acw

Hi,
please help! i noticed last night right after i introduced some new fish to the tank that 2 of my existing platies had this white stuff on it. I've looked up and read as many posts as i can about ick vs. fungus but i still can't figure it out!

in some parts of the body, it looks like little lint balls. there are also fuzzy shedding pieces too. the red platty has the lint balls on its left side but just a little fuzzy stuff on the right.

there are no changes in their eating habits but today i noticed that they both liked running through the bubbler and they kept flapping their bodies along the tank wall. i can also see that sometimes when they swim, these balls start shedding...

from what i can tell, the fins are fine and the mouth area is fine as well.

i thought it was fungus but i am concerned about the lint ball looking things.

i just cleaned 25% of the tank, added some aquarium salt and fungus medicine.

do you think it could be ick?

0morrokh

ICH looks like little white grains all over the fish. Fungus is puffy, larger patches.

What med did you use?

COBettaCouple

Welcome to FishLore.

It does sound like fungus, 0morrokh's post should help ID it. Could you post a pic and what are your current ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and water temp?

acw

i think i'm confused mostly because there are both symptoms present. the more i look at it, the more i think it might be Ick. do you think i need to change out the water again to flush out the fungus meds (Fungus Clear) and aquarium salt?

what is the best way to get rid of Ick?

I don't have the water levels yet. will post as soon as i test it again. i also have pics but can't upload until maybe tomorrow. hopefully they last until then!

COBettaCouple

You could try a treatment plan that would be geared for treating ich, but would treat fungus some without even stressing the fish with harsh meds.

- Start with a 50% water change and clean the substrate. Slowly raise the tank water temp to 83-84F.

- Look for a product called Rid-Fungus (or Ick-Attack if you can't get Rid-Fungus).. Add a capful of that daily to the tank.

- Do daily water changes of 25%. If possible, make the new water close to the tank water temp.

- Clean the substrate at least once a week.

If you can find them or have them, add 1 drop per gallon daily of: Garlic Guard, Vita-Chem and Fish Protector. Also use Prime to treat all water.