Female Tank Crisis - Fungus Kills In 2 Days

[cerulean]

i have another rescue tank 10 gallon of girls that came from several different local lfs's. there were originally 7 rescued, put into this cycled 10 gallon tank. a fungus has shown up, it covers the body and then kills within 2 days.

heres what i've done so far:
the day after i brought them home - saw fungus on one girl, removed to heated small hospital tank and treated her with maroxy and tetracycline - she died in less than 2 days from noticing the original tiny bit of fungus. the meds didn't seem to help at all -the fungus just seemed to multiply at an alarming rate. something out of a horror movie...

fungus showed up on another girl the day that one died - removed her and treated her with maroxy, tetracycline and maracyn. broke down the entire 10 gallon tank and scrubbed it with water (no chemicals because i was running low on places to put sick fish!!!), removed all decorations except for the heater and filter, rinsed them well, removed cartridge, and treated the whole tank with maroxy, tetracycline and maracyn. returned the remaining girls to this tank so they would also be treated just in case. the girl in the small tank stayed there - she died the next day.

one week after treatment ended in the 10 gallon - 2 days ago - one of the girls was removed from the tank and put into another small clean one (not previously used for ANY of the other bettas) because she had been beaten up by one of the girls. took her out before she was torn apart. the next morning a small amount of fungus showed up on her - since NONE of the meds used before seemed to make any difference at all i tried some simply betta fungus cure for 2 days. miraculously the fungus disappeared (it only kept getting worse with the other meds). this am, no fungus, i checked her a little while ago and she is now covered with fungus.

absolutely none of the above medicines seems to have gotten rid of this since it seems to still be lurking in the big tank. the last one didn't get it from the small tank because it hadn't been used before. the 4 remaining girls in the large tank have no signs of fungus or anything wrong (well, at this moment!)

is this truly fungus?any ideas what i could try??? i've searched online and can't come up with anything else. the meds i've used have covered infections of true fungus, body fungus and cotton mouth. it's looks like fluffy cotton. her entire body is covered with it, looks like she swam through a cotton ball, but in the pic it looks like lines - that's because it's thicker in spots. here's a pic of the current girl, it's as clear a pic as i can get but you can definately see the white stuff on her:

 

[nuttyfishgirl]

yup looks like what mine have just had i lost 12 fish this weekend
i used an anti fungus med and so far the rest seem just fine thankfully
good luck xxx

 

[cerulean]

i'm so sorry to hear that! amazing how fast it takes over. i've had fish with fungus before (goldfish) but the meds were able to clear it up right away and no problems. all the meds i've tried don't seem to do a thing for these poor girls tho.

 

[BettaMomma]

I had a boy who had fungus that looked just like that the day we brought him home. The cottony stuff was even coming up from under his scales causing a few of them to stick up. It in some places grew in lines like in the picture you posted.

I treated it with Maracyn and Maracyn Two at the same time. The best thing I could guess that's going on here is that while the Maracyn is taking care of the fungus, they are not getting completely well - and since you're not sanitizing the tank before putting them back in the vicious cycle starts up all over again.

At this point, I really think you should maybe consider full-blown sanitizing your tank. I think I would.

(The following is assuming you have a GLASS tank)
Find a clean empty bucket or something to hold your girls in while you work on your tank. Set them aside - make sure there's a breatheable lid on them! You'll have to empty your gravel and the whole bit for this, but it might be the only way you can get rid of it. Keep the gravel in a bucket so you can replace it when you're done.... Run scalding hot water in your sink. Scalding in the sense that steam comes up from the sink while it's running. Measure out 20 parts of water and put that into your tank. Measure out 1 part clorox and put that into the tank. Let the tank set for 20 minutes. Dump it out, then refill it with scalding hot water and add 4 - 5 times as much dechlorinator as you normally do. Let this set for 5 or 10 minutes (make sure you fill it ALL the way up to the top both times). Dump it out, and rinse rinse rinse. Turn on your shower as absolutely hot as it will go. Set the tank under it and let it rinse for 20 minutes or so. Your tank will then be sanitized.

