Introduction and help request possible SAPROLEGNIA (Fungus)

S

SandieSunshine

AC Members
Apr 30, 2012
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Near Buffalo, NY
Hi, my name is Sandie and I recently got back into the hobby after 15 yrs and I am completely addicted :)
I really enjoy breeding and watching the fry growing up.

I would really appreciate any help if someone has the time.

one of my tanks crashed and my main tank is not doing great. in the main tank I have lost 2 fish and a few dont look like they are doing well. I think that I may have had/having a problem with SAPROLEGNIA (Fungus).

I could use a fish friend to give some help figuring out what to do next so I can keep a healthy aquarium and I dont make it worse than it already is.

I have API tests for Nitrates and Ammonia and have been trying to keep the water quality better and treated with AP Quick Cure so far. Im thinking of doing a hospital tank to treat in the future but not sure how to do that effectively.

Any advise??

Thanks for reading :) Sandie
 
Well, I am a fish friend, but I don't know much about disease/funguses... I usually ask for help with them myself. However, some advice I can give you is to Quarantine the fish that appear sick in a tank with limited/no decor and a glass bottom. You will also want to do a ton of water changes (probs about 2 50%ers a week). Those are just general precautions against disease and the spread of disease. I would also recommend trying to take a picture of the sick fish so people here can confirm that you have SAPROLEGNIA and not a look alike fungus. I wish you luck, and hope you get the advice you are looking for.
 
Thanks Fish friend :)
I just did about 30%-50% WC the day before yesterday, and a 50% WC 4 days before that. I just ordered a Python to help make water changes quicker/easier and I think that the water quality will keep getting better once I have it.
I was thinking to get a small 3 or 5 gallon for QT with small heater, air stone and sponge filter maybe or no filter and just do PWC daily. Any thoughts? is that too small? just thinking that it will be easier to clean and disinfect after any sickness. Also, how long would you recommend to keep fish in QT after treatment or after they look healthy? I never had a QT tank before but now realize how important it is.
I will try to get some pictures to post, maybe someone can help diagnose.

Thanks again...

BTW...
My Tank Setup: FW 40g Tall & FW 20g Tall
1 Gold Dust Lyre Tail Molly (f) 10 fry, 3 Black Lyre Tail Mollies (1m/2f) 11 fry, 1 Golden Lyretail Molly (f)
1 Black Panda Platty (f), 3 Orange Mickey Mouse Platties (1m/2f), 3 Cory catfish, 1 pleco, 7 Frey (parent unknown...lol.. either golden lyretail molly or Platty),Many Fancy guppies & fry... I re home the guppy fry often.
 
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ohh btw...
 
While smaller is better for a QT tank, go too small and you cant filter or heat the tank properly. I'd say a good min is 10 gallons for fish like mollies and corys and platys. 5gal for fry, but only as a temporary set up (don't want to stunt them). You will want to treat a QT tank like a normal fish tank in filtration and heating, but all you need is a HOB or two and the heater. My 20gal QT tank will have 3 HOBs on it by the time I get my expected stocking of fish for the 75, so you can tell that overfiltered isn't a word in the fishkeepers dictionary. Just so long as the fish aren't blowing around in the tank, you should be cool filtration wise. If they are... stick some fake plants in the filters to prevent the waterfall from shooting strait into the tank (hang them down the waterfall part). It works wonders in my smaller set ups when I have them.

Keep the QT tank barebottom and any decor that goes in needs to be easily moved around so you can access fish and view them better. I use weighted fake plants, those can easily be shifted when I need to move them. The decor is solely to reduce stress for the fish, and not *needed* in a QT tank.

When you QT a fish, keep it in the QT tank for the duration of medication and then I usually keep it in the QT tank for about a month, even if it looks healthy. When you are done with the QT tank, trash the filter media and then run the tank with full tap water. I think you can also use vinegar, but I just run with tap, let dry, then run with tap again. To keep my filters cycled, I run them on my 75gal tank, and then transfer them to the QT when I need to set it up (makes cycling that much easier/faster).
 
OK, great, thanks on the QT tank info. I will consider going with the 10 gal instead.

I have a 20gal tank that crashed last week. many dead fishies :( I re homed all the sick fish to another local fishy friend who treated them and most that he took have survived :y220e:. I would like to use it as my grow out tank but i am afraid it is contaminated. After we took all of the fish out I shut off the filter a few days past and i noticed very small wormlike things and also little lice like things hopping around in the water.:crazy: i am so grossed out i havent emptied the tank yet. I was planning to empty, toss all plants, filter media and gravel, soak 2-3 hours in hot water with 10% bleach, rinse well 2-3 times, then soak in declorinated water, rinse and wipe dry. Is that ok? also, the filter worries me. How do i disinfect a hang on HOB filter? should I jus run it while I do the bleech treatment and the rinse and declor soak? Or do i need to replace the HOB. I like the idea to cycle the HOB on my main tank first, but Im soo afraid to put it in my main tank. I am going crazy with fish stuff. I really do care about my fish and want to do everything I can. I Love my mollies and their babies and will be very sad if I cant find and fix the problems. I have re homed sooo many beautiful fancy guppies so that I could reduce the bioload and everybody could be healthy but im afrain it was too little too late.

