Big white spot on tail

[youspinmeround]

Hello people.
I am hoping somebody can help me with my fishy’s illness. He has had it for 2 weeks now. He has a white spot on his tail – it looks quite smooth, almost like a spot of concrete has grown on it’s tail, then it blends down into a lowered white area that at some points during the day gets red spots all over it – almost like miniscule droplets of blood, and then it becomes white again. The other side of the tail is not really effected except for that the tail looks a little whiter – almost like its showing though some of the whiteness on the other side.
He is otherwise quote happy and active and a piggie for fighter food.
This fishy has had fin rot from the day I got him (didn’t know/think about this when I got him as I’m a novice fish keeper)and it’s been getting better. But then I neglected water changes for about 2 months L (I feel horrified about this).
He lives in a 20L tank by himself, with a filter and heater, there is some aeration going into the water from a feature on the filter that runs water from the filter with a tiny waterfall effect.
Here is a photo: https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=D129A30653361847&resid=D129A30653361847% 21228&authkey=AJdtwl65pAQhURI

[shellieca]

He looks just like my Simon. It's hard to tell in the pic, I see the white blotch but I can't enlarge the pic to get a better look. My Simon has a small "bleached" spot on his tail fin, not as big as yours has. His coloring is the same as your guys is. I wonder if its common with that coloring to have a "bleach" spot. When you say its like concrete does that mean it sticks out/protrudes?

[veggiegirl]

Hey there,

I took a look at your picture and I must say that I have never seen anything quite like it! All I can suggest is that it may be some form of fungus. Does it appear fuzzy/furry at all? If so I would treat with a medication designed to cure fungus infections like Malachite green which I have used many times with great success. Turning up the heat in his tank during treatment may also help so if you think it may be fungus raise the tank temperature to around 28-30 degrees Celsius but do it gradually a degree or two at a time over a few days. Once your boy is cure be sure to gradually return his tank to around 26 degrees Celsius as high temperatures long term can cause other problems.

Goodluck

[youspinmeround]

Hi Shellieca, in my one's it does protrude - like a white bump and it's quite smooth and well defined - then the it sort of stoops down on one side and creates a more flat looking area of itself - that is also white but this area sometimes gets specs of red on it - like blood?
Veggiegirl, it doesn’t look like fungus at all - my sister used to have a fighter that had fungus and it looked like fuzz. But with my ones it looks like a blop of concrete/paint fell on it's tail.
The only thing I can think of is maybe Lymphocystis? (I really hope it's not :S)

[youspinmeround]

PS. if you click on the smaller pic - it loads a bigger one :) The thing about that blop is that it doesnt photograph too well either - just looks white. And then sometimes red specked on the lowered white areaA

[veggiegirl]

Hey there,

Fungus can look different......... sometimes it has long fuzzy threads like cotton wool and other times it is really short and fuzzy sort of like velvet which is why I suggested it. I have dealt with Lymphocystis before and it looked more like a bunch of grapes, but started off with just the one little ball. I don't really think your guy looks like he has it but I guess it is a possibility.......

[callistra]

Did you precycle the tank for two months or is it currently cycling?

How often and how much do you do water changes? Are you testing with a reliable drops kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

[youspinmeround]

Callistra - Ive had the tank with the fighter for about a year now, and was doing a monthly 50% change the whole time - he seemed really happy and his fin rot got much better while I had him.
But with the hot weather we've been having in Australia I've become lazy and havent changed the water for about 2 months :( and only found this spot when I replaced the light bulb last week and also did an 80% water change.

Edit: I also have some of API's Bettafix that I was giving him just when I got him and realised he had fin rot, which helped him alot! Do you think it would help him if it's fungus?

[callistra]

weekly water changes are always needed. The cause of his disease is chronic poor water quality. You should be doing 50% weekly with siphon to clean the gravel.

Since you are so far behind I would do a series of 3-4 back to back 50% changes over the next couple days to get caught up.

With clean water, hopefully it will clear up on its own. I can't see the spot well but it seems to be viral. If it changes or anything new comes up let us know..

[youspinmeround]

UPDATE:
I am suspecting it might be Columnaris as the poor guy's tail started to fall apart today - looks all shredded and dull but still long Somehow he is still in good spirits and eats alot (always begging for more) and swimms around happily like his usual self.
I went to the fish store and the only thing that they could recommed that they had is Tri-Sulpha (by Blue Planet). I've added the first dose to the aquarium an hour ago and taken out the carbon filter. Going to follow the instructions on the pack and cross my fingers it works. He's still happy at the moment - and had some food even though there are tiny particles of the tri-sulpha floating around.

Hi Callistra, thanks for your advice, I know that I have been a horrible fish parent and I'm actually really sad about it :( Ive done 2 x 80% water changes in the last week.