African Dwarf Frogs Magically Disappearing Fungus

Hey Guys - new to the site, and to keeping ADFs. I currently have a 20G tank which is normally home to 2 ADFs, 2 Dwarf Gouramis and a Common Pleco. The Dwarf Gouramis started showing signs of a parasitic infection (possibly DGI though fingers crossed) and as a result I quarantined all my animals, including my turtles and common goldfish from my other tank (due to a crossover of water changing equipment) and began treating everyone. For the fish I used API General Cure and for the Turtles/Frogs I used API Turtle Fix (because both were the only meds locally available). I then sterilized both tanks, including the gravel and decorations with a bleach and water solution (9:1 as I was directed by the internet). I then let everything soak overnight in clean water dosed heavily with a dechlorinator and rinsed multiple times the next morning. I got a new filter, and since the ADFs and Pleco were not showing any signs of illness, I put them back in the sterilized tank to start cycling the filter before returning the fish following their treatment.

Last night (24+ hours after putting them back in the tank) I noticed what looked like a fungal infection on the back of one of my ADFs. It was a white spot, though not overly fuzzy looking, and what looked like the beginning of white spots on my other ADF. I immediately removed the affected frog from the tank and put him in a quarantine tank, and dosed the 20G tank with more dechlorinator. This morning upon waking up, I realized he no longer had the white spot, and neither did the frog still remaining in the tank. Is this a fungus or a reaction to any of the remaining bleach? I've been reading a lot over the last two days about Chytird fungus in ADFs (hence my concern), but the disappearance this morning has me confused. Any information you guys could share would be greatly appreciated. I've grown to love these little guys and wanted to get more, because they are so much fun to watch swimming around the tank, but don't want to have a fungus spreading through my whole aquarium.

 

UPDATE: The African Dwarf Frog that remained in the tank seems to have shed his skin in one whole piece today. The ADF in quarantine is looking much healthier, and the white spot is gone. Is this typical of Chytrid fungus? I've never seen them shed their skin before, but I've only had them about three months. Both appear to be healthy and eating, but I'm still a little perplexed. If any one has any information or experience with African Dwarf Frogs, I would really appreciate the insight.

 

I don't think your frogs show any signs of chytid. The shredding and white spot might be a reaction to medication and /or bleach, maybe the medication as you rinse all the bleach thoroughly. Do you have some seeding material to seed your new filter?

 

Thanks for the reply - I used Seachem Stability to start cycling the new filter when the frogs and pleco went in. Both ADFs shed their skin in one large piece last night and the white spot was again visible this morning. I know that the clean shed is not a symptom of chytrid, but do you know of any other infections that affect ADFs and any possible treatments? My local pet store doesn't have any frog specific medication and the API Turtle Fix appears to be doing nothing, so I could look into ordering something online if there's anything I can do.

 

Can you post a picture of your frogs, it's hard to tell what is the cause of the white spots not knowing the background of your 20 gallons: the water parameters, the symptoms your DG showed, maybe your frogs had a reaction to the medication, . Melafix, Pimafix , Maracyn Oxy, Maracyn and Maracyn two are frog safe medication, some people treated with fish medication like tetracyclin and erytromicyn with sucess. Some are good for fungus, others for bacterial infections.

 

Here's a couple of pictures of the frog with the largest white spot. My apologies for the blurriness. I can remove him from the tank if you need a clearer shot.

I had to use a google drive link because the forum kept saying my files were too large when I tried to upload them (both directly to the post and to the separate media section).

Let me know if that works - if not I will upload somewhere else, or someone can instruct me how to properly upload pictures to the forum. Thank you so much for your help - it is greatly appreciated.

To answer the rest of your questions - The tank is at a steady 78F with a ph right around 7.0. I heavily filtrate all of my tanks so the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels are very low. The Dwarf Gouramis were leaving long (really really long) white stringy feces all over the tank, which after research indicated an internal parasitic infection. Another poster on this forum suggested it might be Dwarf Gourami Iridovirus but they have responded well to two back to back treatments of API General Cure medication in a separate quarantine tank. I treated the ADFs with API Turtle Fix (which is tea tree extract) because I had used it before on the Red Eared Sliders in my other tank and had read that it was a safe treatment for frogs. When I originally quarantined the ADFs they weren't showing any symptoms of illness, and the treatment was more of a safeguard than a reaction to anything in particular. I hope that helps!

 

It' hard to tell, do both of your adfs still have white spots, did it start after you medicated them? Adf have really sensitive skin so the cause might not be some kind of illnes, just a reaction to the medication, in this case, keeping the water clean, testing for ammonia and the spot should go away. It doesn't look like fungus to me, ChibiMonkey any ideas? When your pictures are too large fo posting, you can go on picresize.com, I make mine 75% smaller. Sorry, t's 11:00 here and I have to go to bed soon, working tomorrow morning! Will only be able to reply tomorrow morning

 

They did begin after I started medicating with the tea tree extract and they were put back into the sterilized tank where there might have been trace amounts of bleach still on the gravel or decorations. The other ADF has two smaller spots about 1/4 the size on his back, but they aren't as bright white.

No need to apologize - I really really appreciate all of your help! I guess I should stop treating them, and will keep a close eye on the water parameters to make sure they're in proper range. Again - you are a lifesaver, myself and the frogs appreciate you taking the time to answer all these questions!

 

If you haven't seen this sticky, it's full of great infos concerning adfs Care Sheet For African Dwarf Frogs

I would probably stop medicating and watch them closely to see if they act and eat fine, it looks like something is irritating their skin. I am not an expert in cycling but if you would have a small "already cycled" tank where you could put your frogs while your 20 gallons is re-cycling, that would be the best, the cycling process is hard on adfs because of their sensitive skin. When your tanks are fully cycled, they should always show 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites and nitrates 20 or under. Hope this help