Some of my freshwater trop fish have a spotted cotton wool appearance on their bodies, pls help.?

Question

Ive already lost three with it and my pet shop says its due to stress(although I doubt it) My tank is approx 50litres, I have about ten small fish in it, the water is aged properly and PH levels, although I constantly need to adjust for a high PH, are spot on and I also have a neutraliser block in there! I recently purchased two painted angels and a guppie, and now one angel and the guppie have the white stuff on them also! I have tried a salt bath but im not sure how long to leave them in there or how often! Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don't want to lose any more! Regards Frankman!

Answer 1

A spotted wool look doesn't sounds like ich to me. Most people discribe ich as looking like salt has been sprinkled on the fish. I think it's either Columnaris or fungus. Both produce a cottony or wool like appearance and it can be hard to tell them apart but it's important to because the treatments are so different.

The best way to tell them apart is that columnaris always grows in a very round circular spot while fungus rarely does. Columnaris is also pearly or opalescent white while fungus is a flatter, grayish white.

Columnaris: it can occur anywhere on the fishes body and there have been documented lab cases of it being a systemic, or body wide infection. It's not real easy to treat as it only responds well to a very limited number of antibiotics. The best treatment for columnaris is Furanace. It is the only known antibiotic that will treat both the surface and internal parts of the infection and the only one that will treat it if it becomes systemic. Other treatments are usually very harsh and include copper sulfate, potassium permanganate and Oxolinix acid. Treat with Furanace for 2 weeks to be sure you are rid of the disease. Columnaris will not respond well to a salt bath generally and it's not usually a recomended treatment.

Fungus - Hopefully this is what you have and odds are good it is. Fungus is easy to treat and responds well to common Malachite green ick medications. There are several fungus medications that also contain Malachite Green and work very well. Treat until you have seen no signs of the disease for 5 days. Fungus will resond quite well to a 2% salt bath. Leave the fish for no more than 3 minutes but watch it carefully and remove it from the bath if it appears to be stressed.

Warning: Malachite Green is a known carcinigen so be very careful to keep it off your skin!

Hope this helps

MM

Answer 2

If I were you I'd return all your fish in that tank. And after that you should change your water, gravel and ornaments. Then when thats all done you should treat your whole tank with Ick away or something like that. Ick is an infectious fish disease that is caused by bacteria. If you have grown attached to those fish you should but the fish in to different aquariums(the fish with ick and the ones that don't)( not the aquarium that you were using ) Treat all three tanks with ick away or something or the other.

Answer 3

It May Be Ick. Make Sure You Either Take The Other Fish Out, And Treat The 2, Or Threat The Whole Tank RIGHT AWAY!

Answer 4

There could be anumber of reasons as to why your fish are breaking out like this. And your pet shop is right it could be due to stress.Most likely it is due to a virus or bacteria that may be present in your water. I just went through this in which I lost a 13 in oscar that was 5 years old and a 15 in plecostomus that was 7 years old. There is a really good website that I recomend it is fishdisease.com. I hope this helps you.

Answer 5

If it is cotten looking it sound like it could be true fungus or body fungus not ick.
Ick are just what spots on the skin but you said they look like cotton.
I would go to the pet-store and look for something that treats body fungus. Something called Maracyn should help treat you fishes. Look on the packages for a picture of true fungus or body fungus and see if it matches. (Stupid pet store people. They should help you more!!!)

Answer 6

Sounds like a form of ich. A salt bath dip should not last longer than 30 seconds. Even still the entire tank needs to be treated for the parasite. The salt dips only drop the bulk of the parasite it does not cure them and won't cure your tank.
Here is more on ich:

Is it white spot disease or is it Ich? You need to know the difference between the two since they are treated differently.

