What the heck disease is this!?! New Q about using bleach

My mom has a 38 gallon freshwater tank that has been nothing but problems. lol

There is some disease in it, and I cannot figure out what is going on. Sorry this is so long, but please read!

She cycled the tank fishless. Added a few fish, they were fine for a few weeks, added a few more, etc. Then one got something that looked slightly like fungus but it spread super fast. Within a day all the fish had it, and by that night 100% of the fishes' bodies and fins were covered in this, including their eye balls!!! Ugh, gross. The next day they were all dead. My mom treated the tank with an antibiotic and anti-fungal.

My mom bought more fish and tried again, same thing. The fish are totally covered and dead within a few hours. So then I helped her do a big cleaning on the tank. Siphoned the gravel, changed filter media, drained the tank of all the water, etc...

Tank was ready to go again for fish, so she went and bought some. Within 2 hours of being in the tank, the fish were completely covered, including the stuff attached to their eyes, and by morning they were all dead. My mom is very discouraged and wants to sell everything off. I want to help her!

There is one fish, a white cloud, that has lived through all of this, and is healthy as can be. So strange.

Whatever is covering the fish and their eyes is white, but not cottony like fungus. It looks almost like brooklynella (but even worse), but that is a saltwater fish only disease. It does stick up a bit off of the fish, but not a lot. And this stuff infects and kills fast!

Any ideas what this could be?!

THANKS!!

 

A few questions for ya.

Throughout this ordeal, ahve you goten the water tested? if so, what were the ranges and at what stages?

What species of fish did you guys add into the system?

What kind of decor does the system have? anything that may raise or drop the ph levels?

Were all the fish added from one source, one lfs? If so, how are the fish looking in their systems? have you been in the shop and looked over all the tanks to see if this is anywhere in their holding set-ups?

Which meds did you your exactly? and at what doses and for how long?

As it spread this fast, it could be a couple things, vibro, fish tb, velvet(oodinium), or columnaris. I personally think it could of been a bad case of oodinium, which looks like a fungal infection in many cases, but is actually a parasite. Might be why the antifungal and antibiotics had zero effect. But it could also have been a resistant strain of colimnaris(as it can in days as well).

 

Thanks for the response!! I will answer all your questions in just a moment.

My first thought was velvet, because of how fast it spreads and kills...however the marks on the fish weren't yellow, and I read velvet has a yellow tint to it? Maybe that's just a myth.

Also, is it possible for a fish to be totally immune to velvet?

I didn't think it was TB, because I read that doesn't spread as quickly. The fish tend to waste away and then die. I've never heard of vibro. So I'll look that up.

I'll start answering all the other questions

 

Throughout this ordeal, ahve you goten the water tested? if so, what were the ranges and at what stages?

We've tested the water and had the LFS test it. All params are 0 and pH is 7.0.

What species of fish did you guys add into the system?

The first time were three rasbora tetras, then after a few weeks she added some silvertip tetras. The second go around were bleeding heart tetras and the third try was three black neon tetras and three zebra danios.

What kind of decor does the system have? anything that may raise or drop the ph levels?

The tank just has gravel, plastic plants, and some large pieces or rock (probably granite). There's no driftwood, which I know can affect pH.

Were all the fish added from one source, one lfs? If so, how are the fish looking in their systems? have you been in the shop and looked over all the tanks to see if this is anywhere in their holding set-ups?

The first two sets of fish were from the same fish store, which has very healthy fish. I buy many of my saltwater fish from them and all the fish look great in their tanks. No dead fish, disease, etc.

The third try was from a different fish store.

Which meds did you your exactly? and at what doses and for how long?

My mom put in Maracyn I and Maracyn II (I think that's what they are called) and also Pimafix.

 

ReefPlayground has great suggestions. Do a full battery of parameter tests, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temperature would be a great start. Siphon the gravel completely, replace filtration material and clean all equipment thoroughly. Also test the water used during changes.

How often is the water changed and how much? How much food is fed?

 

She cleans the tank once a week, even though there's only one fish in there really, since the other fish live like a day, lol sad. She squirts flakes into the tank and feeds just as much as the fish will eat. If there are any extra flakes in the tank after feeding she always nets them out.

She has two smaller tanks that are fine. Healthy, happy, long living fish, which she bought from the same place we bought the first two go rounds of fish from.

 

Sounds like time to breakdown the tank and thoroughly disinfect everything. Then start over from square one. Throw out the gravel. I think the white cloud could be a carrier now.

 

That's what I told her. I'm trying to convince her to go salt since she has to throw out everything and buy all new stuff anyways. I just want to figure out what this is...it's driving me nuts.

 

Velvet can have a yellow tint, but doesnt always.

Also, were there any red soars along with the fungus looking stuff?

 

No, no red sores. Just the white stuff takes over their bodies and then they die. But nothing else visible.