago and then didnt see him anymore.

Assuming he had passed on and after a fruitless search (he could have landed anywhere in among the plants) I gave up looking.

Not long after noticing the the catfishes bizarre new hair style I saw the fungus covered body of the guppie flaoting around the top of the tank which wasnt there earlier.

Now...what I think happened was the dead guppie landed on the banjo cats head and lay there for some time (since he never moves) and has created his fungus mohawk......is that just a silly idea?

Also should I treat him for fungus or will it go away?

Thanks for you help.

 

[WILDER]

Is the fungus fluffy, does it look saddled shape from the dorsal fin around the tummy area.

 

[WILDER]

Also post water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, what size tank, how many fish and which type.

 

[big mick]

It is fluffy yeah, its been a week since I tested the water but everything was tip top, I did a 30% water change 2 days ago.

pH is 7.5, ammonia 1.0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0.

Its a 36 gallon tank with 4 angels, a few guppies, a balla shark, satin widow, banjo catfish, three corries and 2 pangasius catfish.

 

[WILDER]

Your tank isn't cycled as you have an ammonia reading, it should be 0, and you should have a nitrate reading, that bala shark will eventually need a 120gal tank, how long has the tank been set up, and the fish has columnaris.
http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

 

[wrs]

"2 pangasius catfish"

those fish will also need a huge tank, some get to be 4 feet plus, best to send them back to the lfs. Or get a huge heated pond.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

There is a difference between columnaris and body fungus- body fungus is rarer than columaris, colormaris in appearance has less protrusion of fibres and just a ragged fuzzy appearance.
Here's a pic of full blown body fungus;

http/www.fishpalace.org/fungus_chuckshobbiespets.jpg

and columnaris;

http/www.fishpalace.org/columnaris_noodles.jpg

If you have fungus in your fish, there are many treatments available to treat it- Jungle Fungus Guard is one for example. Firstly though i would increase the amount of water changes and and how much water you take out to try and improve water quality though as this is usually the cause of fungus.

 

[big mick]

The tank has been set up for 5 months now.

We move house in 12 months and have designed an 8ft x 3ft x 3ft tank for our new house so everyone will have plenty room, the balla shark is about 8", one of the pangasius is about 7" and the other is only about 2"

 

[WILDER]

Usually when fungus presents itself on the head as well as the body it's usually columnaris, them fish are getting big now and then could do with a bigger tank now, as desease is already setting in with the stress of being over stocked.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The tank has been set up for 5 months now.

We move house in 12 months and have designed an 8ft x 3ft x 3ft tank for our new house so everyone will have plenty room, the balla shark is about 8", one of the pangasius is about 7" and the other is only about 2"

12months is far too longer time to wait for a new tank- as wilder said(i agree too), the water quality is already showing big signs of strain under the fish's waste load and desease like fungus and columaris, particually fungs, are often associated with water quality problems, which you have.
I would realy sugest you get a bigger tank in the next 2months minumum otherwise you are most likely to suffer one desease outbreak after another- it isn't very fair on the fish. Apart from increased water changes, i suggest you get a second filter in the mean time to help the tank handle the huge waste load the fish are creating for it.

 

[big mick]

I have put in a fungus treatment and will give it a few days and see if any difference, If I do water changes twice a week instead of once a week how long should i keep that up and what % of the water should I change, I normally change between 30-40%.

Also thanks very much for the advice re the tank size, it doesnt look crowded but I realise that doesnt really make any difference.

I had wanted a bow fronted aquarium which I think is about 300ltr but decided against it till we move as we have 3 tanks we will need to move as it is but I could get it in the mean time till we get the bigger tank in the new house?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

er, i remember reading in (i think) the cichlid forum about using a pre-fabricated pond as a cheapie aquarium. you know, those black liners that are pretty stiff and already pond-shaped. you could pretty quickly set one of those up in a wooden frame and quickly have a large "aquarium" for a fraction of the price. it'd be no good for display really, but your fish would be happier...

 

[bunjiweb]

the water changes you are doing are too much at one time. You should be doing 10% every other day for the next couple of weeks and as already said, a second better (external if possible!) filter should help combat the problem. 99% of fungal growths are simply caused by bad water quality, and with your ammonia at 1, this tends to suggest that this is the problem.

Also when you vacuum your gravel do you stir it up alot? Pockets of ammonia and nitrit can get "stuck" in the gravel, leaving you with a high reading and consistantly "off" water....

Ben

 

[SirMinion]

A little off topic, but have you seen this?

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=11418

Yours will be the same species as the third one down.

 

[WILDER]

Well that made the point.