Gobi & fungus

**Sweet Angel** · 12th Sep 2005, 20:34

I have one bumblebee gobi which came with "cotton wool effect" on the base of its tail. Then I did a high dose saltbath (4 tsp / galon water) on it for 0.5 hour. But later I found the cotton wool still there, so I quarantine my gobi and treat it with metalene blue for days. Maybe 1 week plus several days (I did water change too & add metalene blue again) I put the gobi back in my tank.
Cotton wool effect was gone.
That was about 2 weeks ago. Today I saw little cotton wool effect on the other part of its body.

It's hard to keep monitoring gobi's condition coz it hides most of time.
I believe the cotton wool is caused by fungus.
Does anyone knows what's the best & efficient treatment for this gobi...?
I hate keep transfering it to quarantine tank since it can get stress, and worst when the other fishes get infected with this fungus too...

**michael lai** · 12th Sep 2005, 22:16

Hi angel,
Just to share, I had a similar case but with rasboras, Tetra medica is the name of the medicine. Very effective against the fungus, should see fungus disapear in about 6 hours if the dosage is correct. It does not destroy filter and is 'kind' on snails and shrimps.

Btw, buy the 1 in orange and red packaging not the blue 1.

**Sweet Angel** · 13th Sep 2005, 00:06

Mike,
Does this Tetra medica also kind on plants ?

**michael lai** · 13th Sep 2005, 08:59

Hi angel,
I believe so, read the contents last night. something about silver... and collenoid. Never heard of this chemicals being unkind to plants. Did not have any side effects after the last time I use. After treatment, you can put activated carbon for 48 hours to completely remove the medication. Hope the info helps, peace.

**Sweet Angel** · 13th Sep 2005, 22:18

Thanks a lot Mike !

Will try to get one of those Tetra medica...
But my filter don't have any activated carbon. It's just a small Atman power filter.

**stormhawk** · 14th Sep 2005, 08:12

Sweet Angel, if I was you I'd cull this poor fella to prevent the problem from spreading to other fish in the tank. Once the cotton-thingy sets in, usually the fish is on its countdown to eventual death. With fungus there are secondary infections caused by bacteria and this actually kills the afflicted fish.

**Sweet Angel** · 15th Sep 2005, 01:31

Hi guys,

Tonite I was shocked to see my gobi got a lot of cotton wool effect on its body, so I quarantined it immediately, do heavy saltbath for 0.5 hour, then put it in quarantine tank with metalene blue treatment.
I also got food problem with this gobi. I usually feed the fishes with dry fish food (green & red colour, tiny ball shape, brand name:Akari, and the other one brown colour, shape like fish waste

, brand name: Master fish food).
My gobi seems to dislikes these food, it never touches the food.
Anyone have experience feeding gobies? I hope I don't have to feed it with live food

**stormhawk** · 15th Sep 2005, 07:21

With bumblebee gobies, they will usually require live foods. However I know that some of them do feed on frozen bloodworm but that takes a little getting used to for them.

If you dislike the need for live foods then my suggestion is to read up on a species' particular requirements before you go ahead and purchase them. Some fishes will only feed on live foods and will die of malnutrition or hunger or a combination of both if the hobbyist refuses to give them live foods.

**kadios** · 15th Sep 2005, 11:47

I used to keep them last time and fed them with freezed bloodworm and dried brineshrimps chopped to small pieces to accomodate their small mouths. Need to get them used to the food though. If you are able to, it will be good to add salt to the tank for them to thrive better.

Cheers!

**Sweet Angel** · 21st Sep 2005, 00:11

Originally Posted by michael lai

Hi angel,
Just to share, I had a similar case but with rasboras, Tetra medica is the name of the medicine. Very effective against the fungus, should see fungus disapear in about 6 hours if the dosage is correct. It does not destroy filter and is 'kind' on snails and shrimps.

Btw, buy the 1 in orange and red packaging not the blue 1.

Mike,

Do you have riccia fluitans in your tank?
I add Tetra Medica 2 days ago & today noticed that my riccia turns white and some transparent. No bubbles come from them anymore...

This only happened with riccia, other plants look okay.
I suspect this caused by tetra medica...
Now I moved my gobi to the quarantine tank (again ) & treat it with Tetra Medica.
Will the riccia survive...?

**michael lai** · 21st Sep 2005, 09:29

Dear Angel,
I do have riccia in my tank but its not affected by the medication. Yours might be different problems. Riccia is highly adaptable, trust me they will survive. If you need to remove the medication just dump a packet of 'charcoal' those use for aquarium please

into your filter, they will clear within 48 hours.

**Sweet Angel** · 22nd Sep 2005, 00:12

When I add water treated with Tetra Medica in my tank, the whole tank gets brown. I only add 2/3 suggested dose because I thought the water gets brown enough I'm afraid it will harm the fishes & plants.

Mike, since your riccia okay, I'm suspected below 2 conditions :

1) I add this medication while doing water change, so I treated the water with Nutrafin Aqua Plus too. (I did 30% water change)
Could it be the combination of Nutrafin Aqua Plus & Tetra Medica caused riccia dying...?

2)Temperature reaches 30.5 C this week, can this be the reason of dying riccia?

**michael lai** · 22nd Sep 2005, 09:21

Hi Angel,
Just hang on to that thought on observation 1, I think it would be kinda unfair to make that observation. Both manufacturers are reputable companies, also both medication works differently. Tetra attacks the bacterial directly, it is not a form of anti biotics so it doesn't really affect the water conditions. I'm not saying it's not possible but unlikely.
Btw, I have riccia in a few tanks with 'different' conditions due to my work schedule

somehow they just manage to survive everytime. So I think yours might be a very different problem. Gotta go now I'll be back later. Just hang on to that thought

**Sweet Angel** · 23rd Sep 2005, 21:11

Hmm yeah reputable companies but doesn't mean their products can be use simultaneously...
Btw I think my riccia won't survive, still white all of them