White crap growing in Amos' tank

[BettaMomma]

Y'all probably know the story of Amos.

Well, I've been medicating him with Maracide and tetracycline since Saturday (now it's Wednesday). He's not really improving but ....

this morning when I was looking him over, I noticed that there is some white slimy crap all over stuff in his tank. It is growing on the inside of the glass, on his heater, everywhere. The best way I can describe it on the decorations in his tank is a bunch of snot hanging all over. On the inside of the glass, it looks like milky white water spots. But it's on the INSIDE. note: there are no living plants in this tank, and every single thing that went into this tank was brand new - was never in another tank.

Photos:
You can kind of see it on the inside of the glass here:

You can see it hanging off the edges of the plants here:

And here it's all over the bubble bar:

I think this junk appeared overnight because I stared in at him for a long time yesterday before I went home and it wasn't there.

Any help would be appreciated.
I'm wondering if I should do a 100% water change?
uugh

 

[BettaMomma]

I don't see any way to get rid of this stuff w/out a water change, so I'm going to do a full change and scrub out the tank using salt.

I'd still love some insight on this stuff if someone can help me out.
The only thing I could find anywhere in my brief research this morning told me that it as some kind of bacterial growth starting up, but I don't know for sure.
Man this sucks.

Oh, I was just removing the glass lid on his tank, and I noticed some white AND green crap growing on the underside of the tank, too.

Off I go to water change.

 

[3fsh]

Yeah, sounds like bacteria to me... or possibly a fungus. A good salt scrub should take care of it. You could give the salt bath while you are scrubbing the tank out. Good excuse for it...

 

[BettaMomma]

Just changed out his water - I scrubbed EVERYTHING with scalding hot water and used a TON of salt - just poured it over everythign and let it dissolve, then scrubbed and scrubbed.

I opted not to put ANYTHING back in with him - less for him to hurt himself on, I guess. He does have a place to rest - up between the heater cord and the side of the tank. So, it's just him, his heater, the air bar and the water in the tank.

I put in the maracide and a pinch of salt. I'm also going to put in the last day's treatment of tetracycline.
He's just laying on the bottom now, kind of gasping for air.

I'm so sad.

 

[3fsh]

Pleeeeeeeeeease try the salt bath! It sounds like he is not doing well at all. IMO, it is the only option at this point. He will be fine with it... I have done MANY salt baths and my fish have never passed out on me. I have a feeling that if you don't try it, these might be his last days with you.

 

[Camillemj]

Oh my--that is exactly what is appered in my tank the other day!
I changed 50 % water, and washed the plastic plants and wiped off the glass. Problem, now two days latter it is coming back!!!

Can I add salt to my tank when I have tiger barbs and danios??

 

[Inchworm]

Hi BettaMomma

I'm sorry to learn about the trouble you are having with your fish. But please don't assume that everyone knows what is the matter with it. If you don't explain the whole story, you are apt to get advice that is not based on facts, and which could cause more harm than good.

Why are you treating him with those two drugs?

 

[BettaMomma]

Sorry - I have been posting all over tarnation in this forum about Amos' problems - i seem to forget that not everyone reads all of my posts and knows everything about what's going on with all my fish. (oopsy) heh
Okay, here's the story in a nutshell..

Several weeks ago, I decided I wanted upgrade Amos to a new 5 g hex eclipse tank with a bio wheel filter from his nice safe 2.5G heated tank. I got a mini cycle completed, then put him in. He hated it. The current was way too much for him - he was getting tossed around in the tank and he eventually ate most of his tail off, then I noticed he was covered in ick.

I went right out and picked up another 2.5G tank for him (Cuz the other one had already been re-occupied by another rescue by this time).... transferred him back over to that one. That was on Saturday (today is Wednesday). I raised his temp slowly up to 82 degrees, put a very slight air stone drip into the tank and dosed him with maracide for the ick. I did my homework on the meds and decided to get him also on tetracycline for any secondary illnesses he may have or that may crop up. Since then he's been deteriorating pretty badly - now it's to the point where he lays on the bottom of the tank, sometimes on his side gasping for air.

BUT... there are times when, just after spending 15 minutes laying on the bottom of the tank when he'll take off, swim over and look at me, wiggle around as if to say "Gimme my treats, ma!" like he always has done, and he's eating perfectly normally in the morning when I feed him.

His tail is crumbling off in front of my eyes. I have been pulling pieces of it out of the tank when I see them floating on the top.

I also have tossed in pinches of salt after water changes lately.

