Cleraring Tank of Fungus Breakout

[tlkng1]

Hi All...

I had 4 mollies in quarrantine for three weeks and they were fine. I put them in their new display tank, one full cycled, and within a week, they all had fungus. I treated the outbreak with API Fungus Cure, however, I lost the "war" and thus the fish. The tank is now empty of fish, however, I would prefer not to completely break the thing down to "sanitize."

Even if I do a full water change without boiling the gravel or doing a complete scrubdown, how long would it take for any fungus "stuff" to become, for lack of a better term, inert? Obviously, I can wash off the artificial plants and probably pour a lot of hot water over the piece of red rock I have in the tank, but, the bio filters are still intact and I dn't want to lose the colonies. I realize the fungus bugs may be in the sponges.

All water parameters are stable. Ammonia and Nitrite are all showing 0, Nitrates are at about 10, temp was at 76. This was a brand new set-up (5 weeks old for cycling time) so no chance the fungus was in there when I added the fish.

Also, how do I sanitize the net I used to remove the fish? Will extra salt in a hot water bath do the trick? Maybe some white vinegar? I don't want to chance spreading anything to my other tanks. Although with the low cost of nets, I may just toss it anyway..just to be safe.

Thanks

T

 

[Joeyb1731]

im not 100% but you could treat the empty tank with just the water with some medication. but most likely most of the bacteria colonies would die from lack of ammonia source. If you really dont wanna break it down this is what I would do. get a small tank, cheap plastic 2 gallons even, take a scoop of gravel and the filter pads and put them in the small tank with some dechlorinated water. treat the display tank with no filter pads just use medication and use it to the full dose, doing 50% waterchanges while dosing. give it like a week and in the meantime feed the small tank with the filter pads and the cup to cupand 1/2 of gravel with some fish food to keep up some kind of ammonia source and keep the bacteria on the gravel and filter pad. then do a big water change and use the gravel you kept and the filter pad to seed the tank. put the filter media back in the display tank, and put the gravel in a mesh bag in front of the filter return. then once your tank is running again get some ammonia like you are doing a fishless cycle and put some in, test the water and make sure you dont get any ammonia readings, if you do then you have to wait out the cycle again could be short or long depending how much bacteria the medicine/no ammonia source killed off. I might sound crazy, but this is only what I would do in your situation because i know how annoying it is to break down the tank. i guess its worth a shot if your crazy like me, im definitely not saying its the right thing someone might know better then me.

 

[1077]

Might be possible that these fish were sick from the outset. It is not uncommon. Might consider purchasing fish from different source if they all came from one store or dealer.
Would also consider that mollies prefer hard alkaline water =with ph values of 7.4 to 8.0. Kept in softer water,, mouth and fin rot along with fungus often takes many of these fish.
Would also consider how I was acclimating the fish to quarantine , or display tank. If the dealers tank or store tank's were much different than water parameters in my tank/tanks,, I might consider drip acclimating the fish.
If the water needs to be adjusted to make it more alkaline, You could try approx one cup of crushed coral chips in the filter per 20 gal of water. You could place the chips in a section of nylon or a pouch and see if this helps. But this is only needed if your pH is 7.0 or lower. Marine salt added to change water at the rate of one tablespoon per 10 gal at water changes ,could work as well. Before I attempted to alter the water however, I would want to know what the pH and kh of my water was or is. Hope some of this helps.

 

[tlkng1]

HI All

1077..in this case, the fish were in quarrantine a full three weeks and were fine. My area has naturally hard water and a natural pH of 7.8..one of the reasons I was going with Mollies in the first place so I wouldn't have to work with RO/DI water to fight the natural tap water parameters. I've used the drip method for at least three years now ...I agree it is a much better acclimation procedure.

I think I am going to modify Joey's idea and do a half fishless cycle. I'll add some ammonia to keep up the "food" though not in the same amount as for a normal new cycle. From research I have done in the last day or so, the fungus was probably the one for Molly disease. While I was using the Fungus cure, and the mollies actually were responding before they went downhill again, it looks like Furan-2 would have been the better choice.

Makes us humble when everything is going so well for so long and then we hit a snag.....

Thanks

T

 

[1077]

I hear you.
Am pleased that you have excellent water for keeping these fish and sorry for your current problem. Please forgive me for stating what you already know with regards to their care. Always mindful that others read post's as well, and perhaps they too can pick up some information. I am near certain that you removed carbon while medicating but would respectfully share a similar expierience I had many years ago.
I was treating for ICH and fish responded well. But rather than replace the carbon I was running at the time,(don't use it anymore) I simply replaced the same old cartridges that were in the tank when the fish became ill. Thus the fish became infected again and again. Took me an embarrasingly long time to realize what was happening. I have since, (many years) wised up a little.
I have a 56 gal column tank currently with high fin platies,blue platies,red wag,and High fin Swordtails. I must add coral chips to maintain proper alkalinity and I envy you. Good luck!