# Nose fungus won't go away



## Stick (Jun 5, 2003)

I picked up these terns 3 weeks ago and a couple of them had what looked like feathers growing from their nostrals. I imediately put them in a hospital tank and started medicating with penicilin and also added salt. I medicated a cycle and a half ( til I ran out) with the penicilin and then started medicating with pemifix. I've been medicating with pemifix now for a week and a half and there's still really no sign of improvement. I've never really had problems with diseases in any of my tanks so I'm not too experienced when it comes to this kind of stuff. The fish are eating and acting fine but I really want this crap to go away. I tried taking pics but the fish wouldn't sit still and none of them turned out. I guess the best way to desribe it is like I said before, it looks like feathers growing from the nostrals. I've never seen anything like this before but can only assume it's some kind of fungus. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

wow Stick, I really don't know what that could be. it does sound fungal, so i am suprised that the penicilin didn't give you any results at all.


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Penicillin is only effective against gram positive bacterial infections. Most bacterial infections that infect aquarium fish are gram negative. So if you think it may be a bacterial infection, I would either use a wide spectrum antibiotic (Kanacyn or neomycin) or one that treats specifically gram negative infections (like Maracyn II). Make sure you do a 20-30 water change before re-administering. The antibiotic will also kill your biological filter since the nitrifiers are also gram negative bacteria.

I've never heard of fungus being described as "feathers". It's usually similar to cotton like growth. Could it possibly be an anchorworm? I have seen anchorworms attached to the nasal cavity that might resemble a feather sticking out of the nostrils. If left untreated, the parasitic infection can spread to other parts of the body as well as other fish. If that's the case, treatment with a med that contains diflubenzuron (Dimilin or Anchors-Away has it) will cure it and it's piranha-safe.

Sorry... without a clear pic, everything I've told you is just a best guess.

Good luck.


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## Stick (Jun 5, 2003)

Thanks a lot. I'll keep working on a decent pic. I don't think it's a worm because it's not just one feather. It looks like a whole bunch of tiny little feathers. Mar II was gonna be my next try because I've had luck with it before but I didn't think it was a fungal med and this really looks like a fungus. It's worth a try if all else fails. Thanks for the input. Anyone else have any guesses. If anyone has had this on their fish before I think they would know what I'm talking about by the description because thats exactly what it looks like. It's not cottony it's more feathery if that makes sense.


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Stick said:


> Thanks a lot. I'll keep working on a decent pic. I don't think it's a worm because it's not just one feather. It looks like a whole bunch of tiny little feathers. Mar II was gonna be my next try because I've had luck with it before but I didn't think it was a fungal med and this really looks like a fungus. It's worth a try if all else fails. Thanks for the input. Anyone else have any guesses. If anyone has had this on their fish before I think they would know what I'm talking about by the description because thats exactly what it looks like. It's not cottony it's more feathery if that makes sense.
> [snapback]914103[/snapback]​


That's because it's a bunch of parasites. Anchorworms from what I've seen have two "tails", and I could see how a few might look like feathers. It could also be flukes. It definately is not bacteria though, you wouldn't be able to see bacteria.


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