My fish has a cotton looking growth on it?

Question

this is not ick as i have treated my tyank several times with the ick trteatment.. It makes it less but thn it comes back please help

Answer 1

No, it's not ich. It's probably fungus, but it could be columnaris also. They are virtually identical. About the only way to tell the difference is that with columnaris, the fish has little white threads on its mouth that wave when it breathes in and out. For fungus, you treat with a anti-fungal medication. For columnaris, you treat with Maracyn or Maracyn 2. The medications at the pet store will say what they are for. If you aren't sure, you can ask for help. Because this affects the fish internally as well, you should also feed them medicated food. This is an aggressive disease so it needs to be treated quickly. Isolate your fish in a hospital tank if you have other fish that don't appear to be affected. If you don't have a spare tank, you can use those plastic storage containers. Make sure you filter/aerate the water and heat it if necessary. Do a quick cycle in your hospital tank with spring water, not distilled, spring water, and add some stress coat and get the ph to the proper level. Don't worry about adding any bacteria because the medication will just kill it anyway. It can take as long as 8-10 weeks to get rid of this, so a lot of patience, dedication and persistence is required. I would also suggest that, if you have other fish who don't appear to exhibit any symptoms, you get a .3% salt solution going in your regular tank. That translates to a scant 1 tsp of salt per 1 gallon of water. Use aquarium salt. Do not use table salt. This will get rid of any bugs that might be in that water. Be aware though, that you will need to get your tank recycling after adding the salt because it kills the good bacteria along with the bad. Don't mix medications with salt. One or the other, but not both at the same time. Good luck!

Answer 2

Your fish has a fungal infection, It is cottony growth, It can be caused from a wound and bacteria multiplys, Do not treat the tank for ick as this is a really strong medication that strips your tank of all the good bacteria that helps prevent these other infections, Try Melafix or Pimafix these are really good natural medicines for use with fungal and internal bacteria infections, It does not upset the balance of your tank and does not harm the other life in your tank, a water change before and after this medication is good, You may need to use a carbon to remove reminense of the other medication before using anything else. Hope this helps

Answer 3

Fungus or columnaris. I suggest maracyn plus to treat.

For future reference, ich is just tiny parasites that look like salt crystals on the fish. For some reason, people who don't know much about aquariums think that everything from frayed fins to fungus is ich. They treat for ich with every problem they have and then wonder why the fish died. Not everything is ich.

Answer 4

It's a fungus infection. Get some medication for fungus from your aquarium guys and do a 50% water change for twice a week for the next week.

Fungus infection usually follows physical injury (scratch by deco in the tank ) or some infection that cause an open wound. Maybe you would want to find what is the cause of that to.

Answer 5

My fish looks like it has feathers what could that be? I'm using "melafix" and it doesn't seem to be doing anything but making her worse? Now she looks like crap and is swimming upside down? Please help my 9 year old is so upset. and I really don't want to have to replace another fish before he comes home from school..

Answer 6

That is definitely a fungul infection. Mardel makes a medicine called Maroxy. You can get it at Petsmart, or Petco. Just follow the instructions. I've had good experiences with their products.

Answer 7

It is fungus.

http://www.virbacpets.com/mardel/catalog.php

Mardel makes good medicine, it can be pricey but it works well and if you have nice fish...it is well worth it. Look on that site through the medicine, they tell you what treats what symptoms...sounds like you need anti-fungal treatment maroxy. After you figure out what one you need, most fish stores carry this or it can easily be ordered online through numerous fish supply sites.

Answer 8

it seems like it's fungus that attacked your fish.....make sure that you set-up a separate tank for that fish ....clean your tank as often as you can even you have a heavy duty filter

Answer 9

its a fungus infection trust me just went threw it you can get fugus clear at walmart they are little fizzy tabs they work great!! also do your 50% water change and put aqurium salt in there it will work wanders.good luck

Answer 10

its columnaris -- it is a bacteria -- use maracyn in combination with maracyn2. it is not a fungus even though it looks fungusy.