Cryptocaryoniasis, White Spot Disease or Marine Ich is caused by an infestation of the ciliated protozoan Cryptocaryon irritans. Although Cryptocaryon becomes a parasitic organism at one stage in its life cycle like Oodinium and Brooklynella do, and it progesses less rapidly than these other ich diseases, in a closed aquarium system it can reach overwhelming and disasterous numbers just the same if it is not diagnosed and treated upon recognition.

Unlike Oodinium and Brooklynella that typically attack the gills first, which allows these ich diseases to advance into life-threatening levels quickly as they go unnoticed, Cryptocaryon usually appears at the onset as salt-sized white spots visible on the body and fins of a host fish, and when the organisms become parasitic, it is then that they move inwards to the gills. Because crypto is more easily recognized in its beginning stage, this makes it much easier to treat and cure before it gets out of control.

Aside from the appearance of the white spots, fish will scratch against objects in an attempt to dislodge the parasites, and rapid respiration develops as tomonts, mucus, and tissue debris clogs the gills. Fish become listless, refuse to eat, loss of color occurs in patches or blotches as the trophonts destroy the pigment cells, and secondary bacterial infections invade the lesions caused by the trophonts.

Although copper is very effective on Oodinium, and it works well to eliminate crypto organisms in their free-swimming tomite stage, it is not as effective on the Cryptocaryon trophonts that burrow deeply into the tissues of fish. A combination of freshwater and formalin treatments adminstered by means of dips, baths, and prolonged treatment over a period of time in a QT is recommended

Reinfection will occur no matter how effectively the fish have been treated if Cryptocaryon is not eradicated from the main aquarium, which can be accomplished by keeping the tank devoid of any fish for at least 4 weeks. For fish-only aquariums hyposalinity can be applied, and to speed up the life cycle of the organisms, elevate the tank temperature to 85 degrees for 10 days to 12 days. For treating reef tanks, FishVet No-Ich Marine, Ruby Reef Kick-Ich, and Chem-Marin Stop Parasites are Cryptocaryon specific remedies that are said to be "reef safe". Several days prior to returning fish to the main aquarium, clean all filtering equipment, change any filtering materials, and do a water change.

Remember to remove all filters media and turn off protein skimmers when treating for any types of Ich.

Although many over-the-counter remedies contain the general name Ich or Ick, carefully read the product information to be sure it is designed to specifically target and treat "Cryptocaryon"

Brooklynella hostilis - these protozoa reproduce asexually by means of simple binary fission through conjugation, which is why they are able to multiply so much more rapidly than Cryptocaryon (White Spot), and Oodinium (Velvet Ich), and why it can kill fish within a few days and even hours upon recognition

Most similar symptomatically to Oodinium, this too is a parasite that primarily attacks the gills first. At the onset fish may scrap up against objects, rapid respiration develops, and fish often gasp for air at the surface as the gills become clogged with mucus. Fish become lethargic, refuse to eat, and colors fade, but the most noticeable difference that sets Brooklynella apart from Oodinium is the heavy amount of slime that is produced. As the disease progresses a thick whitish mucus covers the body, usually starting at the head and spreading outward, skin lesions appear, and it is not uncommon for signs of secondary bacterial infections to arise.

Suggestions range from copper, malachite green and other remedies, with some recommended being used in conjunction with formaldehyde. However the general consensus is these types of medications are either largely ineffective or do not work at all, and that the best and most effective treatment for Brooklynella is formaldehyde alone. Typically a standard 37% formalin solution (shop & compare prices) is mixed with either fresh or saltwater in a separate treatment container, initially all fish are given a quick dip or a prolonged bath, followed by continued treatment and care in a QT. Of course the longer fish are exposed to the formalin treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this "disease". Whether to administer a dip or a bath to start with is something you will have to determine yourself, but there's a very simple way to do this.

Since these are Free swimming parasites which are in watersources, come attached to our fish etc. The only way to ensure NO ICH is to get a UV Sterilizer and addit to the tank. The UV Sterilizer kills the free swimming forms of various ich and other parasites.

Hope this help