Please Help!

[xxsophie_1989]

Hi i set up my new 68l tropical fish tank 7 weeks ago, 3 week ago i bought 6 small neons and 9 guppies. A week later i noticed that one of my guppys fin was half missing with white around it, the next day another had white around his mouth and stopped eating, i went to the petshop and was given some medication for them and told it was my water conditions, i checked them as soon as i got home and my water was perfect? i done a water change anyway and started the medication. The next day i lost one of my males that had been fine a couple of hours before and had no white on him? over the next few days the fish got worse and got told to use a different medication so i did, my fish got worse, i belive it is fungus? i lost three fish with fungus and lost another lastnight who didnt have anything on him and had seemed fine untill he started laying on the gravel struggling. Today i have put the last dose of medication in and it doesnt seem to be getting anybetter! my female is the only one left with fungus and her top fin has gone and is replaced by white cotton wool, she wont eat and is also pregnant, my other female is sitting on the gravel at the bottom of the tank looking very weak but no fungus, my last female is always hiding at the bottom of the tank but looks completly healthy and comes up to eat but goes straight back to hiding afterwards? i have one male who seems to be fine but i dont no what to do anymore? i have been testing my water everyday with my mums master test kit and its perfect no ammonia or nitrate! i have a really good filter with air bubbles, my neons are very happy and healthy and growing fast. could anybody advise me on what to do? what medication to try that will work? i dont have another tank to seperate them, i do have snails in my tank that came with my weeds that were supposed to be dipped in copper! could they hace caused this?? i just dont want to lose anymore fish

 
The medication i have used is,
interpet anti fungus and finrot and, waterlife protozin.
 
It wont let me upload any pictures as they are too big.

 

[dave840f1]

Just a suggestion get in touch with your water supplier and ask if they have treated it to get rid of shrimps etc. what tests do you do to the water.

 

[Meeresstille]

Some fungus like growths on fish are actually not caused by fungus but by bacteria. That means an anti-fungal medication will not work and that would explain why the affected fish aren't getting any better. 

 

[xxsophie_1989]

My mum has already checked the water as she has discus she was worried and had them print and send her the list. I test my water with the API master test kit so I have been testing everything everyday, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, ph and also have a dipstick that test the hardiness and everything's perfect? How could I treat it if it's caused by the bacteria? I was thinking of trying blue mythelene tomorrow after a water change.

 

[Meeresstille]

I really don't know much about treating diseases in aquariums, all I ever had to treat was ich. As I understand though, bacterial infections are treated with antibiotics, and you would have to see what is available to you in your area. Antibiotics for aquariums are available, and a broad spectrum antibiotic is recommended. 
 
If you are going to use methylene blue, be sure to remove your tank decorations since it stains terribly. I believe you have to also be careful about your filter, but you may want to read that up when you get the medication.

 

[xxsophie_1989]

Do you think King British Bacteria Control would be a better option? Does anybody no that I could use this with a fungus medication? I'm not 100% sure on blue mythelene as I have live plants and my filter, my tank is only a couple of months old.

 

[Meeresstille]

I've sent a message to a moderator with a lot more experience. Hopefully he's still online and will come and have a look at your thread! 

 

[xxsophie_1989]

Thank you! I've been doing some more research and I'm thinking of treating my tank with anti fungus and fin rot again but also with interprets internal bacteria aswel. As told I could use them together. I don't think my females going to make it through the night my other female has her fins clamped shut who sits on the gravel at the bottom of the tank.

 

[Meeresstille]

Oh, I'm very sorry Sophie! I wish I could have been of more help!

 

[Baccus]

Usually neon tetras are the culprits for getting sick and dying quickly, but guppies too are getting less hardy with all the line breeding being carried out to get specific colour and fin characteristics. Where your guppies by any chance a particular named variety? E.g. Tuxedo, or where they run of the mill typical hodge podge of genetics?
 
Since your neon tetras are doing so well, I am guessing that you have quite soft water for them, the problem with your guppies could be that they where kept in hard water and are not accustomed to soft water. It might pay to ask the shop that supplied the guppies if they in fact add any salts (often called livebearer salts) to their tanks, you maybe able to then find a happy medium between the softness that the neon tetras prefer and the hardness that the guppies may have been used to.
Water temp may also be an underlying issue. What temp is the tank at? Neon tetras can generally handle warmer temps than what guppies will find most comfortable. If the guppies are too hot that could be causing stress which is allowing other conditions to take hold.
 
Since I am not in the UK I can not advise on exact medications, but I would look for a broad spectrum medication that will treat both fungal and bacterial infections. But be very careful with the mixing rates. Most medications require that they be used at half dose for tetras, catfish, loaches and fry. Medications can also knock out the good bacteria in your filter so after medicating and the fish are hopefully better be extra careful of nitrate spikes.

 

[xxsophie_1989]

I have already asked and he said he uses no salt, the shop isn't to far from my house so the water should be very similar, my mum has been buying fish from him for years and had never had a problem. My temperature is around 24-25? I thought this was the correct temperature. I have no idea what breed they were they were all different and one was crossed with a endler, I don't think they were certain breeds just mixes bred. I do have one yellow female that likes to hide but seems perfectly happy especially with food and a yellow male that seem to be ok at the moment. The rest were red/yellow mixes like flames and rainbow patterns and also a blue male. I will continue to test my water daily just incase, I'm planning on doing a 30% water change tomorrow, use Polly filter to ensure all medication is out and starting with interprets anti fungus and finrot and also interprets internal bacteria, and maybe il see some changes! I really don't no what else to do

 

[xxsophie_1989]

I lost my female with fungus this morning so I don't have any fungus in my tank now so I think I'm going to treat with interpets internal bacteria after a large water change. My male isn't eating today but looks fine, my yellow female is fine and eating, but my other female isn't doing well she's still lying on the gravel more weak. Hopefully I can still save them with the new medicine! Thanks for everybody's advice

 

[dave840f1]

I use a medication called WS3 it has quite a wide range of illness treatment.

 

[Wildbetta]

To me it sounds like you are dealing with a gram negative bacterial infection called columnaris (sometimes called cotton mouth, cotton wool disease, or saddleback disease).  It is quite contagious and you will need an antibacterial medication that treats gram negative bacteria.  I am from the US so I am not sure what you have available in your area.  Also lowering the temperature of the tank to about 76F if you have it higher will help slow the progression.
 
I am so sorry to hear about your guppys.    Hopefully you will not have this take hold of your other fish but it would be a good idea to watch for it in the tank with the others for a while.