knife fish has white fuzzy fungus.

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suprakid95

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 19, 2008
81
0
0
Burke, VA
I read i wasn't supposed to use meds or salt because they are scale less, the water parameters are all good I've had him for about 3 weeks now i haven't my self witnessed him eat and now I just noticed he has a white fuzzy fungus like thing on his side. there are plants and hiding places in the tank lights are on about 10 hours a day for the plants. all the other fish in the tank seem fine and are eating well.

the tank is 125 gallon 6 ft long, has 6 3" bala sharks and a 4" bull head. have two canister filters 202 and 204 and two hang on 60 gallon filters. the tank has been set up for about 2 months now.
 
First sentence is not true. You just have to be careful with how you administer the treatments.

Could you please take some photos of the affected area? Saprolegnia can be confused with Flexibacter columnaris so you need to be careful when you diagnose a health issue as wrong treatments will only harm your fish.
 
i tried taking pictures but the pictures come out too blurry. i don't have a very good camera. is there anyway you can tell me the difference and i can look and tell you? also the fish doesn't move much at all anymore. he is staying in place just fine but isn't moving about.
 
The most accurate way of distinguishing fungus and columnaris is under a microscope although the external symptoms may help but not as reliably as the microscope.

Fungus tends to appear more in infected wounds that are left untreated. It usually looks like white or grey strand appearance and is dangerous if left untreated especially as it attempts to take over the affected area. It is more dangerous in critical areas such as the gill area where its breathing may be hindered by the fungal growth.

Treatment can be done by administering malachite green at one drop per gallon. Like most other medicines however, malachite green can degrade over time so you need to continue dosing every 24 hours for at least 3-4 days if found to be fungal infection.

Malachite green is also carcinogenic and stains everything easily so handle it carefully and pour the med tainted tank water down the drain once you are done with the treatment course instead of dumping it in the garden.

As for columnaris, the appearance of the white strands on their flanks can be confused with saprolegnia however columnaris tends to include listlessness of the fish, appearance of more white patches over the body and clamped fins.

Columnaris is a gram-negative bacteria so you need to treat with a combination of Maracyn (erythromycin) and Maracyn 2 (minocycline). Your alternative is to treat it with tetracycline. These are broad spectrum antibiotics and should be administered carefully. They will also disrupt the nitrogen cycle process so watch your water parameters carefully.

Plase keep us updated.
 
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