Telling The Difference - White Fuzz

hurricanejedi

hurricanejedi

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Apr 4, 2005
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How do you tell the difference between fungus, columnaris, and fin rot? And how do you treat them? I thought my rams had ich but on closer inspection it looked a little fuzzier. One ram its along the edge of the tail and on the other ram its in spots across the length of the tail (fuzzier not grainy like ich). One rummy looks like its little fin (on top, closest to the tail) looks completely fuzzy. They have just been added and are stressed from an ich treatment currently. The rams exhibited this a couple days after I got them and the rummy has had it since I added him.
 
hurricanejedi said:
How do you tell the difference between fungus, columnaris, and fin rot?
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Fungus is actually pretty rare in the aquarium. What most people call fungus is usually columnaris or "just" a bacterial infection. Actual fungus looks just like mold you see on bread or something left to die in the fridge.

Pandora's Aquarium has a lot of great pictures of difference types of diseases:

http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html

And how do you treat them? I thought my rams had ich but on closer inspection it looked a little fuzzier. One ram its along the edge of the tail and on the other ram its in spots across the length of the tail (fuzzier not grainy like ich). One rummy looks like its little fin (on top, closest to the tail) looks completely fuzzy. They have just been added and are stressed from an ich treatment currently. The rams exhibited this a couple days after I got them and the rummy has had it since I added him.
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Sounds more like a bacterial infection. They could have fin rot and fungus at the same time.

Would need pictures, though.

Roan
 
Ok I'll try. Even with help my underwater picture taking is pretty crappy. I"ll have to wait until I get home though.
 
I would treat with both Maracyn and Maracyn 2 simultaneously.

I know it is difficult treating several diseases all at once.

The last time something like this happenned, I had a couple spots of ick appear on a single new fish that I stupidly did not quarrantine long enough. Then the fuzz started. I treated with salt, heat, maracyn, and maracyn 2 simultaneously and managed to save everything but my sensitive marble hatchetfish.

Really bummed me out because I had kept the hatchets for a LONG time and was particularly proud that I kept my water conditions suitable for them without incident for so long.
 
I don't think any of the pictures of columnaris show it very well so its hard to tell. But the description:
"Various: lethargy, hiding behavior, "hanging""
Sounds very much like the male, which is opposite the behavior of the other male ram. The female dosen't show this as bad, nor does the rummy.

Do I have to know exactly what it is to treat it? Or is there something general that will help? Would the salt treatment I'm doing help or just cause more stress? Maybe it will clear up when the salt clears out?
 
YuccaPatrol said:
I would treat with both Maracyn and Maracyn 2 simultaneously.
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Ok. I'll read up on that stuff. Is it very toxic to other fish that don't have it? :sick:

Is this something I can pick up at the pet store? Is there a brand I should look for?

Are there any "dips" that would work?
 
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Maracyn and Maracyn 2 are both different kinds of antibiotics. I'll go get my packages and see what they are because I can't remember.

maracyn is erythromycin: fin and tail rot, popeye, and "body fungus" (Columnaris)

maracyn 2 is minocycline: Septicemia, fin and tail rot, dropsy, popeye, gill disease

They sure weren't cheap though.
 
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Well, I did use it with salt treatment. I felt I had no choice because my fish had both serious ick and bacterial infections.

I had a wide range of fish in there, and all survived except for the marble hatchetfish. Considering that hatchets are incredibly delicate and sensitive, I think that I did very well.

Note: using antibiotics will also affect your cycle, so it can be risky no matter what you do. . . :huh:

I really feel for you, especially as I have watched how excited you have been and how thoroughly you have researched and planned your aquarium.

Don't get too upset over it though. The hardest part of fishkeeping is getting your little aquatic ecosystem in balance. We struggled our first 6 months, but eventually your aquarium will find a balance and will become very stable.
 
Oh boy. The cycle is technically finished but it might hurt my bacteria? I do have plants in there now so they are doing pretty good to help I think (well they are absorbing my nitrates to lower than my tap plus whatever is produced from the fish).

Should I get some carbon for when I'm finished with the treatment? I might make a seperate thread on this but... is it ok to use a different brand of media in a canister? Carbon is carbon right? As far as I know no one carries Eheim stuff around here...

Yah this is all pretty frustrating :( . The good thing is my 2 healthy rams are about to spawn. They have paired off (so quickly!!) and over the last couple days they have been busy digging a whole in the substrate. Of course maybe the medication could impact this.

I lost a frog the other day. Its hard to tell if it was the salt/heat or if it was just the move. He had turned really white and one day he was no longer alive. My other 2 frogs are doing fine though they are slower than normal, I think they are stressed out, or they are settling in. I'm so new to this and have thrown so many extra variables into the mix. I guess I don't know what normal froggy behavior is.

The reason I was asking about dips is because if I could keep the stuff out of the tank that would make me feel better.
 
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