inka 50 fungus.

[uberape]

I have no way of getting a decent photograph of this ailment but all i need is advice on a certain course of action. My inka 50 recently injured itself on a piece of wood and a fungal growth has appeared on the wound. Now this exact problem in the same tank has happened to a ctenopoma acutirostre which was eventually and painstakingly fatal because the wound never heals, and the fish just itches off more scales, giving more space for the fungus. Now I was always tempted to 'operate' on the ctenepoma and wish i had,so i am now tempted to 'operate' on the inka because the sore is already worsening. I was going to take the fish into a net,clear out the wound as best as i could then with a plastic syringe, coat the wound in a strong saline solution, then leaving the fish in the net, put it in a bucket of water from another tank. I would take the net (with fish) out and re-administer the solution a few times to make sure that the wound had been cleansed.I would then put the fish in another tank until it either healed or passed. I want to save this fish and this fungus is a silent killer, it only pops up on open wounds plus it does not respond to any meds i have tried, and i have tried many. I know the fish will be super stressed but it really has no choice as it will die over time.

 

[gerald]

How do you know that it started from an injury, and not as a bacterial infection?
"The wound never heals" makes me suspicious.

 

[uberape]

well i saw the injury fungus free first.well i'm not absolutely certain of course, but it looked liked a knocked off scale, now its a pretty large mark on his flank with white stuff.I'll try to get a good photo. Its like columnaris but thicker, whiter. I dont understand how he is the only fish in the tank that has it if it did not develop from a wound because there has been many fish in the tank since the ctenepoma and it is definitely the same ailment.

 

[gerald]

It's not unusual for some kinds of slow-growing infections to show symptoms in just one fish at a time. The white fungus (or bacteria?) you now see on the outside might be a secondary invader, after a different pathogen started the wound from the inside. I'm not saying that it didn't start with a mechanical injury - it certainly could have - but sometimes internal infections can cause sores that look like they came from an injury.

 

[uberape]

would you have any idea how to treat this? I'm stumped. I cant remember all the meds ive already tried but I guess most of them were for external fungus. A few i have still are protozin and myxazin by waterlife, plus your average general treatments by tetra and king british.

 

[gerald]

Without knowing what it is, it's a shot in the dark. Kanamycin or Cephalexin sometimes work on stubborn infections. If it's Mycobacterium, all you can do is optimize diet and any other conditions you have control over, and hope the fish's immune system can put it into remission.