White fungus-cory quarantine

[sammich]

I've had an aquarium for about a year now, and in August, I went on vacation, leaving my fish in the care of my housekeeper (something I will never, EVER do again). When I got back, one of my cories had died. There was some white fungus growing in my aquarium. Now, the fungus is back, and I have devised a plan to kill it. I will quarantine all of my fish, and then add chlorine into the tank with the fungus...does that sound like a good plan? Or should I just up the PH and use CopperSafe? Please, the life of my gouramis and my cory depend on it!

[Silurus]

Where exactly is the fungus growing? On the fish, or on something else in the tank?

[RogerMcAllen]

Not an expert, but chlorine sounds like a really bad idea.

[sammich]

The fungus isn't actually growing on the fish. It's been gathering on a plastic log and my plants. My gouramis are showing signs of velvet, too...does that have any connection with the fungus?

[Silurus]

Fungus doesn't grow on plastic (I've yet to see a fungus that is able to digest plastic). Are you sure it's not due to uneaten food or something?
I don't think the velvet has anything to do with the fungus.

[anonapersona]

What is the pH, why would you feel the need to use pH up?
What is the tap water pH?
What is the nitrite?
Ammonia?
Nitrate?
When did you last change water? How much?

[kateswan]

I had a terrible problem with a white growth that looked a bit like fungus, acted like an algae, and was/is a real problem to get rid of. It covered gravel and plastic plants, and seemed to grow on little more than water. After a lot of research I decided the only thing that seemed to match the description was a cyanobacteria . . . although there is little reporting of CBs in freshwater tanks.

I got it under control by under-feeding my fish for a while, a lot of gravel cleaning, some phosphate-remover pads, and in one tank adding erythoromycin (sp?). Patches still pop up in a couple of tanks.

The stuff I had didn't *seem* to affect the health of my fish, though.

Kathy S

[fisherman]

I can't help with the fungus but I have disinfected tanks with chlorine. I filled the tank including gravel, plants, everything except the fish, with a 5% solution (some say 2 or 3% is enough) and let it sit for a day. Then I emptied the chlorine water, rinsed everything several times, and filled the tank again with 3x the regular amount of dechlor. Probably overkill on the dechlor but just to be sure. I let it sit again for a day, took everthing out, put plants, tank, everything outside and let it dry out for a couple of days until it was completely dry. Filled the tank, cycled it, and added fish. Worked for me.