Frequent Aquarium Questions

• I have a full grown Oscar in an 50 gallon tank that has been established for 2 years. Recently he has come down with an extremely bad case of body fungus. I have treated him twice with Maracyn, but he is worse than ever! Is there anything else I can do?
  
  
• I have a large, 3 1/2 year old goldfish that has a large whitish lump on his back. The lump appears to be solid (tumor-like?) and there are no scales on it. He lives alone in a 12 gallon tank. The lump has not grown or decreased in size for about one week. Aside from the lump he seems healthy. What should I do?
  
  
• Where can I find medicine to treat my Betta? I think he may have dropsy. He is bloated and just kind of lays on the bottom of his tank. Also his gills are sticking out like a pine cone. Is dropsy always fatal?
  
  
• Will Melafix affect the operation of my wet dry filter in a marine aqurium?
  
  
• We got a new fish and we think he gave our Betta a disease. The Betta was fine the first day and second morning. But when we came home from work the second day he had clear gooky stuff all over his eyes, mouth and part of his head. His eyes were like cloudy too. And one of our Platys was dead with gooky stuff on him. We went to the pet store and bought Liquid Fungus Cure for freshwater fish . The guy at the store said that would make our beta better. It was supposed to cure eye fungus, mouth fungus, and tail rot. At first he got better and the gooky stuff started to look kinda dry and it peeled off. But our beta died 4 hours after we got home. Since the Platy and Betta, 2 other fish have died. What is wrong with our fish and what do we do to keep the rest of our fish from dying?
  
  
• If a goldfish has had scale damage due to fighting, will the scales grow back and is there a chance that that this may cause other infections?
  
  
• One of my tetras recently developed a bloody leision at the base of its tail, and another is forming on its side. It has become inactive and does not eat well. How can I treat this?
  
  
• Is it normal for a pregnant platy to hold her fins close to her body instead of spreading them out, occassionally isolating herself, and spitting her food back out? She has a gravid spot but has not put on weight.
  
  
• I have a mated pair of fancy guppies that were transferred from their 1 gallon aquarium to a 29 gallon tank. The female is very active. Is this normal?
  
  
• I performed my usual 75% water change which I do about every 3-4 months. I conditioned the water, slowly introduced my fish back to the water, and now they all look like they are going to die. What did I do wrong?
  
  

• I have a full grown Oscar in an 50 gallon tank that has been established for 2 years. Recently he has come down with an extremely bad case of body fungus. I have treated him twice with Maracyn, but he is worse than ever! Is there anything else I can do?
  
  Maracyn does not treat fungus, or the problem we think your Oscar has - Columnaris, a bacterial infection. Change 75% of the water and vaccuum the gravel. Add one tablespoon of aquarium salt to the water for every ten gallons and treat with Aquatronics Spectrogram.
  
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• I have a large, 3 1/2 year old goldfish that has a large whitish lump on his back. The lump appears to be solid (tumor-like?) and there are no scales on it. He lives alone in a 12 gallon tank. The lump has not grown or decreased in size for about one week. Aside from the lump he seems healthy. What should I do?
  
  That is either a cyst or a tumor and you should probably do nothing.
  
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• Where can I find medicine to treat my Betta? I think he may have dropsy. He is bloated and just kind of lays on the bottom of his tank. Also his gills are sticking out like a pine cone. Is dropsy always fatal?
  
  Dropsy is almost always fatal. Search our FAQ for more details. You could however try Aquatronics Betta Max, which we sell here in our online store.
  
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• Will Melafix affect the operation of my wet dry filter in a marine aqurium?
  
  No, but you should not run your protein skimmer or it will remove the medication and over-collect causing flooding.
  
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• We got a new fish and we think he gave our Betta a disease. The Betta was fine the first day and second morning. But when we came home from work the second day he had clear gooky stuff all over his eyes, mouth and part of his head. His eyes were like cloudy too. And one of our Platys was dead with gooky stuff on him. We went to the pet store and bought Liquid Fungus Cure for freshwater fish . The guy at the store said that would make our beta better. It was supposed to cure eye fungus, mouth fungus, and tail rot. At first he got better and the gooky stuff started to look kinda dry and it peeled off. But our beta died 4 hours after we got home. Since the Platy and Betta, 2 other fish have died. What is wrong with our fish and what do we do to keep the rest of our fish from dying?
  
  Problems like that rarely happen that severely overnight. You don't say what species of new fish you bought. The fact that you don't mention the new fish dying, coupled with the fact that the problem happened so rapidly, leads us to believe the new fish is the culprit, but not in spreading disease. It may be killing the other fish. The Betta put up a fight so it survived, but eventually succumbed to it's wounds which probably became infected. Fungus grows rapidly on dead or injured flesh, but rarely on healthy flesh.
  
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• If a goldfish has had scale damage due to fighting, will the scales grow back and is there a chance that that this may cause other infections?
  
  The answer to both questions is yes. Scales are dermal tissue and like fingernails, they will grow back. If the fish is healthy and eating there is probably no need to do anything. However, we would recommend a tablespoon of aquarium salt per ten gallons be added gradually to the tank.
  
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• One of my tetras recently developed a bloody leision at the base of its tail, and another is forming on its side. It has become inactive and does not eat well. How can I treat this?
  
  This is a serious bacterial infection called Septicemia, and may be difficult to treat. Try a potent antibiotic medication that lists this condition as one of the maladies it treats, such as kanamycin. A partial water change before and after the treatment is also in order.
  
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• Is it normal for a pregnant platy to hold her fins close to her body instead of spreading them out, occassionally isolating herself, and spitting her food back out? She has a gravid spot but has not put on weight.
  
  No. There is a good chance that the eggs were not fertilized. She will need time to pass the unfertilized eggs.
  
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• I have a mated pair of fancy guppies that were transferred from their 1 gallon aquarium to a 29 gallon tank. The female is very active. Is this normal?
  
  Yes. She is expressing joy from being moved to larger aquarium.
  
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• I performed my usual 75% water change which I do about every 3-4 months. I conditioned the water, slowly introduced my fish back to the water, and now they all look like they are going to die. What did I do wrong?
  
  You should perform 25% water changes every month instead of your current schedule. You do not need to remove the fish to perform this. Your fish are shocked from the move and clean water since they have grown accustomed to the dirty water.
  
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