Hi everyone Here's my tank breakdown:
Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates-Approx 30-40
PH-7.2
Tap PH 7-7.3
10 Gallons-Running 6 weeks
change water every three to four days approx 10-20%
Whisper box filter
2 fish in the tank (i know too many fish, but we're currently cycling a new tank...)
Water additives-Cycle occaisionally, Ammo lock-but not so much anymore
Doc Wellfish Tap water conditioner
Food--Peas, shrimp, algae discs, sometimes flake food
Unusual findings--cottony fungus, fins frayed

We noticed our Lionheads back fin looked a bit frayed today and noticed some cottony strings along his back. Based on my research on Koko's it has the signs of fungal infection no?

Was planning on removing him to a small (2.5 gallon) hospital "bowl" which we unfortunately don't have a filter for.

Was going to Iodine the visible fungus, salt the water in the bowl and possibly treat the water with fungicide.

Couple of questions:

How long should the course of treatment be?
Can I keep him in the bowl if I change water frequently? At least until the treatment is over?
Should I treat the "home" tank itself for Fungus? There is another fish in there but he looks ok...so far.

I was also considering keeping him in his home tank and treating both fish for fungus, since I'm not quite sure the other is totally ok.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,

-Alex

Hi there.

You might not even have to remove him to another receptacle. Just make sure the water remains as clean as it is right now. Perform a 25% waterchange each day. Riase the salinity to about 0.1% to 0.15%. About one and a half teaspoons per gallon.


Just remove him to a seperate receptacle to apply the iodine swabbing. Then back to his regular tank. After one or two swabbings in as many days, if the fungus persist, then you might think about treating with a fungicide like jungles fungus clear.


Fungus infections are generally easy to treat, provided the conditions that allowed it to set in were fixed. According to your timeline of the new tank and the cycle period, this seems to have been accomplished already. Precisely why I think he will be fine in his regular tank.


Keep us updated on your progress. If you have any other questions, fire away.

Good luck


Paul

Hey Paul,

Got a little nervous and treated the tank with Melafix fungicide...

Only one treatment though, so perhaps I won't continue to treat it with that? The other fish in the tank seems fine, but I can't be sure just yet.

The Lionhead didn't seem to like the iodine swab at all...he's not doing too well after that...look freaked out and seems kind of spaced out now....his skin also changed color. it's a lot whiter than the other area...

Some new development on Whitty.
Her back appears piece of white stuff looks like human dead skin.
She is very inactive at bottom.
She has this gaint poop stick on her. Her mate Fatty has normal poops. They were fed the same, but Whitty might have gotten more, since she is always smart.
We are not sure that her inacttiveness is due to her constipation or her fongus problem. But we are very worried, since Whitty was always healthy and we had never have any serious problem like that.

What exactly did you do during this iodine swab?

Did you get any in thier gills or their eyes?

Are they breathing normally?

Sitting upright?

Are their any remnants of fungus left anywhere?



The dead skin looking stuff is probably just that. Dead skin sloughing off. The rest of the visible symptoms are probably the agitation induced by iodine. They tend to look ratty for a bit afterwards. Sometimes for a couple days after. The main thing is to kill enough of the fungus for them to be able to handle killing off the rest themselves.

Post back soon.

Paul

Hey Paul,

No, didn't get any in gills or eyes...I noticed the fungis toward the rear of his body--around the tail. The tail fin today looked a bit ragged as well. I'm not sure I got all the fungus around the tail...probably have to do another swab tomorrow. Tried to be very gentle and quick with the swab...

He seems a bit more calmed now...the skin/fungus has mostly sloughed off.

Boy this one was an adventure for us here.

Do you think I should continue with the fungicide or move to salts tomorrow?

-Alex

Tomorrow, if you still see some fungus on him anywhere, hit him up with iodine one more time. Its best to limit the use of iodine swabs as repeated treatments because of evidence that it can inhibit new, healthy growth. If fungus persists beyond that, well, its time for a waterborne treatment. All the while, maintaining excellent water quality.

Sounds like you almost have it licked. Good on ya.....


Paul

Thanks...

Got a good sense of how to treat this now. There's nothing like having to go through it to teach you how to handle things.

We'll see what tomorrow brings...

Boy the goldfish adventures don't quit...

-A

It never stops either. Goldies seems to have their own special set of rules when it comes to diseases and whatnot. They seem to be succeptable to a very wide array of ailments, along with their MANY different characteristics. Very different than all the other fish we have available to us. But, I suppose that is part of the reason I find them so alluring.....

Your right, once you get the hang of it, curing fungus is easy. But, knowing WHY the fungus started, in the first place, is key is making sure it doesn't happen again.


Good luck!


Paul