Fungus Isn't Fun For Your Fish
If you own an aquarium at some point or another you might find yourself battling fungus which can attack your fish. When you are diagnosing fish disease you need to be aware that some bacterial infections also look like a fungus. You may find around the fish’s mouth and gills a fluffy substance that you may think a fungus but if it is more gray than white this could actually be a bacterial infection.fungus or cotton wool disease is very white and fluffy and off the name. You will see it at a site where your fish has a physical injury. While a bacterial infections happen mostly aroundd the mouth and gills fungus or cotton wool disease will happen anywhere on the fish.
Both cotton wool disease and bacterial Infections are caused by bad water quality. If you see your fish with fluffy white goop on them then you must suspect that they have one or the other. The first thing you should do is clean your tank. Get rid of any decaying food on the bottom of the tank to make sure that the water is being circulated properly. Do a partial water change but don’t do too much because you don’t want to add more stress to your already stressed-out fish.
You might try putting your fish and a special hospital tank where he can be treated with a salt bath. You may have to be patient thou treating this disease can take a while. You might be able to find Phenoxyethanol in your pet store put that in your tank as prescribed or apply directly to the fish.
Once your fish gets a fungus either the a bacterial infection or the actual cotton wool disease it may be hard to treat him. The best way to avoid this is to keep your tank in good condition from the get-go by performing the appropriate maintenance. Also when introducing new fish to the tank make sure that they don’t have any white cottony stuff on them and inspect their tank mates at the pet store to make sure none of the fish in the tank are infected.