Is this a fungal growth?

[AModernBird]

Hi, folks. Long time reader, first time poster.

I've had Carlton (Golden Albino GFP) for about a year and up until now, he's been healthy and happy.

I just noticed tonight that he has this sort of white growth on one of his gills and they're kind of sheared looking. The other 5 gills look lush and full. He has a healthy appetite still but I have noticed he has not been nearly as active the past few days. He usually paces the tank around 10 PM each night and lately he's mostly been in his hide. His tail is not curled and he doesn't seem stressed or flicking his gills. Sorry the pictures aren't terribly clear - I only have a cell phone camera.

About his setup, he's in a 20 gallon high tank with fine sand and large stones as substrate. The water is pretty consistently 70-72 degrees. I try very hard to keep it lower but it's an uphill battle - the winter should make it much easier.

I just tested the water and I got the following results:
Ammonia: 0 PPM
Nitrite: 0 PPM
Nitrate: 0 PPM
pH: 6.0

I'm doing a water change tonight but I could use some help outside of that.

Does he need to be fridged? I'm very worried but I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to keep him healthy. I'm looking to move him and another 'lotl to a 40 gallon breeder I'm making a stand for this weekend. Please help!

 

[auntiejude]

If he has been less active or quiet he is probably stressed!

The photos aren't too clear, but it looks fungusy. No need to fridge him, use the salt bath tutorial with room temp water. Fungus is common in warm tanks.

Alternatively it could be chemical in some way: looks like there is something wrong with your cycle - you should have nitrates and you pH should be higher - do you use test strips or liquid tests? And what kind of filter do you have? Has anything changed in your tank recently?

 

[AModernBird]

Hi auntiejude, thanks for your reply.

I am using the liquid tests. Sorry for the bad photo, all I have is a cell phone to get photos and he was feeling extra wiggly last night. He's moving about this morning and his other gills look lush and pink, just the fuzzy one is worrisome. It does seem likely that it's fungus. I'll probably be giving him a salt bath this evening - I have to leave for work in a few minutes.

As for the tank, I use a Fluval U2 filter (minimal flow) and there have been no changes to the tank recently. I did do a water change after the tests last night. I'll look into improving the nitrates and pH. Thank you for your help

 

[layna]

It does look like your cycle has crashed if nitrATE is 0
As for the low PH, you can raise it by adding some bird grit (crushed oyster shell) pop some in a stocking and add it to your tank, it will slowly raise the ph and keep it that way, the more you add, the higher your ph

 

[xxianxx]

I cant see any fungus in the pic, it looks just like gill filament loss. This is generally caused by too high a temp/poor water quality. The tank peramiters you posted are unusual, do you have a heavily planted tank ? If not there should be some nitrates/nitrites present, which would lead me to believe your test kit is inaccurate. Salt bathing could actually make the filament loss worse.