Furanase treatment for fin/tail rot, mouht fungus

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

kimmisc

is in your closet.
Mar 12, 2007
963
0
0
49
Florence, SC
I have been battling some stubborn "fungus," which I am pretty sure at this point is columnaris. During treatments, I have seen improvements, and slowing of the spread, but not a complete cure. So I'm trying Furanase along with salt and increased aeration now. One of my swordtails has mouth fungus on his bottom lip, and since treatments have failed to completely cure him, about 1mm of his bottom lip is already gone. He can't close his mouth anymore. :(

So many of the fish have it, I moved them all into my 29g for treatment. After treatment they will be seperated again between my 29g and 30g.

The bottle instructions suggest 3 days of treatment. Today is the 5th day, and while I see improvement in some of them, it's not gone yet.

Does anyone have any experience with this med for treatment stubborn fin/tail rots and cotton mouth? How long would you continue treatment before giving up on this med?

Monday is PWC day. I think I'm gonna do a huge PWC and redose to continue treatment for several more days.

Treatments I've already tried:
Jungle Fungus Clear
Maracyn/Maracyn 2
Salt
Peroxide applied directly to effected fins
Pristine water conditions... 50%pwc weekly, and nitrates never get above 0 due to plants.

If it's possible for this to spread from one tank to another by using the same gravel vac on all tanks, then that's why fish in all tanks have been effected. My poor CT betta's fins look bad. :( He's in a 10g alone with great water, plants, and very light feedings. He still builds the occasional bubble nest, so I don't feel he is stressed. I just don't understand. :(

Casualties so far: 1 harlequin rasbora. I've been fighting this for months now. I'm surprised I've only lost 1 fish so far.
 
Last edited:

kimmisc

is in your closet.
Mar 12, 2007
963
0
0
49
Florence, SC
One more thing...

The Furanase bottle says it is likely to kill off the biological filter. I've been testing the water, and the bio-filter has remained unharmed so far. The Furanase doesn't expire until 2010. Would you think it's a dead batch of med if it hasn't bothered the bio-filter at all? I woudn't think my current plants would handle all the bio-load from the fish in there, so the bio-filter MUST be okay.

Actually, that was a stupid question. If the plants keep nitrates at 0, then obviously they'd handle the load no matter if it's in the form of ammonia/ nitrites, or nitrates.... I guess.
 

~Kswords~

AC Members
Jun 28, 2007
375
0
0
USA
Firstly some disease are really hard to treat, also of course tank conditions change how well treatment works sometimes.

What do you have your temperature at in you tank at this time? Have you raised or lower the temperature during treatments at all?

I would suggest trying API's T.C. Tetracycline. API has a great line of medication products that I have found to be superior in working fast. I prefer them much better then Mardel products.

http://www.aquariumpharm.com/en_us/productCategory.asp?categoryname=Medications
 

TheFishLady

Aquatics Specialist & Nutritionist
Nov 29, 2007
43
0
0
Wisconsin
rescueisland.50megs.com
First thing I noticed... a tank with 0 nitrates and living animals in it is not cycled. Plants can use some of the nutrient level, but unless you have a tank which is planted to the point of not being able to do a gravel vac and only a couple of small fish in a large tank... there is no likely way those plants are sucking out 100% of the nitrate level with only a weekly water change.
With this said, you may need to try a much stronger medication, and I have a suggestion, but first I would need to know what water params are for ammonia, nitrite, and pH... and what other fish are in this tank or need to be treated? Not all of these medications are safe to use on all species of fish.
 

leocom2000

AC Members
Dec 27, 2007
434
0
0
Test your amonia. If your bio filter is dead most likely amonia will accumulate and not converted to nitrites->nitrates. That is why your nitrates are 0. Make shure the dose is correct and follow instructions. Remove carbon and other filtration that could affect meds. Some water additives could neutralize meds as well.
Good luck! this could be the tough one to get rid of aspecially when your fish already lost some parts of the body and became weaker.
 

Pufferpunk

AC Members
Mar 22, 2002
3,042
0
0
64
Chicago
www.thepufferforum.com
Real Name
Jeni
Huge, daily WC (like 80%) & add Melafix & Pimafix daily--they will not disturb your cycling tank.
 

kimmisc

is in your closet.
Mar 12, 2007
963
0
0
49
Florence, SC
Oh, I forgot I have tried Melafix also... used it for a few weeks. Did not try Pimafix. I have concerns about using those anymore with the betta. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can google and find articles about it.

I will test all 3 params again when I get home tonight. As of Friday night, ammonia and nitrites were still zero.

The fish involved are guppies with tail rot, a swordtail with cotton mouth, and a betta with tail/fin rot. I am seeing improvements in all of them, but it's not knocking it completely out yet. I placed all of them in the 29g for treatment like I said, so they are pretty crowded in there. If needed I can split them back up and continue treatments in multiple tanks.
 

~Kswords~

AC Members
Jun 28, 2007
375
0
0
USA
I have used API's T.C. Tetracycline on a one of my bettas before to treat for fin/tail rot and he made it through treatment just fine. It was cured in 5 days.
 

kimmisc

is in your closet.
Mar 12, 2007
963
0
0
49
Florence, SC
Parameters in the 29g treatment tank:
ammonia = 0
nitrites = 0
nitrates = between 5-10
pH = 8.0
Filtration = Fluval 305 cannister
2 airstones running

Right now I'm not injecting CO2 or dosing ferts other than Excel (to keep bba under control). I didn't want to risk the ferts interfering with meds. I have a media bag with crushed coral in the canister filter, no carbon right now, and I dose my water with sodium carbonate and epsom salt to raise gh/kh before pouring it into the tank at PWC time. My tap water is very soft.

I hope that gives all the info needed on my water chemistry.

When I got home tonight, I still see further improvements in some fish. A couple rasboras seem to have a white speck or two on their dorsal fins. I've got 3tsp per gallon salt in the tank, so it can't possibly be ich. I assume it's the same thing they all have.
 

kimmisc

is in your closet.
Mar 12, 2007
963
0
0
49
Florence, SC
Correction: improvements in the fish with fin rot, but not with the swordtail's cotton mouth.

The cotton mouth is bugging me badly. That needs to be stopped immediately. :(
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store