Fungus On Tail Fin

[wolf13]

I got a new angelfish last night from a petco. no real signs of problems in their tank aside from being horribly overcrowded etc and in with small sharks. Got him home, and i have seen him eat a few baby brine shrimp and some pellet pieces, but he has been a lot less interest in food then the cardinal tetra's so far. This morning i noticed a spot on his tail that wasn't there last night, it is fuzzy and appears ot be on one side. He is swimming easily and is not rubbing on anything. the tetra's are more interested in staying away form him then nipping or anything. So, am I right this is a fungus or is it the dreaded Columnaris? What do I treat for when I stop at the store tommorrow?

This is a newer 29g tank, very heavily planted with cardinal tetras (been in since friday afternoon 48 hours) and the angel (last night 24 hours).

30% water change last night (I had added flourish nitrogen sup and it spiked the nitrates), 60% on friday when i added the tetra's.

ammonia 0 (including when i woke up this morning)
nitrite 0
nitrate was 60 after i added the flourish so did a 30% water change before adding the angel, current nitrate is about 15 this morning
temp night time 79 daytime with lightson 81
ph 7.8


Pic from last night

Pics form today, the spot is circled

 

[*Fishkies*]

Columnaris is usually around the gills on the head. And is either in grey/whitish patches, I had it once on a pleco, very hard to treat. Seems like it is a fungus possibly ich maybe as all new fish in a newly setup tank can get this within the first few months. I am not sure what medication to treat him with as your tank is planted, so if you can isolate him and find a type of fungal treatment that would be good!

 

[fishkers]

Honestly it looks like a form of body fungus, I was always under the assumption that Columnaris is usually found near the head or on the actually body of the fish. I'm pretty certain its a fungus since you described it as a fuzzy sticking out kinda things. I would treat with and anti-fungal.

Best of Luck

 

[WILDER]

Treat it as bacterial.

 

[fishkers]

Treat it as bacterial.

Whats your basis for that response?
Why do you say this







Posting just for posts numbers huh? since you respond to everyone... little suspicious

 

[WILDER]

Fuzzy growths are bacterial and yes I help couldn't careless about my post count.

http/article.discusnews.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

Columnaris has many disguises from looking fluffy in appearance, bleached out patches to spots, mouth fungus, saddleback colunmnaris, comes in many colours from yellow, white, brown, and pink.

 

[wolf13]

thanks guys

Well, heres an update. This morning, when I checked him, the growth hadn't changed much, if anything it looked a little smaller. I stopped at home after work to check him and the growth had slimed down and spread out to the edges of the tail fin and into patches on the other fin. At that point, I suspected it was columnaris rather then fungus due to the speed it had moved, that it was attacking live tissue and no longer had the fuzzy appearance. I also noticed he was hiding more and spending more time towards the surface then he had been though was still msotly in mid tank or hiding. so I went up and got maracyn 1 and 2, While I was there, i stopped in at the petco i got him from and checked their tank. most of the angels they had had were gone, 2 lay dying on the ground and the rest showed similier signs of infection.

 

[WILDER]

Maracyn one and two are good meds for columnaris, good luck.

 

[wolf13]

I just hope I caught it in time, if not for the poor angel then for the tetra's. One thing for sure, i'll never buy another angel from a petco again. Both petco's i've been visiting seem to have real problems with keeping angels alive.

 

[WILDER]

Good luck, been there.

 

[wolf13]

just so people can see what i'm talking about

 

[*Fishkies*]

Tetracycline is also a great product for treating colmnaris! My pleco had it and I went through millions of different treatments till I found TC and it works GREAT! So if it isn't treated after the maracyn's try TC! Best of Luck!!

Also you might try asking your Petco workers in the fish area and see if they know what may have infected their angels, this may also help with your own angel!!

 

[wolf13]

Things have gone downhill since i last posted with the colum continuing to expand despite treatment and a couple of tetra's showing possible signs of infection. last night when i got home from work, I was almost ready to euthanise the angel. the film had almost compeltly encased the left front fin and it was clenched tightly to its body, not moving it. the other fin was going, but was slower then normal and the angel would drift in a partial circle. occassionally, he would start to fall over and drift for a few moments before struggling to right himself. the other fins were clenched as tightly as possible as well. all in all, it did not look good and I figured he was pretty much a goner. I did a 30% water change to and vac to get rid of some waste and food and added some more salt (started that two nights ago, now at a little over 1 teaspoon per gallon) and while getting ready to add the maracyn 1 and 2, i decided to take a wild shot and made up a very concetrated batch of them (at this point, I didn't expect the angel to make it through the night so didn't see much to loose). the angel couldn't even swim away from the net and I dunked him for a few secounds. I doubt it was longer then 5 secounds, i removed him right away as he was visibly distressed, after returning him to the tank i added the normal dosage.

within a couple of minutes his fin was starting to move and he had stabilized. within an hour i noticed strange threads coming off his body and fins (dead bacteria?) and he was noticably more alert and active. this morning, the fins were starting to spread out a bit more and were about as clenched as a couple of days ago (major improvement but still clenched), the spots were visibly reduced and he was swimming around (not very fast, but he was actually moving around a bit which was a major change over the past couple of days), and the threads were gone with the exception of a new thread extending from his gills.

I am hoping we've turned the corner and this is in remission. I don't currently plan to do another concentrated dose at this point unless he detiorates further, but i have no doubt that it was the signifigant factor in knocking it back this far. He didn't take any baby brine shrimp this morning, but I may try a small bit of pellet tonight to see if he'll take that now, I haven;'t seen him eat now in a couple of days.

 

[WILDER]

To be honest I agree he not out of the woods.
Carry on with the med, good luck.

 

[Yazan]

Do you have a hospital tank. If so get him in there so that it doesn't spread.