Fungus or Ich - HELP

[homestar726]

New developpment in my new tank,

I was getting ready to put some fish in my tank when i noticed some of the mollies had white on them. Upon further examination, one black mollie has white on his lips, and a bit on his fin. And a dalmation mollie has, from what I can see, crust alll around his eyes. Paniced, I call call both Big Al's and they said it was probably fungal growth caused by stress. I bought to products that are supposed to be safe for my tank and filters and bateria. I cant remember what they are called. I think Malafix, and profix? Ill check when I get home.

So im following the directions, for a week, and hopefully it fixes everything up. As for my new fish (4x yellow labs Babies) I set them up in a 10g quarantine tank. I got the water from my coz, cause his tank is already established for quite some time.

ANy input? is that whats going on? Am i doing the right thing?

Critical info:
Amonia = 1 ppm (Down since last test)
NitrIte = 2 ppm (Down Since last test)
NitrAte = 5ppm (Up from zero at last test)

Tank Community:
2x Black Mollies (1 died earlier this week, but that was my fault... Got caught under an orniment when i was cleaning the tank on monday)
3x Dalmation Mollies
1x Rainbow Shark
1x Kribensis Cichlid

Thanks Guys

[homestar726]

More bad news

I got home today, and I had 3 dead fish... 2x damlmation mollies, and 1x black mollie. The Kribensis looks perfectly healthy and so does the rainbow shark. I only hae two mollies left, and the black one looks sick. White around his eye and mouth, the dalmation on the other hand, I cant really tell. I am definitely keep ing my new yellow labs in the quarantine tank for a week while this sorts it's self out.

I tested my water again today, and the cycle is getting much better:

0.0ppm Amonia
2.0ppm NitrIte
5.0 - 10.0 ppm NitrAte
pH - 7.2
Water Temp @ 78

I am going to post a picture, if i can get one, maybe someone here can help me figure this out, and maybe with big pretty please, help me fix my ecosystem 

*** I was able to take some pics ***

This is the Black mollie who is not acting at all like himself


This is the Dalmation mollie who is getting it around his eyes and mouth


This is the Tank Setup

[homestar726]

The last dalmation died since the last post.... ie a couple of hours, and the black guy looks sicker... Anyone??

[KLKelly]

Is there salt in the tank?  Could be stress from cycling - not sure if Mollies get excess slime coat or not like my goldfish would when they are stressed.  Nitrites poison fish but I thought Mollies preferred salted tanks.

If it were my fish I would salt to 1 tsp per gallon if it were just the Molly.  I have no clue how salt or medication would affect the Kribensis or rainbow shark though.

Sorry

[KLKelly]

Keep on top of the water changes to get that nitrite level down and get some cycled media from a member here.  I can't spare any ... long story but I'm sure lots of others can.

[BigDaddy]

Your tank isn't cycled and you have high levels of nitrite

Daily water changes as much as you can manage for the time being.  You want your ammonia and nitrite to read 0.  The ammonia and/or nitrite coupled with the stress from moving has likely caused much of your troubles.

Water from an established tank does little to nothing.  See if you can get some filter media from your cousin instead, that will help speed up the process.

[homestar726]

i put in filter media from my cousins tank a few days ago.

As for the last surviving mollie, I put him in a salt bath. A friend of mine advised it. What i did was; i filled a 2 litre jar with the tank water, added the aquarium salt (as directed on box) and some more pimafix, for the fungus infection. Im supposed to leave him in there for 30 mins. Its been 25 mins and he does look better, most of the white is gone.

I remember being told that the aquarium salt was really hard on the rainbow shark. So far I put tenought for a 15g tank... Shoud I continue?

And te big question is... Is this a tank disease? ich? stess? cycling? etc etc. I have no idea where to begin my research.i have 4 yellow labs in a quarintined tank that has established water... should i kept them there for a week, to make sure my tank is ok?

