What's wrong with my fish?

[Bengaltiger7]

I came home today to notice 5 or so of my fish covered in a white film. My flying fox was hit the worst. 2 panda corys and 2 kuhli loaches are also in rough shape. All my other fish (multiple types or tetra, gouramis, rainbow fish, etc.) are fine. Is this something fungal?

 

[Oblio]

Welcome to TFF!
Need w your water parameters (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/pH and GH/KH along with units)

 

[Bengaltiger7]

55 gallon tank. Nitrate is 20 ppm. Nitrite is 0. Hardness GH is 75 soft. Chlorine is 0. KH is 40. PH is 6.8 neutral. Ammonia is 0 ppm. Nothing drastic other than adding a new Glo Tetra from Petsmart about a week ago.

 

[Oblio]

Hmmm, params seem 'normal'. though a large WC to lower nitrates will reduce stress and promote healing.

How often do you do WCs and how much? Do you vacuum the gravel?

 

[Bengaltiger7]

I just did a large water change today after seeing the issue and those are the updated levels. I usually do water changes every 2-3 weeks. My levels posted are very consistent and that's what they almost always are.

 

[Oblio]

Assuming your tap is at zero, that means your tank had a pretty high nitrate level. Up your water change frequency and amount, 20 ppm is a bit high. Try to keep it at ~10 ppm max. Less than 10 ppm is even better.

 

[Bengaltiger7]

So the nitrate number was a bit off. 20 ppm was the test strip number. My actual API chemical kit has it at somewhere between 5-10 ppm.

Any thoughts on what is on the fish? Should I treat it with fungal medication?

 

[Oblio]

So the nitrate number was a bit off. 20 ppm was the test strip number. My actual API chemical kit has it at somewhere between 5-10 ppm.

Any thoughts on what is on the fish? Should I treat it with fungal medication?

Not really up on fish pathology, others (such as @Colin_T et. al.) are and can advise.

 

[connorlindeman]

Seems to have lots of excess mucus...

 

[Sgooosh]

Seems to have lots of excess mucus...

yeah the nitrates or something else may be stressing out the fish, making them produce mucous

 

[Colin_T]

It's excess mucous caused by something in the water irritating the fish.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Have you added anything to the tank in the last few days (fertiliser, medication, anything)?

Do you have creams, hand sanitiser, grease, oil, perfume or anything on your hands when you feed or water change the fish?

Do you have buckets and hoses specifically for the fish, and they do not get used for anything else?

 

[itiwhetu]

You should always aim to have zero nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia.

 

[Bengaltiger7]

It's excess mucous caused by something in the water irritating the fish.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Have you added anything to the tank in the last few days (fertiliser, medication, anything)?

Do you have creams, hand sanitiser, grease, oil, perfume or anything on your hands when you feed or water change the fish?

Do you have buckets and hoses specifically for the fish, and they do not get used for anything else?

I did a 75% water change after seeing the issue and also added a fungal medication as my flying fox had cloudy eyes and a red sore while the panda cory had some apparent fin rot.

The fish have their own dedicated buckets and hoses that are stored right next to the tank. I have well water that is run through a softener which leads to soft water of course, but no issues with chlorine. Nothing on my hands, I usually wash them before putting them in the tank. The only thing that happened that I can think of was I did a water change of about 50% the night before. I always add in some water conditioner and aquarium salt. Not sure if the chemicals I used were off or not. Since doing a bigger water change and adding the medication, the mucus has gone down significantly on all the fish. I think I'll continue the medication cycle and do additional water changes and vacuuming and try to look for any other potential stressors. Appreciate all the feedback from everyone.

 

[Lynnzer]

Salt: what concentration? Too high can be problematic.

 

[Bengaltiger7]

Salt: what concentration? Too high can be problematic.

It's the API aquarium salt and I dose it under the recommended amount.