# Fish have white growth on their tails, very sick and sad =[



## norden (Nov 18, 2010)

Our fish have this cotton like growth on their tails, one's tail is almost completely gone, very lethargic.

we have it in both tanks. the tail fins are exposed and cotton/snot like fungus. they lost their color at first and then we treated with fungus clear because we thought it was fin rot, but it's not working, the cotton like growth is getting worse only on their tails. they got their color back but we currently have it on
1 of our jewels
1 of our puffer
our black ghost knife fish

its starting on the others looks like a small trail of white snot following their tails.

i've read on the forums and i've seen a lot of people have had this happen to their fish and a lot of different ways to treat it but no actual answers on it working or not.

what should i do?

this just happened after i put sand in the tank and switched out the water, i've added declorinator. they were fine for about a week then this happened. we've had the fish for about two months now.

please can anyone help our fish?
we dont have any water test strips at the moment, but i dont think it's the water, i think it's some kind of fungus, is there any other kind of meds we can use that will actually work?

we used start right and fungus clear.

i will get pics up as soon as the camera is charged.

thank you for your time.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

It's either a bacteria or fungus and the problem with treating them is that not all anti-bacteria/anti-fungus meds work on all bacteria and all fungus.

If you're certain that you've used the anti-fungus product according to the directions for as long as directed then you should switch to a different med. Kanamycin, Maracyn &Maracyn-two, (used together), Triple Sulfa, Furon 2, or just shop around in at the fish store and look for some thing that says it's 'broad specturm"

Until you can get the meds: 
Do a partial water change of 30% using a good quality dechlorinator. 
Add salt, (sodium chloride) at the rate of 1 tablespoon per five gallons. Dissolve it first and add it gradually.
Increase water movement
Lower temperature to 76'.

The lowered hear, salt and increased water movement may help prevent the bacteria from spreading.

Robin


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## norden (Nov 18, 2010)

thank you so much, i will try to find the meds tomorrow and the salt.

happy thanksgiving!


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## norden (Nov 18, 2010)

ok we did a 30% water change, turned down the temp, and put in some meds we found that say broad spectrum.

walmart didnt have any aquarium salt so we couldnt get any yesterday.

seen my cichlids this afternoon eating the dead black ghost knifefish. well he wasnt all the way dead but now he is. they ate off his whole tail.

we have to treat for 5 days so that's 11 tabs a day. 1 tab per 5 gallons. only been 1 day, no real difference today just 1 fish dead.

i'll post every day after the treatments, to see if this med even works.


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## norden (Nov 18, 2010)

fish are getting better, growth isnt there anymore.

put salt in today.

just waiting for my jewel to grow his tail fin back anything to help with that?

thanks so much for the help.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

I assume you removed the dead fish immediately?

At this point, you need to stop the disease before worrying about healing the damage. Make sure you use the meds as long as they direct, and keep up with frequent water changes. They will be the best thing to help your fish heal.

Next- get yourself some test kits. The test tube kinds are much better than the strips, and can be purchased online for a reasonable price if you can't find them locally. Your fish got sick for a reason, and I suspect that reason is water quality. Fungus and other bugs live everywhere- it's only when the fish are stressed and compromised that they will be vulnerable to disease. Changing substrate is a stressor, but I suspect your nitrate and oxygen levels may have been affected when you did it. Nitrate is always present at low concentrations, but should be kept under 30 ppm by limiting feeding and frequent water changes.

Good luck, and I'm glad your fish are looking better today.


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## norden (Nov 18, 2010)

thank you, yeah we removed the fish when he died. we are still currently giving the meds, 11 tabs in the 55g for 5 days and 2 in the 10g. we're on day 4, then we do a 60% water change. fish are still doing good. better than before.


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