Neon White Fuzzy Patch Near Gill

I'm having the worst luck today.

I noticed a white patch by the gill of one of my neons. It might be fuzzy? Earlier today when I did my 40% pwc I noticed a bad smell. But my snail was alive and all fish were accounted for.

I have:
Furan-2
API fungus cure
Tetra life guard
Paraguard
Maracyn two

Do I have to treat the entire tank or can I do baths? I do have a mystery snail in this tank.

junebug since you were helping me with my other thread.

 

That looks like a white fungal growth & will need treating or in all likely hood it will spread to all of them & can be fatal. I use JBL Fungol Plus 250 but any good fungal specific med should do the trick & yes you need to treat the whole tank as the fungal spores will be present in the water. As for the bad smell, your water does look very cloudy & that's possibly a algae bloom so you need to look at how often & how much you feed? do the fish eat everything you put in or does some get missed? How long do you keep your lights on for? Too long will promote algae growth, the smell is likely from bacteria releasing gasses which smell of rotten eggs (sulphur) & is possibly coming from your gravel substrate. I'd do a good gravel vac to get rid of any gunk hiding in it, water changes daily to remove anything in the water column & treat the fungal infection & keep your lights off for a few days if you have any. Just one last thought is the tank situated anywhere in direct sunlight as that also promotes algae. Hope this helps, good luck & hope your fish pull through OK.

 

That looks like a white fungal growth & will need treating or in all likely hood it will spread to all of them & can be fatal. I use JBL Fungol Plus 250 but any good fungal specific med should do the trick & yes you need to treat the whole tank as the fungal spores will be present in the water. As for the bad smell, your water does look very cloudy & that's possibly a algae bloom so you need to look at how often & how much you feed? do the fish eat everything you put in or does some get missed? How long do you keep your lights on for? Too long will promote algae growth, the smell is likely from bacteria releasing gasses which smell of rotten eggs (sulphur) & is possibly coming from your gravel substrate. I'd do a good gravel vac to get rid of any gunk hiding in it, water changes daily to remove anything in the water column & treat the fungal infection & keep your lights off for a few days if you have any. Just one last thought is the tank situated anywhere in direct sunlight as that also promotes algae. Hope this helps, good luck & hope your fish pull through OK.

Thank you for your reply!
Water isn't cloudy in person. I've been feeding the neons every 2-3 days because they hide since their school is low. Today was one of the first days they have come out like this. The mystery snail has been acting sluggish and didn't eat its 1/4 wafer. But I took it out with the water change yesterday.
I always vacuum the gravel when I do my 40% changes but I'll do it more thoroughly. Lights are on for about 6hrs. The tank is not by a window. I do have a plant lightbulb I have been meaning to switch back to a regular one. I'm getting a little bit of algae and the java moss is out of control.

 

Have you checked your water parameters recently to see what your nitrite / nitrate levels are like? I mentioned the cloudiness of the water as in your video there seemed to be a lot of particulates floating around which could be algae. Everything you're doing with the feeding, water changing & duration of light is spot on but it seems you have something that's feeding the algae & moss which is likely excess nitrates. How's the little fella with the fungus doing?

 

Have you checked your water parameters recently to see what your nitrite / nitrate levels are like? I mentioned the cloudiness of the water as in your video there seemed to be a lot of particulates floating around which could be algae. Everything you're doing with the feeding, water changing & duration of light is spot on but it seems you have something that's feeding the algae & moss which is likely excess nitrates. How's the little fella with the fungus doing?

They were actively swimming, eating and schooling with the other neon last night. I've always seemed to have little particles floating around. I used to have a nitrate problem in this tank until I noticed this thick sludge on my filter cartridge a few months back. I tossed and replaced. Since then I did read 0 0 5 but I'll double check today. I was so curious on why 2 neons and a snail were causing so many nitrates in a 20 gallon even after 40% changes a few days in a row. So I'm glad I found that sludge. I've never seen anything like that before.

 

I'd run a test on your tap water too, may be that's naturally high in nitrates???

 

I'd run a test on your tap water too, may be that's naturally high in nitrates???

Tap water has always been 0 0 0
Ph 8.1 gh 9° kh 6°

I'll retest the tank tonight to double check on nitrate levels

Should I use API fungus cure or Tetra Lifeguard?

Does anyone know if they're safe for snails? I haven't used fungus cure before, does it stain anything or disrupt BB? I don't recall having any issues with lifeguard when I treated heat resistant ich

 

That looks exactly like what my Neons have had since I bought them.

I believe it to be Columnaris.

 

That looks exactly like what my Neons have had since I bought them.

I believe it to be Columnaris.

I had columnaris in the past with my neons. I think that this is different since the patch is fuzzy? Last time it was more like white discoloration and more by the tail end. I'll try one of the two fungus meds first then if it doesn't help I'll do the furan 2 and maracyn-2 like last time.

