Does anyone know about cotton wool disease? I'm not sure if this is my problem or not. I have a new tank that was just set up about 3 weeks ago. I have 4 tiger barbs in the tank. The ammonia levels are fine. The ph is just a little above normal but I am bringing it down. I have added stresszyme and stress coat along with some salt to help gil function. The food in the tank at the bottom, along with the plants and decorations in the tank are growing a white fuzz all over them. I am not overfeeding the fish but now they have stopped eating and they are hiding a lot more. Does anyone know if this is cotton wool disease? I read that I should give them a salt bath and add phenoxyethanol, but I have already put salt in there and I dont want to overdo it. Please let me know if anyone can help. :-/ Thanks!
fuzzy food!!!!?!?!?!
- Thread starter nitsirk539
- Start date
Yes, you are overfeeding, no food should ever reach the bottom of the tank (unless of course you're feeding sinking food to a bottom feeder 
).
The white fuzz sounds like a fungus. I would suggest a water change with a gravel vac to get it out of there.
How long has the tank been set up? What are the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?
IMO, neither the salt nor the stress-zyme are doing anything for your fish. The only thing I use salt for is as an ich and fungus treatment, not a general tonic. Stress-zyme does even less than salt, it does nothing at all IME, just a waste of money.
How are you bringing your pH down? Oft' times playing with your pH can do more harm than good. Fish are very good at adapting, so long as the pH is stable, the exact number generally doesn't matter.
HTH,
Josh
).The white fuzz sounds like a fungus. I would suggest a water change with a gravel vac to get it out of there.
How long has the tank been set up? What are the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?
IMO, neither the salt nor the stress-zyme are doing anything for your fish. The only thing I use salt for is as an ich and fungus treatment, not a general tonic. Stress-zyme does even less than salt, it does nothing at all IME, just a waste of money.
How are you bringing your pH down? Oft' times playing with your pH can do more harm than good. Fish are very good at adapting, so long as the pH is stable, the exact number generally doesn't matter.
HTH,
Josh
I know about cottenmouth and fungus. These are located on your fish.
If it is a shrimp pellet on the bottom looking fuzzy, it because it is starting to breakdown into a mess. Don't feed tigers shrimp pellets(unless like jwright said, you have a bottom feeder)
If it is a real whiteish fuzz then it is bacteria growing on the food. If you get bacteria on food you either fed too much , or you leave the leftovers in the tank too long.Either way it is overfeeding.
If you don't feed pellets and the food reaches the bottom ..you must remove it before it decays. Otherwise, you will have a problem.
Basically I agree with Jwright.
If your fish are hiding..they are stressed. What are ammonia and nitrIte, nitrAte levels?
If it is a shrimp pellet on the bottom looking fuzzy, it because it is starting to breakdown into a mess. Don't feed tigers shrimp pellets(unless like jwright said, you have a bottom feeder)
If it is a real whiteish fuzz then it is bacteria growing on the food. If you get bacteria on food you either fed too much , or you leave the leftovers in the tank too long.Either way it is overfeeding.
If you don't feed pellets and the food reaches the bottom ..you must remove it before it decays. Otherwise, you will have a problem.
Basically I agree with Jwright.
If your fish are hiding..they are stressed. What are ammonia and nitrIte, nitrAte levels?
It seems like a vicious cycle ;D when cycling.
Cycling > high nitrate/nitrite/ammonia > stress > fish not eating > food on bottom > bacteria/fungal growth on food > fish more susceptible to infection >not eating >more stress. blahblah.
Cotton mouth is just a fungus (columnaris that attacks your fish when it is stressed or vulnerable).
Check it out.
http://www.versaquatics.com/disease_diagnosis.htm
Cycling > high nitrate/nitrite/ammonia > stress > fish not eating > food on bottom > bacteria/fungal growth on food > fish more susceptible to infection >not eating >more stress. blahblah.
Cotton mouth is just a fungus (columnaris that attacks your fish when it is stressed or vulnerable).
Check it out.
http://www.versaquatics.com/disease_diagnosis.htm