Any ideas?

 

[BettaMomma]

Oopsy, very sorry to the mods.
I just noticed my three letters (w, t followed by an f) up in the subtitle were asterisked out. I was upset when I typed it up - didn't even occur to me that it was as bad as it is to type. Very sorry, won't happen again.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi BettaMomma

I can't blame you for being upset! I would be too.

Anyway, did you check to see if Maracide and tetracycline are safe to use in combination?

How is the ich doing? If it's better, I would stop both meds (since you are finished giving the tetracycline anyway) and see if just a little salt would do the trick. It sounds to me like the little fellow is exhausted, which is not good. On the other hand, he is eating, which means he is trying to keep up what little stamina he has left, and that's a good sign.

Even if he still has signs of ich, if he doesn't mind the temperature up that high, I would go with salt at the rate of 1TBS. per 5 gallons of water (1 1/2 tsp. for your tank) and eliminate the other medications. Try to make him comfortable and wait and see if he will pull through.

I'll be thinking of him and hoping for the best.


(P.S. In the future, never use tetracycline except when you know you are dealing with a bacterial infection that can't be cured any other way. It could well be the most powerful antibiotic available for fish, and you do not want to risk letting a resistant strain develop in your tanks.

Since you have used this medicine, chances are that your beneficial bacteria have been lost in that tank, so until he has recovered, just do good daily water changes to keep his water fresh and clean for him.)

 

[BettaMomma]

Yep, I always do MUCHO homework on mixing meds. I 'm petrified of dumping meds into my tanks with the boys to begin with, so I always check, and recheck, then check one more time before medicating.

The ick is still on him - it seems to change daily (the amount that is on him) but that could just be my perception of it.

I think he is very exhausted and it makes me sick to see him that way, because he used to be the strongest one of my crew. He swam laps ALL day long, in between stopping and batting his lashes for some attention from me every now and then. Now he's just a pile of scales and fins (BADLY deteriorating fins) on the tank floor

As far as destroying the beneficial bacteria - he's in an unfiltered tank and I do water changes about every 5 days. Doesn't the beneficial bacteria get wiped out every time I do those changes anyway? So what about the meds destroying it? i'm confused - I thought that only mattered in a filtered tank? hmm...

I did give him his first dose today of the second round of tetracycline - would it harm it to stop at this point? He's been getting that dose for 6 days in a row w/out a break in between - the normal dosing period is 5 days. WAIT - scratch that - I just checked my notes and today was the last day of his first round of tetracycline so it WOULD be safe to stop that at this point. Whattya think? I'm considering stopping the tetra and giving him one more shot of maracide. I really wanna get the ick taken care of. I HATE that disease. purely hate it.

Also at this point, I have taken out all the gravel and plants. Woudl it make him feel better to have some of that stuff put back in there? Probably - I might see if I can find a nice soft silk plant that reaches up near the top so he can maybe rest on that so he doesn't have so far to go to get all the way up there. The main reason I took the gravel,rocks and plants out is cuz everything was covered with that white slimy crap and I am worried that i'll introduce it right back into the tank.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi BettaMomma

I think it would be ok to stop the tetracycline now. As long as it has gone throught the course of treatment, and unless there is some sign of bacterial infection present, it isn't necessary and is just one more thing to make him stressed and uncomfortable.

The high plant is a good idea. The less he has to exert himself at this point, the better. If necessary, you might even want to lower the water level.

I thought your tank was cycled, but since it isn't then you don't have to worry about beneficial bacteria. I see now that you mentioned it in regard to your other tank.

 

[BettaMomma]

Great.
I think stopping the tetra is a good idea - the poor little guy is probably so drugged up he's just getting his little fishy butt kicked.

I'll keep you posted on his progress.

As always, thx much for the great advice.

 

[BettaMomma]

I got to work this morning and I thought Amos was dead - he wasn't moving at all, then he slowly swamp up to the surface.

He's now lost all his color - he's basically white.
Actually, it looks like his skin's starting to peel.
It's probably just a matter of time now.
We just might have to put him out of his misery soon.

 

[laboul]

That stinks. He is a beautiful fish.

I've been reading your posts on Amos. I think those meds killed off just about everything except a population of drug resistant microbes (the white stuff). Just a guess but not unlikely. Salt scrub will get rid of a lot but there may be a few cells lying around that could quickly mutliply again.

If Amos doesn't recover I would bleach that tank and rinse it out but good before cycling it again and adding another fish. Also the decorations as you mentioned.

But I hope a miracle happens