What Disease Do I have? How Should I Proceed to Treat My Tank?

HI All..............I have a 40 gallon tank. Last weekend I noticed my Betta was not feeling well. He was quarantined, but unfortunately we lost him (he swam/jumped out the back of his new 2.5 gallon tank). Here is the thread about him I think he was the first fish to get sick in my 40 gallon tank.

So, last Wednesday, I was performing a water change and noticed my rubber lipped pleco was lethargic and had white spots. He died by Thursday morning. By Friday, I lost 3 neon tetras. They had white spots, as well. After that last tetra died Friday, I noticed one of my guppies (I have/had 2) had the white spots. MY LFS told me it was probably Ich and to crank the heat up to about 85 and add aquarium salt. I slowly did that Friday night. The temp is about 85.5 now. Saturday afternoon, one of my beloved guppies died. The other guppy now has a few white spots (and is super sad, I think, about losing his long time friend).

What I have left in the tank: A banjo catfish, 5 harlequin rasboras, 1 guppy, and 3 orange tetras. The tetras and the guppy also seem to be breathing heavy. The rasboras seem fine. I've been doing 5-10% water changes every other day since I lost the pleco last Thursday.

What disease do I have? Ich? Fungus? I bought treatment for both of these things, but haven't used any of it. Below is a pic of one of my tetras before he died. Oh, my conditions: Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10, and Ph 7.6. I also perform a 5-10% water change weekly, but have been doing the water change every other day since I lost the pleco last Thursday. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Yep, that's ich. I'd do heat or chemical treatments, not both. I'd turn your tank a degree higher, to 86 F.

I had an ich outbreak in my QT tank, and I successfully treated it using heat only. I slowly turned my temp to 88 F and left it there for 2 weeks. I did water changes every other day, and at the end of two weeks, no ich! I left the fish in QT for another week before adding them to my tank, and I've had no issues since.

 

So sorry for your losses.

Make sure there is lots of aeration with the high heat. Will also help the fish as the parasites infect the gills.

Vacuum the substrate or the surface area if planted every few days to pickup ICH spores.

 

Ok....I'll keep slowly cranking the heat until I get around 86 or 87. Current temp is 85.7. The aquarium salt has been added (since Friday), so that's a done deal. Do you suggest NOT to add the aquarium salt when I do water changes? I've added no Ich meds, but the fish keep dying. I was especially desperate after one of my fav guppies died Sat. These two guppies spent all their time together. My daughter thought they were "in love". If my last guppy survives ( he has spots on his fins, although the spots on his head seemed to have cleared up), I'll want to get him a "friend" eventually. I am going to get my 10 gallon QT tank set up this weekend, and quarantine new fish for at least 2 weeks before addition to the main tank from now on. The Betta and harlequin rasboras were the new additions little over 3 weeks ago. Must have gotten this Ich situation from them. The betta was the first fish sick the weekend before last. I've done water changes weekly since I've gotten the tank.

So, minus the QT tank (my husband thought that was too obsessive), I did everything carefully with my tank. He got it for me for my b-day in July. I let it fully cycle, while monitoring parameters and pretty much let it run empty for about a month. I added fish slowly, starting with 2 guppies and 6 tetras, then a banjo catfish, 2 weeks later. We added 2 mollies a month after the first group (rehomed these 2 right after the betta came, the male molly was super aggressive. Loved the female molly, but gave her to a friend who has no male guppies or mollies....she is much happier), then added the betta (who really loved the large tank and was peaceful to all the fish, including the guppies) and the 6 harlequin rasboras.

So, I'll continue with the high heat and I'll water change & vacuum the gravel every other day or every day if time allow. So, no more salt to the new water? btw, I vacuum the gravel & water change about 10%. This is all I can physically manage by myself. I use 5 gallon buckets.

 

As an aside, you do not want to put a betta in with neons. Neons like to nip long flowing fins. In the end the betta will get tired of it and the neons will pay the price.

