# Disease in my tank. HELP!



## pinkpixy (May 7, 2004)

Hello everyone,

I have a 29 gallon tank, with over $100 of fish in it and now I have some sort of disease.

It started with my rope fish a few days ago. His tail turned white and got all fringy looking. Almost looked like skin was peeling off. Then the next day it was under his chin. We woke up yesterday to find that this white peeling skin was over his eyes, and about an 1 and a half inches up his tail end. Plus there were some patches on his body. He died this morning. We also have a discus in the tank, and he has some small white dots on his tail.

The other thing I noticed is all over the sides of the tank there are these little white spots about this big: - . They almost look like small jellyfish or something. These spots have also appeared on the sides of our baby pirahna tank.

Yesterday I called a local aquarium shop to ask them what miy rope fish might have and they told me to put in Maracyn and to also treat for ick. I put the Maracyn and QuIck Cure in last night. But that didn't save the rope fish. This morning he was lying on the bottom and wouldn't move, and was somewhat stiff. So, I fished him out.

I am freaking out cause I don't want any of my other fish to get this. Please help.

Melissa


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Check your water parameters...  It sounds like your fish have a bacterial infection commonly due to poor water conditions and stress. If your water is poor (i.e. ammonia/nitrite present or fluctuating or very low pH), then correct this problem through water changes first. I wouldn't suggest the use of Maracyn because the active ingredient is erythromycin, which is more for the treatment of gram+ bacterial infections. Most bacterial infections in freshwater aquaria are gram negative so I'd suggest the use of Maracyn Two. But make sure you are on top of your water quality issues. Using an antibiotic in poor water will make it worse because it also kills nitrifiers.

Also, I do not recommend mixing meds. You don't know if the interaction of the two chemicals is toxic to fish. If the bacterial infection is not bad, treat for ich first, and then the bacterial infection. BTW, I don't think your fish have ich unless you find spots on your fish, so treating with QuickCure might not be needed. The spots on your tank are NOT ich parasites. If they look like small jellyfish, than it's most likely hydra which is not harmful to adult fish, only fry...


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## pinkpixy (May 7, 2004)

I was concerned about ick because the discus has small white, almost like grains of salt type spots on its tail, and that is what they told me it might be. I wanna hear what you guys have to say because I have a hard time trusting pet shops after hearing other bad advice that they have given people about other animals.

So, would you suggest discontinuing the use of Maracyn and trying the Maracyn Two? Also, I saw something called Maracyn Plus. Or should I finish out the treatment of Maracyn and then try the Maracyn Two?

I just tested the water. The Nitrite seems to be a bit high, but it is a fairly new tank (like a month old). All the other levels looked normal. How can I correct the Nitrite levels??

I just looked at the discus, and the stuff on his tail seems to be getting worse since this morning. Also, I see a little bit of it on his side.

Also, the discus is the newest fish in the tank. He has been in there for like a week. Everyone was fine, until just a few days ago. We also have a fire eel, a arowana, and a baby oscar. They seem to be fine right now.

I really want to go get what I need. I don't want to lose another fish. Just let me know.

Also, what about the use of aquarium salt? I have read around and eveyone seems to say it is a good treatment. What do you guys think?


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## pinkpixy (May 7, 2004)

Ok so I have talked to a few people at a few different shops and they saw it is possibly fungus since it spread so fast. They told me to keep using Maracyn because it kills body fungus. Anyhow, I am looking for as many opinions as possible.

Anyone know anything about fungus?


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## pinkpixy (May 7, 2004)

The stuff has spread from just white specks on its tail this morning to white all down his body.


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

pinkpixy said:


> His tail turned white and got all fringy looking. Almost looked like skin was peeling off. Then the next day it was under his chin. We woke up yesterday to find that this white peeling skin was over his eyes, and about an 1 and a half inches up his tail end. Plus there were some patches on his body. He died this morning.


 If your description is acccurate, then it's more typical of a bacterial infection and not a fungal infection. Take a close look at the infection. Does the white growth look like individual microscopic strands (which would be fungus) or does it look cottony but more fuzzy (which would be finrot or columnaris). It's really difficult to explain the subtle differences between the two. It's your call if you want to treat with Maracyn or Maracyn Two.

I would treat the ich first. Make sure you take out the carbon from your filter. Do a small water change before re-administering the med. After the ich treatment, do a water change, put a new bag of carbon in the filter, let it run for about few days, and start treatment for the bacterial/fungal infection.

Finally, Mardel products can usually be used in conjuction with eachother. So if you want to treat for ich and the infection at the same time, I would recommend you look into Freshwater coppersafe and Maracyn (one or two). Double check the box to see if these two products can be used together (sometimes my memory goes bad).


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