Need Help - Geophagus Surinamensis disease

[Machine213]

Need some help, this is now the second fish I have had with this condition. The first one was a couple months ago, I have since lost that fish and now have another one showing the same symptoms, but I could not figure out what was wrong with the first one. As it progressed for the first Surinamensis it was a little bloated, his color was dull and had sub-dermal redness in the front of the face and redness/swelling at the base of his pectoral fins and along the body at the base of the dorsal fin. The fish's breathing became a little labored but otherwise their behavior seemed normal, continued to eat (at least they looked like they were trying until near the end).

The fish that is showing the symptoms now just started showing them yesterday and I hope to get some info on what it is so I can treat them before it progresses like the first one. I now have 5 Surinamensis in a 130 gallon with a couple peaceful catfish, there are no aggressive fish in the tank and all of the other fish in the tank are healthy. I’ve had them for about 2.5-3 years and nothing new has been added in over 1-1.5 years. I have added photos, the first two are from the current fish that is sick and the last two are from the first fish that had the same symptoms a couple months ago.

I use municipal water, but i don't think that is the cause, since between the first fish and now this one I have moved to a different county and no longer have the same source.

Water parameters - master test kit (liquid test solutions)

Ammonia - 0 ppm

Nitrite - 0 ppm

Nitrate - 0 ppm (just slightly above 0, but not high)

pH - 7.2-7.4



Any advice is appreciated, thanks.

 

[itiwhetu]

How hard is your water.

 

[itiwhetu]

Do you feed them a range of food, Geophagus are omnivores, so need a wide variety of foods.

 

[Colin_T]

Can't view pictures. Can you try posting them separately?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

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The red in the face (under the skin around the sinus area) is an infection usually caused by protozoa or bacteria, but can also be caused by a virus. The easiest way to treat this is by cleaning up the tank and adding salt.

I can't comment on the red at the base of the fin or along the body until I see pictures.

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WHAT TO DO NOW?
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for 2 weeks. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.