Guppies.

[Dakota Ice]

Even I, a guppy lover, cannot get this straightened out. I started my 20 gallon three weeks ago and added four guppies to cycle. Well they started getting fungus looking patches over their mouths, and then white dots on their body, but it was NOT ich. The spots were three times bigger than ich. Needless to say they all died. The last female to die had something I had never seen before.. Her whole tail and part of the actual body turned milky grey and began to fall off.. her scales rose up in just that spot and there was blood on certain spots.

I then added 4 more guppies, and they've been doing just as bad! One died, and one has the white crap around her mouth! I removed her and left the two males, who seem fine and energetic. She also behaves normal, but that tuft of white is a obvious sign she is sick.

Here is what I don't understand. I change the water 25% every week. Before I added the second set of fish I did a 85% to 90% water change. I add stress coat and stress zyme, and my ammonia reads ZERO. Don't ask my nitrite or nitrate or anything for that matter, I don't have those test kits or the money to go out and buy a fifty dollar master test kit.

I've never had issues with guppies before.. this is a first and it hurts to see them in pain.. What do I do? It IS fungus of some sort right?

I'm currently treating the female in her own 5 gallon with Maracyn 1, for body fungus, etc. but I have a feeling this is Mouth Fungus.

 

[WILDER]

You have the columnaris desease in your water you have mouth fungus which is columnaris, the patches on the body were they white and fluffy.
http/www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm

 

[Dakota Ice]

No, the patches on the body weren't white and fluffy.

Will Maracyn work?

 

[WILDER]

No you need maracyn 2 the bacteria one, the other signs of illness are a bacteria or parasite, I would add some salt to the tank if you have no scaless fish, do some salt dips on the really bad fish with the desease, add maracyn two and buy no more fish till your tank has cycled and the fish are back to full health, then leave a few weeks so you can do some water changes to get everything back to normal/
http/ukdiscus.com/ken_thomson_salt.htm

 

[Dakota Ice]

The fish don't die in horrible condition.. they die with like one little bitty spot.. UGH.. I can't get maracyn two, all the retarded stores around here only carry 200,000 kinds of Ich medicine and thats IT. It makes me so mad sometimes.

How does salt help?

 

[WILDER]

Columnaris shows itself in many form and the white spots are part of it.
http/ukdiscus.co.uk/columnaris.htm#Ident...ng%20columnaris

 

[WILDER]

9) Flexibacter columnaris (Columnaris disease or Saddleback disease)



A. Gram-negative slender rods (3-8 microns)



B. The disease is a serious disease of young salmonids, catfish and many other fish.



C. This is a highly communicable disease. Lesions usually first appear as small white spots on the caudal fin and progresses towards the head. The caudal fin and anal fins may become severely eroded. As the disease progresses, the skin is often involved with numerous gray-white ulcers. Gills are a common site of damage and may be the only affected area. The gill lesions are characterized by necrosis of the distal end of the gill filament which progresses basally to involve the entire filament.



D. Flexibacter columnaris infections are frequently associated with stress conditions. Predisposing factors for Columnaris disease are high water temperature (25oC-32oC.), crowding, injury, and poor water quality (low oxygen and increased concentrations of free ammonia).



E. Flexibacter maritimus: cause similar problems in salt water environment.



F. Flexibacter psychrophilus causes Cold Water Disease or Peduncle disease. Fish develop dark skin, hemorrhage at the base of fins, and anemia with pale gills with increase mucus. Hemorrhage into the muscles is common. Periostitis of cranial and vertebral bones is common in chronic cases. Chronic meningoencephalitis occasionally is observed with abnormal and erratic swimming.

 

[BettaMomma]

Salt gives your fish an extra slime coating, it helps ward off the induction of toxins into the fish's system, aids in healing and improves gill functions. One really important thing salt does is it helps fight off some parasites.

It's good stuff, when used in moderation.