[Killietalk] True Fungi - A bedtime story

["Tranquility Base" <TranquilityBase at netzero_net>]

Hi Folks,

Just a little tale of woe with a more or less happy ending:

A couple of weeks ago an ancient annual came down with what was ostensibly a
true fungus. Yes, just like in those old black and white photos mislabeled
as java moss in an Axelrod book it was textbook fungus.  It has been some
years since I encountered a true fungus on anything other than eggs. As a
matter of fact I couldn't recall when it was.

As best as I recalled, a little salt and the disease is gone. So I tossed in
a few handfuls of sodium chloride, a few drops of Tetra Fungus Stop (to
finish off the bottle) and a couple of capfuls of Melafix to facilitate
healing and prevent bacterial infection.

As predicted, the fungus pretty much cleared up and the old male
Callopanchax began to look just a little more active. I was occupied for a
few days and when I looked back into the tank, the fungus was back. 'Odd'
thought I, but undaunted, I tossed in more salt and some acriflavine and
fully expected the fungus to be eliminated by the next morning.

The next day, things were worse. The rear portion of the dorsal fin was
being eaten slowly off and there appeared to be growth starting in front of
the anal fin. More salt and acriflavine were added and now less sure of
myself I began to scour my feeble memory for a better treatment.

A quick trip by the LFS revealed that they carried nothing for true fungus,
no surprise there, but I figured the Jungle anti-fungus (actually anti
culminaris) product couldn't hurt and as I hated going home empty handed, I
bought and added same to the tank at my usual almost double the recommended
dosage. But alas this too was to no avail.

A few phone calls confirmed that my treatment should have worked, and
convinced that my diagnosis was correct, I found myself staring at a problem
I had not seen in at least two decades. It looked so familiar, but I really
could not remember the details of how I stopped the problem.

And then while straining to see the fish through the green water, I noticed
what appeared to be a full grown white worm hanging from the anal area of
the fish and another protruding from the fungal mass to the posterior of the
dorsal fin. Quite frankly in disbelief, I went to my stockpile of remedies
and dusted off a plastic bottle of Life Bearer, a product that I have always
kept in stock since I encountered a worm infestation back in the mid 1980's.
I added a strong dose of the product after shaking it vigorously for some
time and within hours the worms hanging from the fish were visibly dying and
by nightfall they had dropped off. The fungus was gone by the next morning.
The question at hand, where did the worms come from?  And why weren't they
elsewhere in my fish room, or were they?

---Flashback 20 years---

I was living elsewhere and I was working two jobs. I had an old metal frame
55 gal fish tank.  I set it up with the best equipment available at the time
and intended it to house my collection of synodonis catfish as well as a
host of common community fish. The object of the exercise was to give me a
respite from my hectic life style. So I strolled into the LFS and purchased
some $30.00 of inexpensive and colorful 'junk fish' and went on my merry
way.  Strangely enough certain fish began dying off, one at a time, the
catfish and certain others remained strangely unaffected.  At this time I
was called on by my former boss to assist him in setting up a 36" 45 gal
aquarium from the same LFS (important detail for later on).

As the fish in the tank were of little intrinsic value, I pretty much
replaced them monthly and went on enjoying my community tank.  When finally
a larger fish that I had grown fond of became sick I decided to study the
issue of the dying fish more closely. The fish had what appeared to be a
fungal infection. I treated the tank with just about everything, to no
avail. I even added so much clout that the fish started jumping out. Finally
a drop of iodine cured the large infected fish, but I was determined to get
to the root of the problem. I was able to obtain a prescription for
Chloramphenichol HCL 250mg caps. I added a rather large dose of same and the
fungus was gone revealing a single worm at the center of each former site of
a fungal tuft on the fish.

I returned to the LFS and asked the proprietor if he had had any experience
with worms, He gave me a bottle of Life Bearer, claimed that he did not have
a worm issue in his store, and told me that they had most likely come from
my tap water.  I might add that he also could recall and pronounce the
active ingredient of Life Bearer from memory. Just as promised the worms
were gone within 2 days of the initial treatment.

----Flash forward 19 years---

My friend had kept his 45 gallon fish tank set up but had no luck with
keeping up the community tank. He wound up with two silver dollars and 2
kissing guaramies. Although he added fish for the first few years none
survived. He assumed that the large guaramis or the silver dollars must have
killed them.  Finally after almost two decades he was down to one very large
guarami and on the eve of a move, he called me to take down his fish tank.
The tank and accoutrements were mine for the price of finding a good home
for the huge and very old gurami.

I took the gravel and put it in a bucket that I left in the yard. It rained
so the bucket never really dried up. I thought to breed the callopanchax
over some gravel so I took same from the bucket in the yard, put it in a
dish and placed it in the aquarium with the fish after rinsing it under tap
water.  As no fish had been introduced into my friends aquarium for over a
decade, I felt quite certain I was at little risk of introducing an
undesirable element into the equation.

---The time is now, again---

A year after I introduced the gravel into my aquarium my fish have white
fungal tufts, therein are concealed worms.  Exactly as I remembered the
symptoms of 20 years ago.  I strain to think where these worms may have come
from. There were other fish in the tank for about 2 years before the
callopanchex went in. They never got sick. The callopanchax were in there
for almost a year and did not get sick. The foods were either dry or from my
own worm and daphnia cultures. And then it dawned on me. The gravel from my
friends 45 gal tank was the key!

20 years ago a certain LFS had been over run with worms (despite their
denials). I set up two tanks, mine and my friends. We both bought our fish
from the same store (and with them the worms). I killed them. He didn't. He
wound up with a fish that was not susceptible to the pests. But the worms
remained living in his gravel. 19 years later I take down his tank and move
some of his gravel into one of my fish tanks. And I get the worms back.  A
year later they strike my poor aged killifish. Well the mystery of why his
fish tank never worked out is solved. So is the mystery of the fungus that
would not go away. Maybe it even has something to do with the fact that none
of the callopanchax's eggs ever hatched.

In any event it makes for a good fish story with a happy ending, or does
it...the worms may still be out there somewhere they can apparently survive
for years without killing a fish.

Keep this story in mind if you ever get run across a fungal infection you
can't cure.  Or a disease that suddenly comes back after what seems like a
very long time.


Peace,

~RJ~


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