Silver Dollar & Catfish

Hi,

When I was cleaning the tank out the other day, one of my Silver Dollar fish decided to go to the other end of the tank out of the way, which was next to the heater. When he eventually moved, when I had finished, I noticed he had a white mark on his body where he had been next to the heater. After a couple of days the burn mark has started to go white and furry. Will this clear up?

Also, not sure if this is a coincidence or not but in the past 2 days, I have had 5 small catfish die. Is this related to the Silver Dollars wound?

Steph

 

Good morning,

It sounds as if the Silver Dollar has some type of fungus. A burn will not be fury and white. Can you post a photo of the fish in question?

If the fish does have a burn, then the fungus may be a secondary type of infection.

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/nov07/fish-fungus.htm



Now that you have more than three posts to the open forum, please complete your Aquarium Profile Information. This Information will aid others with their responses. To access the Profile, click on Forum Actions in the bar close to the top of the screen. In the drop down box, click on Edit Profile. Be sure to hit SAVE when you are done.

Best wishes for your tank and fish!

Ken

 

I would say you may need to medicate the poor guy to heal him up properly and kill the fungus. If he's tolerant of aquarium salt that may help and be a little less harmful than medicine? I would wait for a more knowledgeable person though..

As for whether or not the deaths are connected to the dollar I have no idea, sorry :-(

Sent from my C1505 using Fish Lore Aquarium Fish Forum mobile app

 

Hello,

I do not advocate the use of salt for freshwater fish. Please check out the information in the link below, referencing post #32:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/salt-for-fish-diseases.139048/

It will help us to know how long your aquarium has been set up and your water parameters for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH, so please complete your Aquarium Profile Information.

The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle which is crucial to fish keeping:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/nitrogen-cycle-a-newbies-friendly-guide.114096/

Thanks!

Ken

 

Hello,

I do not advocate the use of salt for freshwater fish. Please check out the information in the link below, referencing post #32:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/salt-for-fish-diseases.139048/

It will help us to know how long your aquarium has been set up and your water parameters for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH, so please complete your Aquarium Profile Information.

The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle which is crucial to fish keeping:
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/nitrogen-cycle-a-newbies-friendly-guide.114096/

Thanks!

Ken

Sorry, I was implying use a salt dip just to kill off the fungus, not as a full time thing. Like how people use it to combat ich or fin rot? Never would I suggest full use of salt in freshwater. Sorry if that wasn't clear :-( is that still wrong?

Sent from my C1505 using Fish Lore Aquarium Fish Forum mobile app

 

Ok, I have been to my local garden centre that has a large aquarium department. They have given me some treatment for the water that treats cotton wool disease. I have emptied 3/4 of my tank and added fresh water along with the treatment. I will wait to see if this starts to clear up.

As for my profile, I have added as much information as I can. Just some information for you:

Tank size = 32 gallons
2 Silver Dollar Fish
2 Angel Fish
12 Platies
10 small Catfish
1 Large Catfish (20yrs old)

 

Sorry, I was implying use a salt dip just to kill off the fungus, not as a full time thing. Like how people use it to combat ich or fin rot? Never would I suggest full use of salt in freshwater. Sorry if that wasn't clear :-( is that still wrong?

The use of salt is a controversial issue. Some people swear by it, others believe it has no place in a freshwater tank. Some believe a salt dip is a good treatment. others feel it is not a proper treatment.

I personally am in the same camp as Aquarist, where I do not believe in using salt.

But just because your belief differs from someone else's, does not mean it is wrong. Until there is a definitive study and answer about salt use with freshwater fish, it is still just a matter of what each sides feels make's the most sense to them.

 

The use of salt is a controversial issue. Some people swear by it, others believe it has no place in a freshwater tank. Some believe a salt dip is a good treatment. others feel it is not a proper treatment.

I personally am in the same camp as Aquarist, where I do not believe in using salt.

But just because your belief differs from someone else's, does not mean it is wrong. Until there is a definitive study and answer about salt use with freshwater fish, it is still just a matter of what each sides feels make's the most sense to them.

I'm still new to the ins and outs of fish keeping, so I don't really have an opinion on salt. I do read a lot of people using it as solutions to some problems. I don't really know of any scientific basis for or against salt and I wouldn't use it willy nilly. In fact, I'd probably only use it if a lot of members here recommended it to me as a cure for something I was seriously struggling with.

I apologise that I was misinformed, thank you guys for letting me know
screscenzi, hope the treatment works out for you! What is it?

 

You need to keep the water pristine for him to heal up. So doing partial daily water changes would be my recommendation. Being that you already added a medication, you need to keep an eye on the water parameters as most meds will kill the beneficial bacteria and make the cycle wobbly in the end or you need to move the infected fish to a separate tank for treatment.

Cotton Wool Disease is known as Columnaris and is bacterial. Your fish looks to have a true fungal infection from a wound. Not sure the treatment will help. But I could be wrong.

If you can get your hands on Kordon Fish Protector that is great stuff for a healing aid.

As for the catfish dying. I do not know. I do not think the infected wound has anything to do with that. If they showed no signs of sickness then these are deaths that you may never know the cause. This happens.

When sudden deaths happen, first thing that needs to be done is check all water parameters.

 

Thanks for your advice. The treatment that I am using is called Interpet AntI fungus and fin rot. The cotton wool wound has fallen off since yesterday and is now just a big hole.
If I change the water partially everyday, this will remove the treatment that has been added. Is this still advisable? The treatment packet says to leave add more if needed after 7 days.

 

Great news!!! See, told you I could be wrong. haha Since you already started the meds then finish them. Just keep an eye on the parameters.