Fuzz on the tail??

[puresouthern]

Hi Im a newb to fish keeping my 55g tank is been up for about 3 months. I'm just starting to plant it. I've been going through a ICH problem finally figured out my fish were stressed due to the tempature I was keeping at 74 and most of my fish like it around 79/80 according to my research. Anyway they are on the mend but yesterday I lost an angelfish. When I bought her (bout 3 weeks ago)I was such a newb didnt pay attention her tail. On further inspection she appeared to have alot of nippage. After putting her in the tank she was very solitary despite another angel being in there. She was always hiding. I attributed it to shy. Once I adjusted my tempature in the tank she was always then around the heater never seeming to move from it. yesterday morning I got up turned tank lights on and such and notices "fuzz" on her tail. Light grey, dirty white fuzz. Also she didnt seem to be able to close her mouth. I did some research and the closest I could come up was a word that began with an SP and had the word mould in it. Although the pics really didnt appear to match. Not sure as to the treatment I just kept watching her. My gouramis who always seem to sense weakness started biting at her eyes and fins, I knew then she was definately dieing. Not having a quarantine tank yet I simply put her in my breeder. Knowing she was dieing I figured I'd let her die on her own terms and not let the gouramis put her thru more than she was obviously going thru. She died last night. My question is does anyone have an idea of what this might have been? none of my other fish have it. If I see it again I'd like to be able to save the next. Right now I"m doing water changes everyday as the ICH clears. Any help would be appreciated. :bowing:

 

[13BRAVO]

it sounds like fungus to me but I am far from an expert. What I can tell you though is to post your water parameters if you know them as that will assuredly be the first question you are asked, good luck!

 

[puresouthern]

it sounds like fungus to me but I am far from an expert. What I can tell you though is to post your water parameters if you know them as that will assuredly be the first question you are asked, good luck!

Thanks Bravo. My water parameters are all well within bounds and is why I didnt post them.

 

[13BRAVO]

Even when I try and help I screw it up! Sorry!

 

[puresouthern]

Even when I try and help I screw it up! Sorry!

LOL its ok!!! I dont think you screwed. Least you answered. Its better to try and fail,than to never try at all!!! LOL I do appreciate you trying

 

[aquariumfishguy]

We still need your water parameters. 'In check' means different things for everyone. Not saying you are another case of someone misguided by something someone else told you, but we still could use having your water readings.

 

[puresouthern]

We still need your water parameters. 'In check' means different things for everyone. Not saying you are another case of someone misguided by something someone else told you, but we still could use having your water readings.

I'm looking for my slip. My PH was 7.2, my ammonia was 0.25 my nitrate was 10 ( I think if I remember right) and my nitrite was slightly elevated but still safe. Dont remembre number. They've been steady. Right now I'm doing daily water changes because I had ich pretty bad (which is on the mend )

 

[beviking]

You have researched Ich haven't you? www.skepticalaquarist.com or search here at AC. It's a parasite. It feeds on the fish and falls off when mature. It leaves behind a wound that is a prime target for bacteria.
I'm not targeting aquariumfishguy (he is very knowledgeable, just happened to post what he posted) but if your fish are sick, you should be doing water changes daily and that will take care of your water parameters. Although, if your Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate were way high, you would want to do more water changes (or change a larger %).
If you only learn one thing from this site it should be "water changes are good for your fish!" whether they are sick or not. If they're sick, daily changes will help by:
-reducing the # of parasites in the water thereby reducing the chance of (re)infection. AND/OR
-reduce the number of bacteria in the water....as above. AND/OR
-dilute built up metabolic by-products (ammonia, nitrite,nitrate)
-dilute any chemicals added to cure the sick fish so it can't build up to toxic levels. AND
-most likely add oxygen to the tank making it easier for the fish to respire (for a little while)

Unless your tap water is way different from the tank water, I woud do (I do) 50% water changes daily.
As for ich, I recommend salt and heat (again, there's plenty of info here already if you search).
Lastly, I know it may be tough to do, but if you are certain your fish is going to die (it does the other fish no good, and in fact can be detrimental to them if you leave the dying fish in the tank) it is better for the other fish if you remove the sick fish and euthanize it.
HTH

 

[puresouthern]

You have researched Ich haven't you? www.skepticalaquarist.com or search here at AC. It's a parasite. It feeds on the fish and falls off when mature. It leaves behind a wound that is a prime target for bacteria.
I'm not targeting aquariumfishguy (he is very knowledgeable, just happened to post what he posted) but if your fish are sick, you should be doing water changes daily and that will take care of your water parameters. Although, if your Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate were way high, you would want to do more water changes (or change a larger %).
If you only learn one thing from this site it should be "water changes are good for your fish!" whether they are sick or not. If they're sick, daily changes will help by:
-reducing the # of parasites in the water thereby reducing the chance of (re)infection. AND/OR
-reduce the number of bacteria in the water....as above. AND/OR
-dilute built up metabolic by-products (ammonia, nitrite,nitrate)
-dilute any chemicals added to cure the sick fish so it can't build up to toxic levels. AND
-most likely add oxygen to the tank making it easier for the fish to respire (for a little while)

Unless your tap water is way different from the tank water, I woud do (I do) 50% water changes daily.
As for ich, I recommend salt and heat (again, there's plenty of info here already if you search).
Lastly, I know it may be tough to do, but if you are certain your fish is going to die (it does the other fish no good, and in fact can be detrimental to them if you leave the dying fish in the tank) it is better for the other fish if you remove the sick fish and euthanize it.
HTH

It wasnt ICH, my tank is just getting over ICH.ICH looks like salt over the fish. This was fuzz. I'm still doing DAILY water changes and have been for 2 weeks. Before that I did them weekly. I've done extensive research on ICH. This was definately fuzz. As for removing her at the time I didnt know about the freezer thing and couldnt just flush her. I dont have a quarantine tank yet. So I did what I could so she wasnt tortured. As for the salt, I know alot of people recommend it, but just as many dont. I decided not to and figure out what my stress was. It was my tempature. I was keeping it at 74 and for the fish I have it was way too low. The ones I have like warmer. I now have my tank at 79/80 in which research has shown ICH rarely rears its ugly little head. Fish are definately doing much better. But this was a fuzz and underneath her tail was just about gone. Also she never got the ICH,neither of my angel fish did and 2 of my gouramis didnt. She wasnt right from the beginning and being so much a newb I didnt look for the nippage when I got her.

 

[sdb]

If you'd read beviking's post a little closer, you'd see he was not only telling about proper treating of Ich, but that Ich can lead to wound infections, which could very well be what was on your fish that died. It could have turned into a fungus type infection, which, left untreated, killed your fish. A lot of fungus type infections look like cottony fuzz.

Or the fish could have come into your tank already sick/wounded and when it got infected, it looked like fuzz. It's common, as you'll read on other posts. And treatable. Sometimes contagious, sometimes not, but by letting the fish die in the tank, you increased the chance of infecting the tank.

Your tank should have a reading of 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite. Even trace amounts are unhealthy and unsafe for fish. It would be a good idea to re-test and find out why your test results are up, especially if you're doing daily water changes.

On a last note, your tank can get Ich pretty much just as easily at 79F as it can at 74F. While 74 is low, I don't know that it would stress your fish enough to get Ich.