White fuzz on fin

Question
Hi Karen, I have a new comet fish in a 20 gal. aquarium with another comet I've had in the tank for a few months along with two snails and a bullfrog tadpole.  The new fish arrived on Thursday 11/20.  The following morning I noticed a small blob of white fuzz on the front of his dorsal fin.  After doing some internet reading I thought this was Ich.  But when I went to the pet store (PetCo) to get treatment for it they told me Ich was not fuzzy and that it might be a fungus.  I was also told that treatments for the fungus could wipe out all my good bacteria.  She gave me some salt for the tank in the event it is ich but when I told her about my snails and tadpoles she said it will kill them.  I only have one tank, so I cannot remove them.  I am unsure how to proceed, and how to be sure of what this even is.

I've learned more from this "expert" site than anywhere else on the web.  Thanks in advance.

Kristen

Answer
Hi Kristen,
The petstore is correct that ich is usually never ever fuzzy and the white blob would suggest fungus. This sounds like a really mild case. Perhaps something that could be treated with a aggressive water change regimen  and perhaps a mild treatment of the natural medication "Melafix" or "Pimafix. As far as I know, these two medications are safe for virtually all aquatic animals. Salt would be good but it could definitely be harmful to your snails and tadpole.

Fungus often attacks a fish at a wound site and when the tank has too much waste built up, bacteria and fungi spores will develop amongst built up waste and cause the fish to be more likely to be infected.

So if this were my tank, I'd attempt to fight the cause as well as the symptoms. I think if you catch this early enough, it won't develop further and cover large portions of the fish as it often can.

I would change about 30-50% of the water everyday, using a gravel vacuum to clean the gravel each time. Always to make sure the new water is treated with a good water conditioner and the temp is equal to or just a bit warmer than your tank.

After each water change, redose the pimafix/melafix. This is against directions but it is completely safe. Most medications loose their effectiveness after so many hours in the water so changing it out and redosing is very beneficial.

It's really nice to hear this website has proved to be helpful. That's definitely what we strive for here and we always try our best to spread around as much of our knowledge as possible. Because petstores just often don't tell you the right things.

Hopefully your little guy will get better. Try to feed him a good quality diet with variety/vitamins so he can keep his immune system up. A really informative website on goldfish is-

thegab.org

I really hope this helps!
Karen~