It sounds like you've already taken the tank apart and so there's no issues with worrying about keeping the tank cycled, because it's probable that most of the beneificial bacteria will probably be gone between the meds and tearing down the tank. So, you will be able to rinse your gravel with scalding hot heavily salty solution - don't use bleach... and give your plants all a salt dip, if you have real plants...

Is it possible for you to sanitize your tank at this point?

FYI - if someone else feels like this wouldn't be the best option at this point, feel free to point that out. It's the only thing I can think of right now to try to beat whatever this stuff is.

 

[Styx]

I feel so bad for you. I know what you're going through, had the same thing happen to me, and somehow, meds never seemed to work.

Keep trying, hope you save the girls!

 

[BettaMomma]

I agree.
It's so horrible that they're going that fast!
Usually folks have some time to try to figure out what is the problem and have options for finding treatments. When they're going this fast it must be really hard.

 

[WILDER]

If it's on the body of the fish and it's fluffy looking it's columnaris and you need a strong antibiotic like tetracycline.
http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

 

[BettaMomma]

Wilder - do you think it's necessary that she sterilizes the tank?
She has tried tetracycline and it's not working, from what I understand.

Maybe sanitize the tank and start again w/the tetracycline?

 

[WILDER]

Yes I would, it's took over, she's got it really bad ive had columnaris with guppys, but nothing to that extent, she has to get it under control.

 

[cerulean]

hi bettamomma, the tank was "sanitized" that's what i meant when i said i used water, sorry i didn't clarify used the same procedure, then put in the meds, apparently no effect at all. no gravel is used in the tank. i find it more of a pain than it's worth lol. the only thing i can think of now to "sanitize" it further would be to soak it all in bleach then rinse, rinse, rinse, and let it sit in the sun for quite a few days. this has worked before with absolutely no problems but UNFORTUNATELY i have no where to put these fish while that would happen so, right now, that part is out of the question. even if the tank was bleached the fish have still been exposed to the fungus so will be needing medication since it will probably pop up on them. bleaching the tank won't take it off of them. maracyn 2 is for dropsy, septicemia, popeye and fin and tail rot, none of this is being exhibited so it wasn't put in because it seemed like pointless extra meds. not saying it might not work but it doesn't cover any of the displayed symptoms. just seems to me to be giving a kid a rolaid when they have a headache thanks for so much helping.

has anyone found any other meds that have worked or might work or can anyone identify this as NOT a fungus??

 

[WILDER]

Are you doing salt dips on the affected fish.

 

[WILDER]

Use salt to clean the bowl as the desease hates salt.

 

[BettaMomma]

Well, you'll want to sanitize the tank and then treat again - not necessarily that just sanitizing the tank is going to get rid of the cottony junk... They both should be done.

You don't need to let it set out in the sun - 20:1 bleach dilution and heavy duty rinsing will do the job you need it to do.

The Maracyn Two would be to prevent secondary infections in addition to the Maracyn treating the fungus (columnaris) - what's probably happening is that they have internal infections festering that you cant' see, and while you're treating what's going on on the outside of the fish with the M, the problems on the inside are causing them to be stressed and sick, and the M2 would take care of them. That, in addition to the sanitization of the tank should do the trick.

I think at this point I would re-sanitize and treat with both of those meds. Really, I would - I think it's probably the best shot you have of saving them.

 

[cerulean]

Yes I would, it's took over, she's got it really bad ive had columnaris with guppys, but nothing to that extent, she has to get it under control.

i read through the columnaris disease (thanks) these girls no longer try to go to the top, they lie on the bottom. it just might be it, i didn't see anything unusual with the scales, just instant cotton but possibly i didn't notice it early enough. tetracycline was used since the second girl - no effect. tank was sanitized but not bleached. are you suggesting bleaching or something else. still reading....

 

[BettaMomma]

Do the bleach sterilization (I'm sorry - I keep calling it 2 different things when they're 1 in the same - sterilization and sanitzing) I described in the long post above. Get that tank sterilized, and then get them on both meds.

Do add in some salt also if you can after the sterilization.