# Everyone is dying! HELP PLEASE. Ich? Fungus? Something else?



## whtroze (Oct 2, 2008)

I all, I really hope someone can help me or has some good advise soon. I have a 15 gal tank with some guppies of varing ages, 2 mickey platys, and 5 neon tets. 20 gal Whisper filter with bioammonia filtration. Plenty of hiding places. Temp norm 72-78 F. pH 7.3, ammonia 0.00 ppm. Conditions tested weekly with liquid test kit.

Now, the problem....about a month ago I noticed some of the guppies showing the characteristic signs of ich and lost my algae eatter. Everyone I described the situation to said it definately sounded like ich. So I started treating my tank for this condition using Quick Cure daily at half dose as directed due to the neons in the tank. I increased the airation by adding another air stone and raised the temp to 80 F. All seemed to go well for about 2 weeks, yet I still could see "crystals" on some of the fish. All of a sudden, one night I came home and went to take care of the fish as normal and found 3 dead guppies. I also found what looked like fuzz on the large rock in the tank and also on one of the plants (plastic). By examining the fish closer, I found several of them also showed this fuzz on their tails. Everyone seemed affected except the neons! By the next morning I lost 2 more guppies.

Now at this point I was worried and went to my local fish keeper who stated that it appears to be a serious fungus outbreak. This was last Thursday. So I started treatment with the product API Fungus Cure (main ingredients 3mg Victoria Green B and 30 mg Acriflavine). Treatment for ich was stopped and a 25% water change was done before starting the fungus treatment.

The rest of Thursday and Friday was uneventful. The fish appeared to be doing ok. Saturday night was time for the second dose of the fungal treatment and all seemed well.

Today (Sunday) when I got home from work, I found that all was not well with my fish! 3 more guppies died! Everyone is the tank looks terrible and stress is obvious. Even now the neons are showing signs of the fungus...or ich...just not as bad as the others yet. Its surprising since the neons are supposed to be the sensitive ones that none of them have died yet and even tho they are now obviously infected, they don't seem as bad yet. All the fish have lost their appetite...which is very rare for the guppies. Little "fuzz" balls are obvious on the tails and pectoral fins. Some of the fish also show this "fuzz" along their body line and around the mouth. One of my platys has two small patches on its back and one eye is completely covered.

Any advise is greatly appreciated. I am now completely confused. Treatment for ich did not seem to work and treatment for fungus seemed to make things very much worse. Could this be something else? Is there anything I can do? I don't want to lose all my fish and I also don't like that they are probably suffering. 
I have attached pictures...I appologize that they are not the greatest. The fish are obviosly stressed, so getting a still picture was hard. The guppy pics do show how the fins, particularly the tails are affected and one picture looks like there are air bubbles around the fish, but that is actually the "fuzz-balls". The pic of the platy is very much out of focus (sorry) but you can sorta see the white eye, which should be black in the pic, but this "fuzz" is all over the eye. Again, thank you anyone who can help me save my fish.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

I am wonderingwhat nitrite and nitrate levels are in the tank.You say problem began about a month ago have all of the fish been together for a month? any new fish added lately? White fuzz growing from or near rock or anywhere on the substrate(gravel) is sometimes associated with decaying food from overfeeding and your use of ammonia reducing product could suggest ammonia problem recently? Was the tank allowed to mature or cycle completely? Did you remove carbon from the filter if carbon is used before using medications? Carbon will remove medications making them less effective. It seems the condition worsened somewhat afte raising the temp which might be indication of bacterial infection of some sort. the increase in temp in that case would make condition accelerate. Were it me,, (and it ain't) I Would do twice weekly water changes of 20 percent using a dechlorinator such as PRIME or AMQUEL+ And I would not use any other products.I would also split the tank into thirds and use gravel vaccum on one third of the tank each week and a different one third each week.I would feed these fish three times a week mon ,wed, and saturday for a couple weeks. The fish won't starve and your water conditions will improve which will in turn,, give your fish the best shot at fighting off what is ailing them. You may still lose fish but by improving the water quality you will be helping them greatly. WEEKLY water changes of 20 percent are recommended by many and that is what I would begin doing if you aren't already. There should not be a need for ammonia reducing products in a properly maintained aquarium which is easy to maintain with weekly water changes, not over feeding, or over stocking the tank. I am no expert just suggesting what I would do to improve the water quality. Sometimes,, that is better than many medications and if water quality is maintained, there will be less need for medications. Medications have their place , but it is sometimes hard to know what is needed. Always easier to maintain water quality than it is to treat sick fish. I hope some of this helps .Do the twice weekly water changes along with feeding as described for the next couple weeks and then stick to weekly water changes, rinsing the filter material out in old tank water that you take out during water changes and sticking it back in , and cut back on feeding and I am betting that you have way fewer problems.


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## whtroze (Oct 2, 2008)

Additional info:
My tanks has been completely cycled for and parameters maintained now for over 6 months. No one new has been added since the neons about 6 months ago. Nitrate/Nitrite read 0.00 ppm on a liquid test. Feeding used to be one a day with premium flakes substituted with freeze dried bloodworm once a week. Since starting Ich treatment about a month ago, I reduced feeding to every other day...same food type. No natural light in the tank. Lighting is on a timer giving equal "day and night" cycle. Water changes were 25% every 2 weeks, but lately been doing once a week due to illness. I use Amquel Plus to condition tap. Salt has been added as needed for health. Carbon filter has been out for the last month due to treatments with meds.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Sounds like you are doing all that you can with exception of water change routine which as stated is best performed weekly, sick fish,, or no sick fish. Salt is sometimes used for treatment of sick fish on temporary basis but should not be used in freshwater aquariums on a regular basis. The salt does not dissipate or evaporate and can over time,, do more harm than good for most freshwater fish. the only way to remove salt from the water is to perform water changes with new water containing no salt and is also something To consider. It is very difficult to achieve zero nitrates in an aquarium without three to four water changes per week.


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