A lot of the fish in my small pond have developed a white patch on their side and are dying off. Does anyone know if it's safe to treat the water with Malachite green, or Tetra Lifeguard if you have turtles living in the same enclosure?
It's a small pond, 200 gallons. They are just fancy guppies. They've been developing a white patch on the side and acting lame for a few days before they disappear (turtles eat them). Not all of of them just a few every few days but I've had a lot die off over the past 2 weeks in this manner. I have a couple small goldfish too but they haven't been affected. I think it's a fungus, maybe bacterial. I went ahead and put set the turtles up in a kiddie pool and treated the pond today with something called Pimafix. We'll see if it helps.personally I wouldn't …….. what do you think it is , parasite ? bacterial ? fungal ? there are better alternatives for any of the three , imo …….. what type of fish ? how many ? how big is the pond ?
I don't think it's ich I've dealt with ich before. These aren't little white spots. This is a large white patch on their side, from the middle point of their body all the way to their tale. Almost like their scales came off. The turtles are fine though, not affected.
I can't see the pics but that definitely sounds similar.OK, it sounds like something other than ich (large patch vs. white dots) and this might be it:
https://www.aquariumforum.com/f5/need-help-white-patch-my-guppy-11796.html
Many of the members of Fishlore believe that Pimafix is useless. It is made mostly of tea tree oil, and any actual medicine in it is so weak it just won't do the job.It's a small pond, 200 gallons. They are just fancy guppies. They've been developing a white patch on the side and acting lame for a few days before they disappear (turtles eat them). Not all of of them just a few every few days but I've had a lot die off over the past 2 weeks in this manner. I have a couple small goldfish too but they haven't been affected. I think it's a fungus, maybe bacterial. I went ahead and put set the turtles up in a kiddie pool and treated the pond today with something called Pimafix. We'll see if it helps.
Thanks so much Karen.Many of the members of Fishlore believe that Pimafix is useless. It is made mostly of tea tree oil, and any actual medicine in it is so weak it just won't do the job.
Also, it severely de-oxygenates the water. Your filter should already be off, but increase your aeration to the max ASAP! I used either Melafix or Pimafix in my tank years ago, and it killed my guppies. They suffocated. [emoji22]
I would try API General Cure or Seachem Paraguard. Both treat multiple issues, so may work.
Another possibility would be Jungle Fungus. It's available at Walmart, and does a good job on fungus, but nothing else.
You would run your filter for a day or two and do water changes to get the Pimafix out, then try one of these.
Whatever you do, increase the aeration til the Pimafix is gone.
Thanks Mark. I didn't seem to lose any fish last night but I turned the filter back on this morning and I'm going to see if I can get the API fin and body stuff today.api fin and body cure is/was doxycycline , might help , should be safe for the turtles ……… fluconazole is available for fish , might want to check into the safety of it for the turtles , some of those antifungals have some I believe liver side effects ……. markw84 keep koi , perhaps he could be helpful ?