Fungal Infection on Danio??

[Cas Tiel]

Hello,
I just found one of my danio (about 2 years old) with a white patch on his upper back and very small red dots on his side and he is also very bloated than he usually is. It almost looks as if he has no scales on his back. Please help, I've had this little guy for 2 years now and i really don't want him to die or it spread to my other fish. Also, I've only noticed it today, and feel as if he wasn't like this yesterday.

Thanks

 

[Colin_T]

I can't really tell from the pics, can you try to get a closer picture of the fish. Set the camera's resolution to about 2MB and use the flash. Have the room and tank lights on and open the curtains if it's daytime. This will get more light into the room and the image should be sharper.

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Zebra and Leopard danios only live for a few years and higher temperatures cause them to age faster. They do well at a temperature around 18-22C but will tolerate temps between 16-30C.

The fish in the picture is female and is carrying eggs. It might also have an internal problem but I need a better picture to tell. If you look at her body, see if any of her scales are sticking out from the body around the belly area. Monitor her poop and see if it is white and stringy or looks normal, it should be dark and not hang about for very long.

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Have you added anything new to the tank in the last 2 weeks (fish, plants, snails, shrimp, etc)?

The patch on the back could be bacterial or protozoan. Fungus is normally white and fluffy and occurs in areas that have been damaged by poor water quality or actual physical damage.

Depending on what else is in the tank will determine what you treat the fish with. A broad spectrum fish medication that treats bacteria, fungus and protozoans will probably work, but you should try doing a big 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate first and see how the fish looks after 12-24 hours. Clean the filter too if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. If there is no improvement after 24 hours then treat.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will absorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. And clean the filter before treating. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[Cas Tiel]

UPDATE: the fish has gotten more red spots around its body and is starting to swim at the bottom of the tank and not really eating food (still a little though). I just cleaned the tank and filter about 2-3 days ago with approximately 15-20% water change. I used the same stuff i always do, however this time i added caron to the filter because my tank water was looking a bit dirty. i followed the direction by placing it i water for 15 minutes to get rid of the oxygen and debris.

My tank is 20 litres ( i know thats small but my danios have been very happy for the past two years). I have 2 other danios, 1 white cloud and a placid chinese algae eater approximately 5cm big (i know these guys can be aggressive but mine hasn't gotten that far yet, he is very calm and stays at the bottom of the tank, where as the danios usually stay at the top).

Also my tank is 21C, it has no heater.

Her scales are not sticking up, it seems as if theres no scales onto of her anymore.

Do you think it is contagious? Should i put her into a quarantine tank? if so how do i make one, so it is comfortable?

It won't let my upload another photo.

 

[Colin_T]

Set the camera's resolution to about 2MB and use the flash. A lower resolution will make the image smaller and they should fit.

Small 15-20% water changes don't do much as far as removing disease organisms from the water because you only remove 15-20% of them and the other 80% are left behind. Bigger water changes (50-75%) dilute harmful pathogens much more effectively. Just make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Most disease in aquariums are contagious and you can usually slow the spread of the disease by doing big daily water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate until you get some medication into the tank. The big water changes and gravel cleans reduce the number of disease organisms in the water so there are less of them to infect the other fish.

If the red has become worse you should treat the tank with a broad spectrum medication that treats bacterial, fungal and protozoan infections. See post #2 on working out exactly how much water is in the tank and removing carbon, etc, before treating.

There's not really much point in putting the fish into a quarantine tank unless you have another tank that is the same size. The stress of catching and moving her will quite often push the fish over the edge and they die. In addition to that, the disease is still in the main aquarium and will eventually spread to the other fish so you are better off treating the main tank.