 

So, I'll continue with the high heat and I'll water change & vacuum the gravel every other day or every day if time allow. So, no more salt to the new water? btw, I vacuum the gravel & water change about 10%. This is all I can physically manage by myself. I use 5 gallon buckets.

I would not add salt. It's not necessary for treatment and could cause added stress.

 

So, no more fish deaths...............however, my guppy's belly looks bloated and he's not eating. I've done daily water changes and have had the temp at 86.5 degrees for several days (have not added the aquarium salt the last two changes). What could be causing his bloated-looking belly?

 

Lyla, Welcome to Fishlore, the place where people obsessed with fish dwell. . Please don't consider this a criticism, just a friendly suggestion. Me thinks 10-20% weekly water changes are not enough.

I learned a lot from the following threads which were shared with me a couple of weeks ago.



Good Luck to you and your fish.

 

OK, I'm desperate....My one guppy has been suffering since last Sunday with a bloated belly, swims vertically, and looks terrible. One of my orange tetras looks like he has patch patches on his gills. See above for the pic of my neon tetra that died Friday before last. I've had the tank at 86-87 degrees for a week and a half. I stopped using aquarium salt per advice here. I've been doing water changes every other day.

Should I start using ICK remedy (I have Marineland ICK remedy, treats ICK and fungus)? Can I dose with the tank at 86 degrees?

I have a 2.5 empty, cycled empty Betta tank.................should I quarantine the very sick guppy in that? I don't know what to do and my guppy is super suffering and hasn't eaten in 4 days.

 

Do not treat the tank at 86 degrees with Ick remedy, which is Malachite green(Victoria green). Malachite green becomes more toxic at higher temperatures. If your going to treat the tank with meds, drop the temperature down to 81-83.

 

Do not treat the tank at 86 degrees with Ick remedy, which is Malachite green(Victoria green). Malachite green becomes more toxic at higher temperatures. If your going to treat the tank with meds, drop the temperature down to 81-83.

Thanks for your quick reply............yeah, I'm worried about treating with the ICK remedy. I have a banjo catfish and 5 harlequin rasboras that have not had any symptoms. The guppy is suffering, though. He looks kind of fuzzy and is swimming vertically. I'm really surprised he has survived the last couple of days. I just did a massive water change, well massive for me, about a 40%.

So, I'll adjust the temp slowly then, treat wit ICK remedy, I think

 

Start with a half dose to see how the banjo catfish handles it, as it will be sensitive to the medication. If the guppy has patches of fuzz, it is likely a secondary bacteria infection. It would be best to remove him to a QT as soon as possible, as the most likely candidate would be columnaris. At the temperatures you are currently running, columnaris can wipe out everything you have in the tank in a few days.

 

Start with a half dose to see how the banjo catfish handles it, as it will be sensitive to the medication. If the guppy has patches of fuzz, it is likely a secondary bacteria infection. It would be best to remove him to a QT as soon as possible, as the most likely candidate would be columnaris. At the temperatures you are currently running, columnaris can wipe out everything you have in the tank in a few days.

So maybe, my tank did not have ICK, but some sort of fungus or bacteria infection? I also have API fungus cure which treats fungus and treat secondary bacterial infections. When my pleco died over a week ago, he looked "fuzzy" when I found him. Should I try the fungus cure? Don't want to harm my banjo.

As far as a quarantine, I have a 2.5 gallon that is at 79 degrees (the warmest I can get it with its heater).Would that be ok for the guppy? I could scoop him out and put him in a fish bowl until the water cooled to that temp? Thanks again for your help.

 

All fish get fuzzy with fungus shortly after they die, it is before they die that you want to know if they have fuzz. Columnaris is not a fungus, it is a species of flavobacterium and you should treat it with kanamycin(preferably fed). True fungus is almost always a secondary on wounds and in poor water conditions, it is rare to be found on fish even with Ich.
I would definitely move the guppy to the 2.5 gallon tank and then determine if the has a bacterial infection. You will have to acclimate him to the temperature as dropping him straight in will cause shock. Columnaris is very common, so finding s on google should help you.

