Mysterious disease(s) ?

[amandalou]

Help! My fish have suddenly come down with a disease I have been unable to identify! The gourami appears to be covered with dust, my algae eater has white spots on the fins, and one out of three tetras has spots on his fins as well. The corys seem unaffected. A saltwater bath was unable to save another gourami, who died this morning with a severe case of fin rot in addition to the dusty appearance and excess slime. Unfortunately, my gouramis have always been timid, and I did not notice the disease in my tank until late last night. None of the fishes' behaviour has changed.

My tank is an 18-gallon tropical with no live plants. I have been using a mixture of tap and distilled water during water changes. I have also begun treating for ich, in the hopes that this is an extreme case. (Or perhaps a mixture of diseases - the algae eater survived a bout with ick about a year ago that looked very similar to what he has now.)

Also, for some time, my snail has been developing pock-like marks on his shell. Is this related? And, I use a bio filtration system - can my living filter be infected?

I have never seen a disease this inclusive in my tank. Any imput will be much appreciated.

[amandalou]

My crisis seems to have been averted. Ich treatments, a 25% water change and gravel vacuum, plus replacing all my silk plants and getting rid of the driftwood seem to have helped. Gourami has returned to a healthy pink colour, and spots seem to have disappeared on both algae eater and tetra. One of gourami's eyes still appears slightly more cloudy than the other, but he does not seemed bothered at all.

[AquariumPro]

Hello:

I am so sorry that your original post was missed. I am glad that your fish seem to be getting better, but would recommend you continue with the Ich treatment after doing another 25% water change. Just an FYI: The conditions that you describe are not mysterious at all, and I feel terrible that somehow I missed your first posting.

That is Ich, without question, no doubt in my mind. It does not always look like white spots. In very heavy infestations, the parasites build up and create a flaky appearance on the skin of the fish.