BTW one of my mollies dropped fry yesterday and i put her in a large specimen container with a tiny filter for flow and oxygen. when she was done she freaked out and actually caused black pieces of her to scrape off and ruined her lyretail. Now shes sitting at the bottome recovering but the male never leaves her or the others alone. If I QT her and the others Im afraid she and the rest will stress sooo much.

Hopefully someone will chime in about the fungus. Maybe some of the fish still have to recover and the quick cure treatment worked and they just need to heal more.
 
Take the male out of the tank and put it in the platy tank (or preferably a new tank entirely). They can and will harass females to death.

The wormlike creatures are a sign of overfeeding, and (if they are what I think they are) harmless to humans and fish. Same with the hopping flea-like creatures (if they are what I'm picturing). Don't toss everything, if you want to get rid of the worms and the skippers (as I call them), just run the equipment, gravel, and decor in hot water with vinegar. From what I've heard (I don't use bleach or vinegar) bleach isn't supposed to be used around fish, as it can/will kill them if too much remains.

Unrelated/Off-topic suggestions:

My Tank Setup: FW 40g Tall & FW 20g Tall

20gal Tall: 1 Gold Dust Lyre Tail Molly (f) 10 fry, 3 Black Lyre Tail Mollies (1m/2f) 11 fry, 1 Golden Lyretail Molly (f)

5 adult mollies, 1 male - good ratio, but lots of fry will be born, and the fry will breed as well (and with the parents) so I'd add to the filtration of this tank AND separate the males and females.

40gal Tall: 1 Black Panda Platty (f), 3 Orange Mickey Mouse Platties (1m/2f), 3 Cory catfish, 1 pleco, 7 Frey, Many Fancy guppies & fry

4 Adult Platies, 3 cories, 7 fry, and ima assume about 10-20 guppies/fry. The tank is overstocked. The Platties will interbreed with each other and the fry (if the fry are also platies). The Corys prefer groups of 4 or more. The fancy guppies will swiftly overpopulate your tank on their own. I recommend getting a canister filter to help with the sheer population size, and separating the males from the females.

Am I getting the two tanks mixed up? Either way, my only suggestion right now to solve your fry issue is to put the male livebearers and the female livebearers into different tanks. 6 months from now the females will run out of sperm and stop pooping out fry.
 
I dont know anything about canister filters. I have inquired at a LFS but didnt really learn anything... just that they are more expensive. Im ok with the initial cost as long as the filter media isnt going to cost me an arm and a leg. I will have to look into it more.

Do you think that I should do daily WC for now? if so what %. I should have the python tomorrow and could do DWC until I have the other tank cleaned and cycled.
 
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As for the cleaning, do you know how much vinegar to use and what kind? I will research more and maybe try that instead of bleach. I really need to get that tank cleaned and set up for my molly fry grow out.

As for the tanks, currently i am only using the 40 gallon tall for all of the fish. I have 5 mollies, 4 plattys, 3 corys, 1 sm pleco, 14 guppies and 21 small fry in a large marina hang on box. I do not have any guppy fry... if guppys drop fry I have a friend that comes to pick them up the next day. He likes the colors and wants to breed them into his guppy population.

BTW... I only bought the mollies, plattys and corys. everbody else were given to me by a friend that had a tank break and a neighbor that was moving out of state and was going to flush the fish and smash the tank so I have done my best to care for them and re-home them asap. I have a woman setting up her tank to cycle to take some of the baby mollies and a guy is comming to take 4 of the guppies tomorrow. Is it good to keep the pleco for cleaning the inside glass or should i find him a home too?? How much more should I get rid of so that my tank isnt over stocked?




 
How long has the tank been set up? A complete set of API readings on the tank and your tap would help (ammonia/nitrites/nitrates/pH/GH/KH) The tap pH should be on a sample that sat out overnight in a shallow dish to gas off. What is your normal water change/maintenance routine? Substrate? Exact filters you have on the tank?

While a QT is great for isolating new fish and ensure they are disease free before adding to an existing tank, and in some cases for moving a fish over to for treatment, many illnesses require treating the whole existing tank even if only one appears effected.
 
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