fungus?

Question
I have a freshwater tank. I have a white or grey fungus growing on every surface. It appears as small granuals sometimes in a linear fashion. It has killed all fish except for a cichlid and a cory cat. I tried using an antibacterial and anti fungal treatment. No luck

Answer
Hi Marty,
The most common type of fungus in aquariums is the type that grows on uneaten food or waste in the aquarium. It can overrun the tank and eventually attack the fish but the underlying problem could be whats killing your fish instead and not just the fungus itself. If the tank isn't getting enough frequent maintenance (water changes and gravel vacuuming) or leftover food accumulates in the aquarium (especially behind decorations where fish cannot get them) then fungus develops and thrives on the filth in the aquarium.

The fact that the tank may be dirty and therefore have high levels or ammonia, nitrites or nitrates could be whats killing your fish. There's nothing worse for fish than dirty water conditions. Can you test your water? If you can, let me know the readings. You can use test kits from the petstore or most petstores test for free. Knowing these levels is very important because they are part of the nitrogen cycle and ammonia and nitrite can be -very- toxic to fish.

*Also the medication usage also wipes out the beneficial bacteria that are so important to good water quality.

Not that I'm trying to be critical and mean, but who knows what else may be wrong with the tank's care. With not much information I can do my best educated guess.

~The best way to solve all these problems is by water changes. I would start doing 50% water changes everyday. Make sure all new replacement water is treated with a water conditioner and the temp is the same as the aquarium's temp.

Once the problem clears. You should determine what exactly could have been the cause. Could it have been overfeeding? Poor maintenance? Overstocking?

Figuring out the problem will help you prevent it in the future. I will do my best to help if you have any questions!
Karen~