White fluff on tetras

[Migz]

Hi guys -

My cardinal tetras are showing some white fluff and are swimming strange... specially a couple of them.

Yesterday they were perfectly fine - other fish have white spots, but no fluff. Is is a parasite or a fungus? What can I do?

 

[Colin_T]

A bad case of fungus and possibly whitespot too.

How long have you had them for?
Have you added anything new to the tank in the last 2 weeks?
Have you handled the fish in the last few days?

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Wipe the inside of the glass with a clean fish sponge

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water onto the garden/ lawn.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Increase the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres of tank water. Keep the salt in the tank for 2 weeks.

If there's no improvement in the fungus after a couple of days you will need an anti-fungal treatment from a pet shop. But try salt first. If you use anti-fungal treatments, remove any carbon from the filter before treating otherwise it will adsorb the medication from the water.

 

[Migz]

A bad case of fungus and possibly whitespot too.

How long have you had them for?
Have you added anything new to the tank in the last 2 weeks?
Have you handled the fish in the last few days?

I got trem about 10 days ago, them and 2 gobios (Sthiphodon ornatus) from the same place. These seem to be fine. Beforehand I had 6 amano shrimp and 4 neritina snails (about a month or so - first inhabitants after cycling).

I have been advised also to use malachite green (being useful against fungus and white dot...), what do you think?

Thank you!

 

[Colin_T]

Malachite Green is great for treating external protozoan infections like whitespot and velvet, but it is deadly to invertebrates like shrimp, and does nothing to fungus. Malachite Green is also carcinogenic (causes cancer) so should only be used as a last resort.

Whitespot can be treated with heat (30C for 2 weeks).

Fungus can normally be treated with salt or Methylene Blue, however Methylene Blue will wipe out the filter bacteria. Triple/ Tri sulpha can be used for fungus and is safe for filter bacteria and shrimp and snails.

 

[Migz]

That is awesome. Extremely helpful and detailed. Thanks so much, Colin. Much appreciated.