He is a 50cm baramundi in a six foot tank and is swimming upside down with cotton looking stuff hanging off of him; even on his eyes. How do i know exactly what is wrong with him and what do i do to cure him before he dies. I put salt and a fungal treatment in the tank but is there anything else i can do he looks ready to die.
2007-09-16 16:03:22 · 1 answers · asked by dannii 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
White spot (ich) wouldn't look cottony - this looks like grains of salt sprinkled on the fish.
This could be Columnaris, or it could be "body fungus". They look similar, but you can tell them apart. First, Columnaris tends to be shorter filaments that are matted down. The outline of the infection is usually circular. This is actually a bacterium causing the infection. What used to be considered a body "fungus" is not classified as another organism, but in most fish literature, it's still called "fungus". The filaments tend to be longer and you should be able to see each one individually - see a photo of this infecting a dead insect in water: http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dsaprolegnia%26fr%3Dyfp-t-471%26toggle%3D1%26cop%3Dmss%26ei%3DUTF-8&w=350&h=242&imgurl=www.visualsunlimited.com%2Fimages%2Fwatermarked%2F227%2F227311.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.visualsunlimited.com%2Fbrowse%2Fvu227%2Fvu227311.html&size=16.5kB&name=227311.jpg&p=saprolegnia&type=jpeg&no=19&tt=246&oid=09e8c4b47b5ea448&ei=UTF-8 and on a fish: http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/images/saprolegnia-perch.jpg
Compare those images to this one of Columnaris: http://www.fishjunkies.com/images/Columnaris2.jpg
The first step in the treatment for either is a water change to make the water quality as good as possible. Columnaris is more difficult to treat, and you can use Binox or Furanace (generic name Nifurpirinol). For fungus, either a treatment of salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water), malachite green (ingredient in many ich medications), or other anti-fungal medication can be used.
If you decide this is a fungus, this rarely attacks a healthy fish. It will attack opportunistically if the fish has an open wound, or if it's stressed by environmental conditions (improper temperature or salinity, poor water quality, strees from other infections or parasites, ect.)
2007-09-16 16:17:38 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like ick! Look it up on the internet and treat accordingly. It is contagious also...will probly have to treat tank also.
2007-09-16 16:08:38 · answer #2 · answered by onceisenoughilearnedmylesson 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
agree wit sarmien treat it
2007-09-16 16:08:24 · answer #3 · answered by kelly r 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
thats called ick!!! You need to buy ick medicine... you need to turn up your heater as well..to at least 73 degrees
2007-09-16 16:07:06 · answer #4 · answered by sarmientoatebay 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