What is this?

[Penelope .R]

Both of my silver dollars have white patches above their mouths, this may be a stupid question but I can't tell if it's fungus or their faces rubbed raw from swimming against the glass or something else.
They're both five to six years old and I've had them since they were small, the tank used to be cared for by someone else until I took over a few weeks ago. They're very skittish and spazzy but they have plenty of hiding spaces and I'm trying to expand their school so they feel safer.

The white patch on his face is what I'm worried about. Both of them have it.

I've had a slew of issues when adding new fish. A baby silver dollar died a day after I purchased him from fungus growing in his gills (I moved him in a quarantine tank but there's a significant chance it spread to others in the tank), I lost a kissing gourami to ick which spread through the tank within a day, and another kissing fish died yesterday with pop eye. All fish were sick when I purchased them but I didn't notice until they were home.

Right now, I know most of the tank has ick, I'm treating it with ParaGuard and it's definitely helping. I'm also treating with Pimafix since the two other baby silver dollars I have came from the same tank as the one that died with fungus. I guess now I know the importance of quarantining new fish, I won't make this mistake again.

 

[eatyourpeas]

I am sure @Colin_T can help you identify the malady. In the meantime there is a great resource to help with possible treatments:

What to do if your fish gets sick

If your fish ever looks sick or unwell, then the following steps might help. Test the Water and Clean the Tank. Test the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH and write the results down in numbers. Check it for general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) too if you can, but...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Penelope .R]

I'm thinking they have mouth rot or something of the like. Their mouths aren't eaten away yet, I'm hoping they improve with the ParaGuard but I'm wondering if I should get some other antifungal medication. I'm having trouble finding information on if ParaGuard treats mouth rot.
I'm thinking they got it from the small silver dollar that died of fungus, he was only in the tank for a few hours but I'm reading that it's very contagious. I don't have an isolation tank large enough to separate them into and even if they did, they ram themselves half to death on the glass running from the net.
I did a %40 water change yesterday and a %50 this afternoon, I'm going to keep up with extra changes every two days or so and test my water daily.
Is there something more I can do? I'm really attached to these two fish, they've been around since I was eleven, I basically grew up with them.

 

[eatyourpeas]

Adding too many meds may make the problem worse. Wait for @Colin_T to help you identify the problem and follow his suggestions. He is one of the most knowledgeable members here.

 

[Penelope .R]

I got more pictures today, I can't tell if it's changed at all, they rarely stop moving for more than a second.

I went ahead and did a seventy percent water change today and vacuumed the gravel as best I could without taking the fish out.

 

[Colin_T]

Add some salt.
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea 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.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. 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 but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect 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.

If 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.

If there's no improvement after a week of salt or it gets worse during that time, post more pictures.

 

[itiwhetu]

@Colin_T . Great reply to this thread.?

 

[Penelope .R]

Add some salt.
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea 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.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. 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 but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect 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.

If 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.

If there's no improvement after a week of salt or it gets worse during that time, post more pictures.

Okay, I have aquarium salt on hand so that's good.
I have a pleco and three snails in the tank, should I seperate them while treating? I've read plecos are sensitive but I don't really know. I also have five dwarf gourami and a kissing gourami, I can't move them but they'll do fine with the salt during treatment right? Sorry, I'm so nervous. The tank has been in my house since I was ten and it's recently became my responsibility to take care of everything, but I feel completely clueless.

 

[Essjay]

At the dose rate Colin gave you (1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres/5 gallons, increasing to 2 tablespoons after 48 hours if there's no improvement) your fish will be OK for 2 weeks. But no more than 4 weeks max.

 

[Penelope .R]

I added the salt this morning. Meanwhile the ich has gotten worse, at least I think it's ich. All of the fish are covered in these little white dots. I've been using ParaGuard but I don't understand why it's worse. I've been reading about aquarium salt today and I'm seeing that it can cure ich, is this true? I know I keep saying this but is there something more I can do while I'm waiting for the salt to work?

 

[corylover5]

This is how I treated ich in my tank. It worked perfectly for me This was a direct quote from @seangee

Slowly raise the temperature to 30C. Keep it there for at least 2 weeks. Do large water changes and gravel vacs every few days. No other treatment is needed.

here is a good thread about ich as well https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-is-ich.7092/

 

[Essjay]

Salt was recommended for the white patches not ich as salt does not treat ich.

Salt cannot be used with some meds - does Paraguard say it's OK to use with it?

 

[Naughts]

It does look like ich on the recent photo. You have had lots of good advise, heat works on ich, salt is a good disinfectant. But you shouldn't combine all the treatments. As well as stressing the fish, this will reduce the oxygen levels in the water.
If you want to continue with paraguard, do not use the heat, and vice versa.
Add extra aeriation too. It won't hurt and may help.

 

[Naughts]

Also, the ich cycle will look worse before it gets better, and can also look like it is gone when it is just in the substrate stage. Make sure you finish whichever course of treatment you choose.

 

[Penelope .R]

Also, the ich cycle will look worse before it gets better, and can also look like it is gone when it is just in the substrate stage. Make sure you finish whichever course of treatment you choose.

Okay, I've been using ParaGuard for five days, I thought I should've seen an improvement by now.
I'm sorry for my straight up lack of understanding, this tank was just sort of unloaded on me out of the blue.