# Fungus medication safe for fry ???



## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

I have a 10 gal tank and some of my bigger guppies got fungus, and I would like to treat them, but I also have many fry (platy and guppy) in the same tank. Is there a safe medication for the fry ?? I have some methyl blue, aquarium salt and Tetra Fungus Guard.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

IME meds are safer than letting the fungus keep growing on the fish. I've used meth blue on livebearers with no issues. It stains everything and you should use extra aeration, but it should work.


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

*Updates... Fungus/Columnaris/other...*

Well, I lost almost all my female guppies, only two left. I treated the tank with Tetra Fungus Guard (for 3 days now) , but it's doesn't seem to work. I think I may have a COLUMNARIS problem, I don't know.... Each fish had different symptoms. Some with little cottony growths at the edges of fins, two with internal bleeding, one with an open red sore, another with mouth rot. I had a similar problem some months ago, and it wiped out almost all my guppies (always the guppies...).

All my water parameters were fine, the only thing I think of is that could have been introduced in the tank with some new fish or shrimps I bought last week.

I have other fishs in the tank, and I didn't lose any of them : one male betta, a little microrasbora galaxy, 2 female platys, 2 otos, 1 cory panda, 3 cherry shrimps, and a couple of dwarf cory. I even have about 15 little guppy and platy fry (some only days old), and all seems in perfect health.

I will wait till the end of the treatment with FUNGUS GUARD, do a good water change, and maybe start another treatment with API TETRACYCLINE, to be sure to eraticate the problem.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I think if you have "mouth rot", its columnaris, which is bacterial and fungus meds won't work even though it looks like fungus when it starts. red sores and bleeding are also likely bacteria (or a bacterial secondary infection on a wound from aggression or parasites).

I would try an antibiotic with salt and/or cichlid salts. IME livebearers in softwater are sitting ducks for this white-fuzzy killer. If you have nice, soft neutral water, buffer it up for livebearers, treat them like tanganyikan cchids, Give them pH 9, TDS 450, and see if they do better.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If I were you, I wouldn't get any new livebearers for a year.


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

emc7 said:


> I think if you have "mouth rot", its columnaris, which is bacterial and fungus meds won't work even though it looks like fungus when it starts. red sores and bleeding are also likely bacteria (or a bacterial secondary infection on a wound from aggression or parasites).
> 
> I would try an antibiotic with salt and/or cichlid salts. IME livebearers in softwater are sitting ducks for this white-fuzzy killer. If you have nice, soft neutral water, buffer it up for livebearers, treat them like tanganyikan cchids, Give them pH 9, TDS 450, and see if they do better.


As you say, it started with the symtoms of a fungus, and I treated it like a fungus : temperature up to about 78-80F, I added salt and then Fungus Guard. But fungus don't kill fish as fast as it did. So I will begin a treatment with TETRACYCLINE from API, a medicine for bacterial infections. My PH is at 7.5 now. As you are suggesting, would it be a good idea to increase it ??

Columnaris is a nasty thing to treat, I was never able to treat it. I don't have any problem treating ICK or fungus. I even try MetroPlex some month ago, but it's a very strong treatment and it's very hard on the fishs. For the moment, I'm just very happy that the other fishs in the tank didn't get it. Are livebearers more likely to be infected by it ??

I don't want to tear down my tank, so I will have to treat my tank properly.



emc7 said:


> If I were you, I wouldn't get any new livebearers for a year.


Why ???


Thank you for yoour help.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Some columnaris is med-resistant, it seems to be going through stores and distributors that use low-dose meds The meds hold it down until you take the fish home and then the disease flares up and kill all before you can find a treatment that works. Black mollies and guppies seem to be especially susceptible to it. Unless you are willing to take everything down and bleach stuff, there is a real chance that any new guppies will also get this crap. IMO not worth the headache. 

For a guppy or molly only tank, I would definately go harder/more alkaline. At 7.5, one water change or a couple of weeks neglect can drop pH down below 7 and that seems to really affect the immune systems of some fish. A dolomite substrate or other means of getting the kH up could help. I never had trouble with livebearers until I moved here and now I can only get them to thrive when I buffer them like african cichlids.


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## Samusaran (Nov 8, 2012)

emc7 said:


> If I were you, I wouldn't get any new livebearers for a year.


By that, do you mean that the columnaris can't survive in a tank for more than one year ???

And the tap water I use is already at PH 7.5. I could add some buffer to it ro raise the PH. I'll see.

And yes, I could tear down the tank. But it's not worth it if I put the fishs back in the same tank. And as you say it's a lot of trouble. Where would I put the fishs while the tank is cycling ?? I have another tank but I won't risk contaminate it.

But you can be sure that the next time I buy some guppies, they will go in a quarantine tank for a month before I put them in the main tank. Maybe I'll use my betta's 2.5 gal tank. I'll buy my betta a bigger tank, so everyone will be happy.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I don't know how long it can last. Seemingly healthy fish can fish can give a disease to susceptible fish. Any black molly I brought home seemed to catch a white illness seemingly out of the air despite having their own tank and no other fish sick anywhere in my fish room. Mine may have been velvet or some other nasty. I think if you have a disease that is killing a specific fish, avoiding that fish is the easiest way to get off this sick fish, dead fish, new fish merry-go-round.


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