Help please!

[hello kitty]

i have got 2 silver (bala) sharks both were fine yesterday. i have come home from being out today and one of them has what looks like white cotton wool on a part of its body. i got 2 new fish yesterday a gourami and a red tailed shark. could it possibly have been attacked? can it infect my other fish? what should i do? any help would be greatly appriciated!

sorry for posting in 2 forums but i didnt know there was an ER!

 

[evofish]

how long have you had the bala sharks?think it could be mouth rot/fin rot i had 1 platy die from this but i didnt treat it at first cos i didnt know what it was,go down your lfs and get sum med asap and a salt bath would be good act quick though

 

[hello kitty]

we have had them since sunday, he is still eating -currently he is amongst the plants. all my other fish seem fine. whats the best thing to get for him?

 

[glolite]

If it's finrot you can treat with melafix from your lfs, if it's white, woolly spot attached to scales it could be ich (whitespot). Are the fish rubbing against things in the tank or flicking when they swim? If so that's ich, can get specific treatment also from lfs

 

[hello kitty]

hmm no they all seem fine. does finrot affect the bodies and not just the fins? lol sorry i am new to all this!! also can it infect my other fish in the tank??

 

[glolite]

Finrot as it's name suggests, affects fins and tails first but it can sread. Whitespot or ich is a fungal/bacterial infection. Both can be passed to other fish but equally both can be treated if caught early ( it sounds like you've spotted it quickly). If you have no catfish I would turn up the tank temperature to about 27 degrees c and add some aquarium salt. If you don't have any salt then leave till tomorrow (cooking salt is no good). Visit the lfs for advice tomorrow.

PS it sounds more like whitespot to me can you get any pics?

 

[hello kitty]

i will try, im dead worried now! do i need to isolate it or anything?>

 

[glolite]

Please don't panic, they are both treatable. My clownloaches have whitespot from time to time. I never bother isolating them, just turn up temp (don't even put salt in as I have a pleco in there)

 

[hello kitty]

im just gettin a pic now, only taken on a camera phone though. it was fine yesterday!! so glad i found these forums!

http/i7.photobucket.com/albums/y275/corsalou/shark.bmp

sorry its not too clear, the patch is in the middle of its body

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

he coudl have been attacked by the red tailed shark as they are terrortorial and dont like the company of other red tailed sharks but i dont know whether this includes bala sharks

 

[glolite]

My red finned shark attacked a bala shark when I tried them together. They're it separate tanks now.
PS 'hello kitty' I forgot to mention, do you test your water for ammonia and nitrites?

 

[hello kitty]

yes they were only checked yesterday all levels are fine. it could have been red tailed but ive never seen it attack anything before. can u see the pic ok glolite?

 

[glolite]

Looks ok to me not like whitespot that I've seen. Could be a bruise from another fish bullying? How big is the red T shark?

 

[hello kitty]

he is about the same size as balas maybe a bit smaller. the best way i can think of describing the thingy on bala is it looks like a little bit of white candyfloss! its not swimming v much still hiding in the plants so it may have been attacked my red tailed or could it be the gourami?

 

[glolite]

Soory for the delay I'm cooking sausages at the same time as this. Doubt the gourami they're peaceable and shy. More probably your red shark. Keep an eye on the bala shark and if the spot is bigger tomorrow I'd get some whitespot treatment. Must go and turn the bangers, back in about 15 mins.