Hi, tibby25731,
I've just refreshed the page and it sounds as though Darth may be getting better; I have my fingers crossed for you both, which gives me an excuse for sloppy typing.
But I thought I'd include this anyway, as other desperate people may view this thread looking for some potential treatment, having tried everything else they could obtain.
I don't know if any of this will be of any use to you - or to anyone - but I'm in what seems to be a similar position to yours, where everything's been tried and in a last-ditch effort to stop horrible black fungus on my Graffitti, I plan to combine several things.
I've just started mixing Epsom salt (it'll raise the GH and alter the PH, and I have soft water, so doing this gradually) in with aquarium salt, which has apparently been known to help fight fungus, in with the Metro+ he's been on all week, and while I haven't any organophosphate, I'll continue with the Metronidazole he's been on and add a Formalin-Malachite green mixture (also said to help in some cases with bacterial/fungus infections - and no longer available in Canada, so lucky I still have some) as described below, in the hope that the combination will do more than drive all of the oxygen out of the water.
The recommended dose for treatments seems to consistently be 1 tsp Epsom and 3/8ths cup salt per 10 gallons.
As I plan to start this combination today after his feeding and waterchange, I can let you know how it goes, but I thought I'd mention this now, in case you were stuck as badly as I, as it's the sort of thing I've never heard recommended or tried yet, and I seem to have otherwise run out of available meds to try.
In Graffitti's case, I'm surprised he's still eating and able to swim as well as he does, as the end of his actual body is now blackened over the top half where his tail has been eaten away.
Apart from potential fungus/bacteria-fighting effects, certain parasites, apparently, are prone to creating injury which fungus is more likely to successfully attack, so IF that's the case, and IF this combination works on them, an improvement may occur due to the multiple actions.
Although the 'shotgun cocktail' below wasn't specifically recommended in the paper below for fungus, as stated, the individual components I'll be using have been suggested as having some fungus/bacterial-fighting value in various others.
http
/www.zooexotic.com/AquariumFishMedJan93.pdf
Pg. 1 2005 Drury Reavill
Aquarium Fish and the Veterinarian
... SHOTGUN COCKTAIL (or What do I do in the meantime?)--For use in freshwater
systems.
A. Formalin (25 ppm) or the Formalin-Malachite green mixture
Pg. 13 2005 Drury Reavill
B. Organophosphate (0.25 ppm)
C. Metronidazole (5 ppm)
On days 1, 3, and 5 use the cocktail. On days 2, 4, and 6 do a 50% water change. (I
personally do not like this approach. You don't know what you are treating and you can
kill some fish). ...
The only totally new addition, starting today, will be that of the Quick Cure.
I'm pretty nervous about trying this, especially after all the different meds Graffitti's already been on, and shifting to waterchanges every second day from daily, but I don't know what else to do anymore - this black fungus seems so inexorable.
And while your fish may not have identical problems, there's always a chance that this might work on one fish if not another, where no chance seems any longer to exist.