A big thanks to everyone, but the more help and advice I get would be fantastic.

I would hate to have to start all over again...

PM me if you have any sure remedies that wont throw off my cycle too much, or kill everything 

[homestar726]

So the last mollie is pulling threw, i think... He's moving around again, and the fungus is slowly going away.  I will see how he is tonight when i get home from work.. hopefully better. The two other fish in my tank still show no signs of any problems.

[PrincessFish]

Hi Homestar,

       I'm just a rookie too but I have to agree with BigDaddy - your tank is still cycling and this is the culprit.  Safe ranges for Ammonia and Nitrite are as follows:
Ammonia: less than 1.2
Nitrite: less than 0.3

       So, I'm actually amazed that you still have live fish!  Keep changing water (maybe 20% every two days) or whatever it takes to keep the stats close to the ranges mentionned above and be patient.  If you can get media it will speed up the process!
       Good luck!

PrincessFish

[beowulf]

I would be interested in where you got your information about a safe range for amonia and nitrite.  I have always been told and have always read that the only safe range is 0.  And of those two will have an adverse effect on the fish.

[PrincessFish]

Hi Beowulf,

       The info I posted is taken from the brochures that come with the Hagen/Nutrafin test kits (I have the mini-master and a couple of additional individual kits).  I'd guess that you're right - the safest thing is 0 . . . but, the test kit brochures indicate that 'up to' the noted amounts the levels are "safe".
       When my tank cycled I changed water to ensure that my stats stayed within the notes 'safe ranges' and my fish didn't seem to suffer any distress at all (also my cycling was complete to 0's in 13 days)

pF

[homestar726]

Ohh i know what your saying... I bought the Hagen test kit.... Its garbage, the reading there are not standard. I like the master test kits from big al's. it makes soo much more sense.

[dpatte]

If your ammonia or nitrIte are high, the fish will be stressed and weak. Fungus (which is what it sounds like) can set in. Fungus looks fussy, or like streamers - especially around the mouth or eyes.

The kribensis and labs (as most cichlids) are pretty hardy, but mollies are susceptible to fungus.

All water has some fungus in it, but most fish are strong enough to fight it off.

[PrincessFish]

Hi again Homestar,

       What do you mean by "the Hagen test kit... its garbage, the reading there are not standard"??  Parts per million is parts per million.
       What do you find better about the Big Al's kit?

pF

[KLKelly]

I thought Nitrite at any level was toxic.

Ammonia is toxic at various levels depending on PH and temperature.  It varies and isn't static.  I think Prime detoxes .6ppm of ammonia.

With my ph of 8.3 and temp of 75 ammonia would become toxic much quicker than someone with a PH in the 7s.

I'm sure there are lots of resources on the web that you could google.... here is just one link: http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html

Karrie

[homestar726]

My mistake 

I meant to say that I dont like the "NutraFin" master test kit who is made by Hagen. It uses chart and graphs to figure out where your levels actually are. The big al's kit "API's freshwater" master test kit seems for more easy to read, and way more accurate.

I know everyone has their favorite brans, so im not gonna knock any. But for me, API's master test is far more easier and more reliable in my view.

*Update

The last mollies is getting better and better. He's eating now, and the cotton balls fungus looking stuff is disappearing from his eyes.

And i think my cycle is getting close to the end. Ammonia has now been reading 0 for 4 days now. Nitrite is 2.0ppm and Nitrate is 10-20ppm. From what im told, as soon as the nitrite hits zero and nitrate hovers around 20-40 the cycle has completed... Very excited!

[KLKelly]

A couple big water changes will get that nitrite down - when I was cycling I did a 75% water change once nitrates showed up.  When you show nitrates you should be cycled.

[homestar726]

Very excited!

[homestar726]

Cycle almost finished... And it wasn't ich. I was just a fungal infection due to the stresses of cycling, and most of the other fish that did die, died as a result of very high NitrIte Levels. Thanks for all the help and advise