Fish covered in slime then died?

Question

All of the fish in my tank recently died by a really fast growing white slime/fluff that covered them - it happened quite quickly - within two days. Started off as a few tufts on one or two then they were all completely covered and the tank went foggy. The poor things seemed to be suffocated to death and even though I tried adding a few medications to the tank it didn't stop it. It was very upsetting and I'd like to make sure it never happens again. I've cleaned the tank out completely and thrown out all of the gravel, equipment etc but not keen to start again until I'm better prepared!!

Answer 1

It a disease known as slime disease. It's cause by protozoa e.g. Chilodonella, Ichthyobodo, Trichodina and Brooklynella species, and Trematodes (flukes) e.g. Gyrodactylus and Dactylogyrus species.

The main problem is probably due to poor water quality which leads to ill health of your fishes. When the fishes resistence to bacteria and parasites fails, thats when they get hit by disease.

So the most important thing for you to know about fish keeping is to learn to keep the water condition good. With that you should have no problem keeping fishes.

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Answer 2

What kind of fish did you have in the tank? This is either the disease that the first poster Dragon fly stated or it's either caused by putting brackish water fish into fresh water for a long time, they start growing big slime coats and yes they suffocate in it.

Answer 3

Should this happen again, add one tablespoon of non-iodized (plain or Kosher) salt for every five gallons of water in your tank. Salt not only helps to kill diseases, but it temporarily sloughs off the fish's natural slime coating, allowing them to shed the diseases. Your best bet is to do a partial (twenty to thirty percent) water change, add the salt, and let the salt sit at full strength for at least twenty-four hours before doing another partial water change.

Answer 4

sounds like your tank was newly started then, and it was in the middle of cycling, that means you had any ammonia spike and it pulled of the slime coat of the fish
You can start over again, either with fishless cycling or cycling with hardy fish like zebra danios, they're very hardy
here is a link that discribes it in detail

http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

Answer 5

It was a fungus of sorts and when it reaches the fishes spine I hear its untreatable. Under optimum conditions, fungus can spread pretty fast especially in water.

Sorry to hear about your loss of fish!

Answer 6

Your fish had "ika" I think that is how it is spelled. It is hard to treat. If you don't catch it fast your fish are goners. For future information you need to take the carbon out of your filters and turn the heat up in your fish tank. Sorry for your loss.

Answer 7

ahh sad to hear

Answer 8

so sad to hear