Would these be parasites or fungal infection?

[TNG]

This is the only fish in the tank that is infected. I treated it once before about 6 months ago but the infections keep coming back. It’s not the healthiest angel though, it has genetic defects.

What do you think the infections are? I can’t remember if I treated it with API General Cure or Blue Planet Fungus Cure.

 

[GaryE]

It is neither. My guess is a bacterial infection in the flavibacter, columnaris group. It looks like it, and the tendency to return fits the pattern.

I've lived in a no over the counter antibiotics jurisdiction for 20 years, so I can offer no ideas for curing it.

 

[Ichthys]

My first guess was either a systemic fungal infection or epistylis. Since it has had it before and is still alive I’d rule out internal fungus. Epistylis is a protozoan which feeds on bacteria, which means (if I’m right) the fish has a bacterial skin infection that the epistylis is feeding on. Treat the bacterial infection and the epistylis will leave the fish (is there any kind of whiteish growth on the glass anywhere, usually in a low flow area?).
Could also be fungus attacking tiny wounds, breaks in the skin.

 

[Ichthys]

Reminds me of GaryE’s recent post about how we can only guess at most ailments. We’re led in those guesses by our own experiences. I think between us we probably got there(?)

 

[TNG]

My first guess was either a systemic fungal infection or epistylis. Since it has had it before and is still alive I’d rule out internal fungus. Epistylis is a protozoan which feeds on bacteria, which means (if I’m right) the fish has a bacterial skin infection that the epistylis is feeding on. Treat the bacterial infection and the epistylis will leave the fish (is there any kind of whiteish growth on the glass anywhere, usually in a low flow area?).
Could also be fungus attacking tiny wounds, breaks in the skin.

There's no whitish growth on the glass, and I can't think of anything that might cause wounds. The white fluffy growths grow fast in warmer water above 23C / 73F (as you'd expect) and seem to be dormant below 21C / 70F.

 

[Colin_T]

The fish is covered in excess mucous. Check the water quality. Clean the tank, filter and substrate. Deworm the fish and treat it for external protozoan infections with salt. See how it looks after that.

Section 3 of the following link has info on deworming fish.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) 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.

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, 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.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.