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Whats coming out of my keyhole?

despreauxb

Fish Fanatic
Joined
Apr 22, 2021
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Location
Troy PA
I noticed my keyholes forehead area color was changing so I did water change but figured it was due to stress since my beta died and they've been together for years (beta was old no signs of sickness) but then today I noticed this. What is it and how do I treat it?🥺
 

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Need a clear picture but probably a wound. Clean water and salt should help. If not then a broad spectrum medication that treats fungus and bacteria. But try salt first.

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Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water change and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
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 the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Add salt.
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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) 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.

Keep the salt level like this for 2 weeks.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, 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.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
 
Hello. Unless you're a fish biologist, you have no way of knowing for certain what is ailing your fish, if anything. The last thing you need to do is stress over what may be nothing and start making drastic changes in your tank keeping routine. I would just start changing a little more water and do it a day or two more often. When it comes to fish keeping, a little more clean water can make all difference.

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I wonder if further photos would show it to be an anchor worm? There, you could look up a treatment. Have a look online and see what you think.

It's not common on indoors fish, but it's possible. Otherwise, I would take the salt route. I don't like using it, but that is developed, whatever it is.
 
I wonder if further photos would show it to be an anchor worm? There, you could look up a treatment. Have a look online and see what you think.

It's not common on indoors fish, but it's possible. Otherwise, I would take the salt route. I don't like using it, but that is developed, whatever it is.
I have lived to see THE DAY ! Gary , yes Gary , advocating SALT ! My heart soars like an eagle !
 
Okay, eagle boy. You sure that wasn't a beagle soaring? ;)

Salt is a nasty treatment, but used correctly, it can be very good, he said, taking the post at face value. If that is a wound, it'll help the fish secrete slime to help healing.
 
Need a clear picture but probably a wound. Clean water and salt should help. If not then a broad spectrum medication that treats fungus and bacteria. But try salt first.

---------------------

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water change and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
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 the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Add salt.
---------------------

SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) 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.

Keep the salt level like this for 2 weeks.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, 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.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
I have back up salt from when my big tank had epilitisis but I wasn't sure it worked on possible parasites. None of the others in the tank seem affected but I do tend to get alot of Alage on the tank but someone once told me It was a good sign and my Otto have been slacking but I'll do a manual wipe down on the inside. I can leave my filters in for the salt treatment, right?
 
I wonder if further photos would show it to be an anchor worm? There, you could look up a treatment. Have a look online and see what you think.

It's not common on indoors fish, but it's possible. Otherwise, I would take the salt route. I don't like using it, but that is developed, whatever it is.
I'm not sure if these are any better
 

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