Odd Discolouration On Jack Dempsey

[Eloise]

I've been treating my fish tank for 11 days because of ich. I added two small jack dempseys last wednesday or so and they contaminated my fish tank. They showed no sign of illness when I bought them, but apparently they were suffering from ich. My pet shop had put them in quarantine, but they sold them to me too early. There was a strong outbreak of ich and I lost a cory and two loaches in the process. My severum was affected, but it's fine now.

I did a 10% water change yesterday and another 15% water change today. My fish look fine, though weak and sluggish. Maybe it's the medication, maybe it's the temperature: I rose it to 86F during the ich outbreak and now it's at 83F. My Severum looks pale and he hasn't eaten today nor yesterday. My two electric blue jack dempseys however look very odd: they behave a little more sluggishly than usually and they both show a whitish discolouration on their head. It's white-grey and blurry. I've been looking at fish fungus pictures for a while and it doesn't look like that. Is it just stress or should I run to the pet shop first thing in the morning to get some more medication?

I'm still treating my tank for ich.

 

[WILDER]

Need alot more info on size of tank in gallons or litres
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite,nitrate, and ph.
Have you increased aeration
Grey patches can be caused by parasites.
Have you added the full dose as you have some fish that cannot tolerate parasite meds at the full dose.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

As wilder said, another concurring opinion here , but those patches are likely protozoans, there are certain prots like Neon Tetra Disease that cause melanocytes to become dispersed, and replaces them with infected white and grey cells making white and grey skin. Cichlids are susceptable to neon tetra disease.

It can also be trichodina and Chilodonella, both protozoans so melachite green, formalin (formaldahyde) meds will be effective, and also salt baths of 10 to 15 mg/l for 20 minutes can be effective (although if you end up doing this for other fish, I wouldn't reccomend this for south american fish as it could just stress them even more). Wilder knows more though, so your safe with what she says I suppose.

 

[Eloise]

I don,t have ammonia nor nitrites nor nitrates. I have increased aeration using a water pump. My severum has developped the same problem. I'm pretty sure it's Chilodonella!

What should I do?

I've still got a cory alive so I don,t want to add salt and risk injure it! Should I do salty water bath? Should I re-transfer my cory back to the 40 gallons (healthy) tank and risk contaminating it and then add salt to the 130 gallons?


Please help! I don't want to lose my fish...

 

[Eloise]

Ok, I've done a salt bath (1%) for my severum and the first jack dempsey is currently undergoing it. The discolouration has dissapeared from my severum and I can see some some tissue damage underneath. It looks quite stressed, though it doesn't hide. It holds its lower fin clamped because of the ich and it has a very laboured breathing. I can see that it opens its gills a lot. It used to do that before the salt bath and it also went to the surface. I hope it will be alright!

Is there anything I can do to help it?

 

[WILDER]

Sadly no once whitespot affects the gills with laboured breathing the chance of surival is very slim.

 

[Eloise]

Sadly no once whitespot affects the gills with laboured breathing the chance of surival is very slim.

It's not just white spot, it's Chilodonella now (I think).

I'm treating my fish with salt bath, they seem to help. I've set up a hospital tank, with salt in the water. I'll keep using medication (melachite green, probably). My Severum is quite beg (5 inches) and it seems to still be in good condition. I had to chase it for a good 15 minutes in the tank - it's 6 feet long - before being able to catch it for its salt bath...

I sure hope they will be fine!

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Unfortunately the damage Chidonella does to the gills is irreversible. The fish will contiunue to show sigsns of respitory distress, clamped fins, and an overall appearance of depression. Formaldahyde, or Formalin is the medication of choice here. Anything with formalin in it should work, but be careful not to overdose because this type of medication can reduce the oxygen intake of fish, which can me harmful for a fish thats already having trouble breathing anyway, but its his only chance at this point. Quarantine as this is not a med to use in a community tank. Another way to treat this is by doing water changes twice a day while adding 3 grams of salt per liter every few hours until the symptoms stop. Antibacterial meds are often suggested if the disease has progressed this far as secondary bacterial infections due to chilodonella are very common. Poor water quality is the most common reason for infection from this parasite, so make sure your water quality is perfect and your temperature high. Chidonless thrives between 68 degrees and around 75 degrees, so keep the temperature above 80 until this is over with.