 

So, this fungal treatment treats "Mouth Fungus", another name for Columnaris (per google, thanks for the lead) and it contains Acriflavine which they say can treat this secondary bacterial infection. I think one of tetras has it. So should I treat the whole tank? They other fish were totally exposed and I've had dying fish for the past week and a half. My guppy's tail also looks ragged now. Here's a pic of him........I know its not the best.

 

The guppy just died. so I know I have a tetra that looks like it has "fungus mouth". I'm slowly lowering the temp back down to 80. Should I now treat the whole tank for this bacterial infection?

 

You may as well at this point but you will need to get the appropriate antibiotic. Acriflavin is moderate antiseptic that will treat columnaris and other bacteria infections in the early stages, but after that it can't help.

 

Is the pic one of the guppy? Can you place pics of te other ones?

 

Yeah, that was the guppy. He died last night. Here is a pic of the tetra. Looks like he was white fluffy tufts on his cheeks. The other tetras look sprinkled with salt before they died last week. So I have my tank temp at 81-82 degrees now. I do not have kanamycin on hand right now, but can get it tomorrow. What I do have is API Fungus Care which has 3 mg Victoria Green & 30 mg Acrifiavine. Here's what I left in my tank: 1 banjo catfish, 3 orange tetras, & 5 5 harlequin rasboras. The banjo and the rasboras have no symptoms as of now. The pic of my tetra is below. Thank you all for all your help!


btw..........I was originally treating the tank for ICH with heat. I only had my tank at 86 degrees for about one week, so I worry about that returning. I'm at a loss on how to treat this. I've had some devastating fish loss since the past two weeks.

 

Victoria green and acriflavin will treat ick, but not columnaris. Order the kanaplex and treat the tank with 'fungus cure' feed the fish the kanaplex.

 

So, I just ordered the kanaplex. I'll do another good size water change, then I'll treat the tank (I have a 40g) with half the recommended dose of the Fungus Cure, since I have a Banjo catfish. The directions on the API fungus cure say to dose, then repeat after 48 hours, then do a 25% water change after another 48 hours. Should I start the kanaplex after that treatment or start it as soon as I get it?

btw.....I was originally treating the tank for ICH with heat. I only had my tank at 86-87 degrees for about a week. My tank is at 82-81 degrees now.

 

Figure two weeks for the treatment of ich though it will probably be done well before that. Feed the kanaplex to the fish right away. Freeze dried food is good for absorbing it, frozen bloodworms works great as well. In a bowl measure out a dose for one gallon, add it to the food along with slightly more garlic juice or tank water. Let sit for 20-30 minutes and slowly feed to the fish. You want all of it consumed but make sure everyone gets fed.

 

Sounds like a plan, Sarcasm Included! So, I ordered the kanaplex online. I'll run out to Petsmart or Petco to see if I can purchase the kanaplex right away to start treatment. Delivery date is two days from now. I can't guarantee that the Banjo will eat the food. I actually never really see him active. He's super lazy and is only active late at night. Also, not all the tetras (there are 3) come to eat at feeding time. I'll have no problem with the rasboras.

So here's my plan..........treat the tank with fungus care after my water change and gravel vacuum with half the recommended dose due to the banjo catfish and start feeding kanaplex-treated food ASAP.

btw.....you guys have been so helpful and calming during my devastating disease-ridden fish loss two weeks. So to prevent future problems, I'm getting a 10 gallon quarantine tank for future fish and I will increase the amount of water I change weekly. Oh, one last question.......I've used the 2.5 betta tank for quarantine for sick fish. Should I just "start over" and cycle new water in that tank and sterilize the decorations before homing a new betta? I've also used the same thermometer and nets between the 2 tanks. It currently contains no fish.