Hi All

[Angel Lady]

I cant think of the name of him but he looks like a pleco. With white spots on him. like poka dots. He has turned white all over I know it is fungus but the only thing is that I am not sure what to treat him with,. I have melafix and Maracyn. My question is which one to use. And the water readings are all 0 and the nitrates are 10 the ph is neutral..


Here is the fish and its name. I have five of these (Spotted Raphaael catffish)

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

As far as i know it should be fine with meds, melafix though is more of a med aid rather than somthing to be relied on to cure a desease by itself, and maracyn i have no experience with but have heard it is quite a harsh med and im not sure if it does fungus either way- personally i would opt for Primafix, it treats internal and external bacterial infections plus fungal ones and i have found it to be a very successful for treating such issues, start with a 70% dose and work you way up to a full dose if the fish shows no signs of improvement within the first couple of days of treatment

 

[Angel Lady]

I just happen to have some pimafix also. I am having some problems with two of my tanks. I have a illness in both of them. I have already lost two cichlids and now this one has got the same problems. I will move the catfish to the hospital tank now and do a big water change in the tank he was in. And hope for the best in the tank that the catfish was in.. As far as the cichlids goes I think it could be a parasite in that ank I am not for sure yet. They show no signs of illness and three days later they turn up dead. I dont know what is causing this. Just like I said the water is perfect and they look healthy as horses. I dont know whats up with them. Do you have any advice as to what this could be. And thanks for the advice on the catfish...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Are you positive they are showing no symptoms or odd behavior at all before death and that the cichlids are compatable with each other and other fish(stupid question i know)?
Are you sure there poop isn't white/stringy, their bums aern't red/inflamed looking, they are eating ok and are not skinny or bloated looking, their activity levels are normal and are not spending much time on their own or or getting picked on by ther fish at night etc?
What is the temp in your tank plus any other info you can give wether it seems insignificant/useless or not ? How many fish have you lost in the last month plus what of(if you know) plus how long did they last until death?

I would not opt for internal parasites just yet, internal bacteria shares many symptoms with internal parasites plus other deseases but its getting a full picture on your situation that counts the most in diagnosing the issue .

 

[Teelie]

Definitely not a Plec. The body type is all wrong. It looks more like it's in the Raphael or Syno group. Anyhow, I've used Maracyn and Maracyn 2 in the past with cories, black neons and snails with no adverse affects on any of them so I'd say it's safe to use. I've never heard it being too harsh. Malachite (however it's spelled), definitely, but not Maracyn.

As to the discoloration, it could just be stress related which could mean it's possibly related to other fish or the water parameters of the tank and not necessarily disease. If the white discoloration is cottony or bumpy though, it's definitely a fungus of some kind and not bacterial or viral.

edit: I see you did find out it was a Raphael.

 

[Angel Lady]

I said it looks sorta like a pleco with poka dots. I found out what kinda of fish it is. I am going with the pimafix on it. I have the cichlid tank in my bed room I watch them all thetime. I stay in my bedroom most all day and nite. I have almost everything I need in there so I just stay in that room. My 18 year old gets on my nerves with all that rap music. So I stay in the bedroom with my fish tanks and ferrets almost all day. I havent seen not one fight out of them this month, Now that you mentioned something different. That is what they are doing staying at the bottom of the tank and not eating very much either. But as for showing any signs of being sick. I cant tell nothing is the matter by looking at them thier colors are great and they still look healthy. I dont see anything that would look odd or any bumps or red sores or nothing, I am stumped with these little fellows..........I dont want to lose anymore of them either, Because I attached to these little fellows

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If your ammonia & nitrites are 0, nitrates under 40 and ph or temp isn't fluctuating and is normal and the fish are not displaying any symptoms before death apart from sudden death syndrome, i would opt for a case of internal bacteria- use the primafix to treat this, plus a series fo regular water changes over the coming days(keeping an eye on med levels making sure you don't overdose) and perhaps try to get hold of some liquid multi-vitamins for your fish to boost their imune systems and general health.
Getting hold of some fresh foods rather than dried/freezedried ones, wether vegetable based or high protein(a mix though is best) and feeding them to your fish will also help boost their energy levels and help clean their symtoms out, making it easier for their guts to work more efficiently .
Internal parasites tends to be very lethal and i would have expected your fish to show more symptoms by now and certainly more deaths if your fish has them, so this is mainly why i am opting for internal bacteria(which is not half as serious if treated correctly) based on your current info .

 

[Angel Lady]

Oh and the temp is at 78 degrees. This is where I leave it. I can say this also they all are just staying at the bottom now. I think it is getting to show that they arent felling well. I have been changing out 20 percent of the water daily now. I have been doing this for the past three days since I lost the other cichlid, I was looking into the tank more just a few minutes ago. And I noticed the scales sticking out on one of them, My oldest one. It is a electric lab I think the name of it is that, and its belly is swelled up some. I think it may have drospy. I dont understand this I take very good care of my fish and I do weekly vac's and water changes. The tanks are always clear. I also wait for two weeks before I add any new fish to the tank. I just cant figure out what I am doing wrong with these. I am heart broken over losing my fish, I cant stand to see another one die and I know for sure that it will. With having drospy...

 

[Teelie]

What kind of food do you feed them? It's possible that any live or frozen food had a bacterial growth in it that infected the fish. Even some freeze dried stuff can. Two of my cories got scepticema and died from it though my tank was well matured and maintained. Sometimes no matter how well you maintain the aquarium, things find their way into the waater.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It is definatly internal bacteria they are suffering from if they are getting dropsy, somtimes these things just happen- deseases are almost always present in the tank water, its only when conditions in some way or another change and give the desease a chance, that it rises in levels to attack the imune systems of fish- if you cichlids had been semi agressive to each other over a long period of time the stress they caused could have brought on the internal bacteria in themselves.
As long as you treat the tank with primafix and continue with the water changes and make sure their diet is good and varied they should get over the internal bacteria within a week or so .

 

[Angel Lady]

Thanks Tokis for all your help. I wish I had of made topic before now, Mabey I would have been able to save my fish that already died...

 

[Disco]

The fish you had was a spotted dora. Sorry to hear about your loss.