TexasDomer this is the original thread

 

Just because one fish in the tank has a fungus, does not mean that all of your other fish will get it and die too. Fungal infections are often opportunistic, and can be secondary to bacterial infections or take over when your fish is stressed. Treating in a QT tank would be fine, and cheaper and easier than treating the whole tank. In most cases, your other fish should not be affected unless they become stressed, immunosuppressed, or have another infection as well.

If it's columnaris, which is also often opportunistic, you can QT as well, or treat the entire tank if you wish.

Can you get a sterilite container or something cheap to move him to? It'll be much cheaper to treat a small container than the entire tank.

 

Just because one fish in the tank has a fungus, does not mean that all of your other fish will get it and die too. Fungal infections are often opportunistic, and can be secondary to bacterial infections or take over when your fish is stressed. Treating in a QT tank would be fine, and cheaper and easier than treating the whole tank. In most cases, your other fish should not be affected unless they become stressed, immunosuppressed, or have another infection as well.

If it's columnaris, which is also often opportunistic, you can QT as well, or treat the entire tank if you wish.

Can you get a sterilite container or something cheap to move him to? It'll be much cheaper to treat a small container than the entire tank.

How big are we talking? If I rushed to petsmart or petco and got a 5 gallon and returned it after would that work? Only issue is heater, filter, air stone. The temp in my house stays pretty normal around 76-78°F so maybe I can get away without a heater? I also have a couple 5 gallon buckets one I'm using to store fish stuff instead of using it for water changes. However I know I wouldn't be able to see from the sides.

What med would be best? ApI fungus cure or tetra lifeguard.

Update: my coworker said he may still have a 3 gallon marineland eclipse somewhere but he's unsure.

 

I wouldn't return a tank after using it to QT sick fish. But even a food safe storage container would work - something like this:

Sounds like you could get away without a heater. A 5 gal bucket would be fine too though.

Though I will say, if it were me personally, I wouldn't use a fungal med or QT, myself, but instead keep up with water changes. Fungal infections can resolve without meds. If you do want to use a med, use the QT. It's up to you whether you use a fungal med or something aimed at the possibility of a primary bacterial infection.

 

I wouldn't return a tank after using it to QT sick fish. But even a food safe storage container would work - something like this:


Sounds like you could get away without a heater. A 5 gal bucket would be fine too though.

Though I will say, if it were me personally, I wouldn't use a fungal med or QT, myself, but instead keep up with water changes. Fungal infections can resolve without meds. If you do want to use a med, use the QT. It's up to you whether you use a fungal med or something aimed at the possibility of a primary bacterial infection.

Turns out my friend might have a 6 gallon I can borrow but hes unsure if the filter works.

I've been doing 40-50% weekly changes on this tank for quite some time now. After the incident with the sludge nitrates went down from 60-80 to 5. During that time I did 2 back to back 50% changes to get it down that day and replaced the cartridge since I have biomedia. The week after readings were 0 0 0 then the week after that 0 0 5 since 2 neons and a snail were not a big bioload.

So my question there is since parameters have been low for over 1 mo why would the fungus be getting worse? Would the water changes truly help? Still new to most diseases like this so I have tons of questions. This was the same neon I questioned in the past but got no answers on this thread: Viral Disease & Cycle Loss?

This is also the same tank that had a smell issue the other day. But now I'm not smelling it. Smelly Tank?

 

It may not have to do with water quality necessarily. At least not the current quality. Who knows what caused the initial stressor.

Water changes won't hurt. Clean water almost always can help.

Columnaris is still a possibility.

 

It may not have to do with water quality necessarily. At least not the current quality. Who knows what caused the initial stressor.

Water changes won't hurt. Clean water almost always can help.

Columnaris is still a possibility.

Even though it's fuzzy? I thought columnaris wasn't fuzzy. Like I stated earlier though I am still learning but went through columnaris once before.

So do you suggest more frequent water changes? Or meds?

 

It didn't look that fuzzy in the video, but then again, I can't see it in person. And columnaris actually does well in clean, oxygenated tanks, unlike Saprolegnia, which would likely have thrived in the poorer conditions your fish used to be in. Could be Saprolegnia too, though. If it is, QT (in a container that you don't care about staining) and treat with meth blue (malachite green may work as well).

 

It didn't look that fuzzy in the video, but then again, I can't see it in person. And columnaris actually does well in clean, oxygenated tanks, unlike Saprolegnia, which would likely have thrived in the poorer conditions your fish used to be in. Could be Saprolegnia too, though. If it is, QT (in a container that you don't care about staining) and treat with meth blue (malachite green may work as well).

Here's some further reading:

With columnaris in the past (not sure if this fish is one of the ones that was in QT when they had it) I used furan 2 and maracyn-2 as well as medicated flakes (ingredient started with a K. I'm not home atm so I can't spell it out). I've been using the flakes on the cardinals in my QT, should I also feed the neons this?
I'll have to buy a container or lend from a friend since we live in a small apartment so I don't have any lying around.

