Terry B! Help!

[nickbuol]

I've moved my message about the Koran up the list so it was easy to reference... Anyway, we've been doing the Maracyn 2 treatment for 11 days now, and there is definately no improvement. In fact things got a lot worse as far as the white areas are concerned. They are very think and cottony like. Some is white, some is grayish. It got so bad that about 8 days ago, I thought the little guy was a goner. He stopped eating, and wasn't swimming much. We tried something drastic. We fished him out and scraped off some of the cottony stuff from his front fins, not nearly as persistant as the first time, and put him in some nice clean (unmedicated water). Then, while we did a water change on his tank (again) we did a fresh water dip to see if anything would help and put him back into his little hospital tank. He began eating again the next day, and the spreading if it hasn't stopped, has at least slowed down, but there has been no further improvement.
He doesn't like eating the medicated froven brine, but will eat regular flake, and is swimming a bit, but he still looks overall more disgusting than the pictures I first posted.
What next should I try? The poor little guy has very little of his tail left, and has to move his entire body to swim fast (like when he is "attacking" his food).
Any thoughts, ideas, etc? I am going through meds like crazy due to some other advice about doing the double dose of Maracyn II like you said, but also putting in a double dose of Maroxy, and a single dose of Maracyn every day. We started this when he stopped eating as a "last resort".
I am about to order a supply of meds, but again, correct treatment is better, both for the fish and the pocketbook...
I can post updated photos tonight it you like.

 

[beth]

I'm not Terry, but it sounds to me like you're wasting time with antibotics because the problem is not an infection, it is a fungal disease. Try using the fungal med that is made by the same manufacture who makes the Maracyn.
Cotton growths signal fungus, slimy grouth or white film coat on surface of fish means bacterial.

 

[jimi]

Im not Terry B either but it sounds like possible viral infection in which case there is little you can do but keep the water clean and wait for it to go away on its own. Freshwater dips and bombarding with antibiotics without a definate diagnosis may end up killing him when clean water and good food could go along way.

 

[nickbuol]

This is exactly my problem. No difinitive idea as to how to help.
These are 2 resonable ideas, but either one could be wrong and backfire.
BTW, what would be a good fungal treatment Beth? I thought that Maroxy was?

 

[nickbuol]

Thanks Terry, but I WAS following your directions exactly as you said, but things were still getting worse, so I paniced. Don't give up on me yet!
I have since (this new thread) stopped all treatments but the Maracyn-II.
I am going to stop that when I get some new meds(Nitrofurazone).
Who makes a product with Nitrofurazone in it that works?
I see that Seachem makes PolyGuard, but it says that it is formulated for fresh water, but will work on salt water as well.
Or what about Furan-2 by AquariumPharmaceuticals?
Thanks.