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I have a fungus
Badmans Tropical Fish Message Center:
archive: I have a fungus
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fishman
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Monday,
August 27, 2001 - 07:13 pm
I have some sort of fungus in my twenty gallon tank. i have
treated it with maracyn for 5 days as instructed but the
fish just got worse. one fish has a white spot on its nose
and cloudy eyes (popeye) the others of just had
popeye. my fish are dropping like flys and now the water
is getting cloudy. any suggestions?
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joycedonley
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Monday,
August 27, 2001 - 09:39 pm
I am leaving post for Jeff as maybe he instructed to use
maracyn on algae? If not please advise as to was helping
you? Also post your water parameters whoever you were talking
with will need these.
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jeff
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Tuesday,
August 28, 2001 - 12:17 am
fishman..well firstly I do not know enough about your tank
to comment properly,Please read my post on how to post about
disease.. but just on face value...fungus you say?..like
white fuzzy stuff on your fish?(what kind)..if that's
it, well flex is a bacteria that will cause that..you are
treating with maracyn?..maracyn 2 will cloud water that's
normal...maracyn alone will effect your filters bacteria
bed...now if you do have flex..you need to treat with both
M1 and M2..(in seperate tank if others buddies are fine?)drop
the temp a bit too like less than 77'F if that's
what your tanks at..and lastly treatment of only 5 days
is not enough time for results anyway,more like 10 days..also
any snails in your tank?...now that's just my first
impressions if you tell me exactly what going on in there
we can help you better...Ok..sorry
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fishman
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Tuesday,
August 28, 2001 - 07:29 pm
well I cant test the amonia or nitrates because I have no
money right now I have been saving up for a trip with my
jazz band but I checked the ph and I should be shot for
letting it get this low it is off my chart its like 5.3
I dont even know I a fish can live in water so acidic. So
that is really bad and my fish will probably die. If you
cant tell I dont know a darn thing about this. I believe
that my fish have columnaris though. If that helps any.
thanks for any help.
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jeff
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Tuesday,
August 28, 2001 - 11:27 pm
fishman...not good here guy..ph is way low..no wonder they
are stressed and diseased...get a test kit or take you water
in to your LPS they will test it free..do you do any water
changes?..if you don't nitric acid can build up in your
tank cosuming any kh buffering you have and crash your ph...if
you feed heavily and your ammonia levels are high it's
worse!..now regarding treatment you are confirming what
I thought before regarding flex..I am also assuming your
whole tank is infected...then you need to do a 75% water
change slowly...treat with maracyn and maracyn 2(carbon
out) get the temp down as I mentioned before.. also
get some more aireation in there and pray...
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G
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Wednesday,
August 29, 2001 - 12:11 am
FYI: Some apistogramma species have been found living in
water (with other fish too) with a pH as low as
4.5. Maybe its time to get some of those apistos...
On a more serious note, the importance of regular water
changes and gravel vacs (monthly at the very least)
can never be stressed enough.
With a pH so low, my guess is you might have missed a water
change once or twice. I might also wager that you have an
undergravel filter. I've known these to cause similar
problems, even in tanks with bi-weekly water changes performed.
Over time, a lot of waste gets sucked underneath the filter
plates, and basically sucks the buffering capacity right
out of the water causing the pH to drop(due to the nitric
acid as jeff explained).
I've found that life is a lot easier without undergravel
filters. Or, if they are used, use reverse flow pumps so
all the crud isn't getting sucked down into the gravel,
but rather pushed up into the water column where it can
then be removed by some sort of power filter.
If you do have an undergravel filter, please remember that
simply pulling the plates out of the tank is a bad idea,
and that would most certainly kill all of your fish.
Since I don't know whether or not you have an under
gravel filter, I won't waste my energy any longer.
Hope this can be of some help.
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jeff
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Wednesday,
August 29, 2001 - 03:19 am
G. ..yes I am aware of the apisto's...somehow I do not
think we are ready to deal with those yet..as you must be
aware apistos have there quirks too and fishman isn't
ready for that..I do however agree with your points regarding
UGF's(IMO hate them) and lack of maintaince..I
would like to know what his ph level is out of the tap..and
what else he has in there..thanks for your imput..
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fishman
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Thursday,
August 30, 2001 - 07:25 am
Well it seems as though all the fish that have been infected
have died. so should I medicate for a few more days then
do a water change and carbon change?
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G
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Friday,
August 31, 2001 - 12:12 am
I was just kidding about the apistos, but figured it might
be an interesting fact.
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Kick
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Friday,
August 31, 2001 - 08:31 am
fishman, I noticed on your other post asking about cycling
and stating here that you don't know a d*#+
thing about this. If you don't know about the nitrogen
cycle and the ecology of an aquarium, I think I would learn
more about it before purchasing another fish. The fungus
was probably due to unsafe water conditions from overstocking,
poor maintenance, plus the stress of the low pH and your
not being real sure how to care for a tank.
The water needs to be tested. You mentioned no money because
you are saving for a trip with your jazz band, but might
I remind you that any pet costs a little cash and the test
kits you need are relatively inexpensive. Or the LPS will
do it for free in most cases. No animal will survive very
well if the owners don't know how to care for them,
and testing the water (especially in the beginning)
is a must for a successful aquarium. Get a book or check
out the internet about setting up and keeping an aquarium
safely and proplerly, and hopefully you won't have this
same problem again.
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fishman
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Friday,
August 31, 2001 - 03:02 pm
Ok kick i will read up a bit more on fish keeping before
I start up another tank to make sure I know what im doing.
Thanks again for all the advice you have given.
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Kick
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Friday,
August 31, 2001 - 11:54 pm
You are more than welcome there, fishman. Just slow down
a little, learn before you leap, and your fish and tank
will return the favor by giving you much enjoyment and something
beautiful to watch.
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