Is the meth blue for columnaris or for fungus treatment?

 

It didn't look that fuzzy in the video, but then again, I can't see it in person. And columnaris actually does well in clean, oxygenated tanks, unlike Saprolegnia, which would likely have thrived in the poorer conditions your fish used to be in. Could be Saprolegnia too, though. If it is, QT (in a container that you don't care about staining) and treat with meth blue (malachite green may work as well).

Ok so I can get meth blue from amazon in 2 days or I have paraguard which I can use. You said both would work correct? Would you suggest waiting for the meth blue or jusy using the paraguard?

I'll end up doing baths. Seachem suggests doing 1hr dip of 3ml per gallon. Is this too long?
What about meth blue?
How many days do you suggest? Or should I continue until the fungus goes away?

I'm just worried that it may be in the water column in my tank.

 

I don't recall saying anything about Paraguard. I'm not sure if Paraguard would work. It has Malachite green and formalin in it, and that's recommended for Saprolegnia, but not columnaris as far as I'm aware.

I would do meth blue, personally.

Did you read the link I attached? It talks about treatment.

 

I don't recall saying anything about Paraguard. I'm not sure if Paraguard would work. It has Malachite green and formalin in it, and that's recommended for Saprolegnia, but not columnaris as far as I'm aware.

I would do meth blue, personally.

Did you read the link I attached? It talks about treatment.

You said that malachite green would work as well in that post I quoted. Paraguard has that in there.

I'll order the meth blue since I believe you said it works for both saprolegnia and columnaris (correct me if I'm wrong). How much/long should I do dips for? I don't think I saw it on the back of the bottle in photos but I just skimmed.

 

I said it might work, but I wasn't sure. After further reading, it seems that it wouldn't be good for columnaris.

Take a read through that website I linked. It'll talk about meth blue used in conjuction with other meds for the treatment of both issues. And the website has some info on length and concentration of baths.

 

I said it might work, but I wasn't sure. After further reading, it seems that it wouldn't be good for columnaris.

Take a read through that website I linked. It'll talk about meth blue used in conjuction with other meds for the treatment of both issues. And the website has some info on length and concentration of baths.

I skimmed over it on lunch. I'll have to read more later since I didn't seem to catch that part.

I also ordered meth blue

 

It's quite a long read, but it has some good info!

 

Update: so I just did my first meth blue dip and holy moly that was such a deep blue! Next time I'll do less than the 3 gallon of water, idk what I was thinking using so much
TexasDomer how often should I do this? Daily? Every other day? And do you know roughly when I'll see improvement?

 

You can be more aggressive and do it daily, or you can do it a few times a week.

I don't know when you'll see improvement - it really depends on your fish.

 

You can be more aggressive and do it daily, or you can do it a few times a week.

I don't know when you'll see improvement - it really depends on your fish.

Thanks! I might do it every 1-2 days for 7-10 days and report back on any improvement.

I did relook at my water because Seasoldier commented on particles floating around. Definitely looks like little bits of algae. I'm going to switch out my plant T8 bulb tonight back to the regular T8 full spectrum to hopefully help control algae. The light is on for about 6hrs and is on a timer with my QT light. Maybe a day or two of lights off wouldn't hurt.

 

Did you have algae issues with the old bulb too?

 

Did you have algae issues with the old bulb too?

I switched the bulb when this light was on my 29g. When I upgraded my 10 to this 20 gallon I upgraded the light on my 29 gallon to a finnex planted+ 24/7 and simply brought this light over since both tanks are the same footprint. Soon this tank will be switched to the 29 gallon and my 29 gallon to a 90g (big jump I know)

I have mostly fake plants besides java moss and marimo moss balls in this tank. The moss is definitely out of control and wouldn't mind it growing slower.

 

Update: switched the bulb and everything in the tank just glows green. NOT a fan! Mind you all I have is java moss and fake green plants everywhere.

BAD NEWS: I have only done thw 1 dip and was going to do another one today. However, last night I noticed that my poor neon has no fins next to her gills?! They're only little stumps? I never have noticed this before! The lights were off when I noticed but I'll double check again.

TexasDomer

 

Sounds bacterial then. You might want to consider treating for a bacterial infection too, if the meth blue alone doesn't help.

 

Sounds bacterial then. You might want to consider treating for a bacterial infection too, if the meth blue alone doesn't help.

what meds would I use for that? I only did the one dip and have not seen improvement yet. Do I keep doing dips and use other meds? Or change to just one med?

 

Read that article again. You can use some antibiotics with the meth blue dip. Yes, you should still be doing dips.

 

I'm going to have to use some antibiotics. I gave the dips a week and there's no improvement.

I'm not seeing that link anymore TexasDomer ?

 

Update: HELP! I did a week of meth blue dips with no change. I started doing maracyn-2 and furan 2. Today I noticed there is now a white thing coming out of the white fuzz. Any clue what this is?