Skin and fin deteriorating on cichlid

[IHaveADogToo]

Does anyone have any idea what is happening with my multifasciatus? It looks like a patch of skin and part of the fin are deteriorating. Fungus? Bacteria? Infection? Could it maybe be a slime coat issue?

Here's the best image of it I could get. See the discolored area? See how it looks kind of flaky/fuzzy? It looks more like skin peeling off than fuzziness. Looking at him in person, the affected area of his fin has some small holes in it. He's in a tank with 5 others of his own species but he's the only one I've noticed this deterioration on. No other tank mates. I guess you could say they're still in their quarantine period, even though they're not going into another tank later. I just got these shell dwellers a couple of weeks ago. Tank was cycled before I got them. Ammonia and nitrites are at 0.

 

[Colin_T]

can you post a still picture showing the side of the fish?

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Didn't turn out as detailed as I would like. It looks much more severe in person.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

It looks like it’s healing now. Also, this photo showed me how his mouth and teeth are the same size and shape as the wound. I’m confident this is from fighting with the other male. Should I remove one of the males? I have 4 females and both males used to have 2 females each but now the dominant male (the wounded one) has claimed all 4 females and evicted the other male from the shell bed.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Forgot to attach photo lol

 

[Colin_T]

it depends on tank size but if the tank is small then monitor them and if they continue to fight then move one male out.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Thanks Colin. I think I’m going to return the lesser male to the store and keep the dominant male. It’s a 10 gallon tank and I’ve seen the males be aggressive with each other a few times. They even locked jaws once that I saw. So it’s probably best to let one male go.

 

[Colin_T]

If you have a second tank you can put 1 male and 2 females in each tank. Keeping both males means you can swap them around to mix up the bloodlines a bit, assuming they aren't related to begin with.

In the wild the dominant males have territories and smaller males that resemble and act like females sneak into the territories and breed with the females when the big male isn't looking. If the big males see this they chase the smaller male away.

Lip locking is common in cichlids and gouramis and is how the fish fight. They push each other around and the strongest fish usually drives the weaker one away. Males and females also lip lock to see if their prospective mate is strong and healthy. If one fish is not strong enough the dominant fish will try to find a stronger partner to breed with.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Keeping both males means you can swap them around to mix up the bloodlines a bit

Yes this is my concern. I don't want a tank full of line-bred, inbred fish in a year. I checked the dates on the receipt and I'm past the return time-frame.

I've got some things to think about. I might rescape this tank, I might try and unload some fish... we'll see. Thanks again!