White On Blue Cichlids...

[tteel60625]

I've got white something or other on one of my blue cichlids. I had one die when I was out of town, but my neighbor who was watching them just said that she flushed it down the toilet when she saw it floating. It was fine when I left and I was only gone 4 days. I've attached a pic so if anyone knows what this is, it would be greatly appreciated if you could offer some information.

Thanks!

As per requested... (went and bought a test kit)

Tank size: 55 Gallons
pH: 8.0
ammonia: 0
nitrite: .2 ppm
nitrate: 5.0 (low range), 25 (high range)
kH: (?)
gH: (?)
alkalinity: Between normal and low (On the scale they gave me)
tank temp: 84F

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
**swimming near the back corner of the tank, behind the rock. White "puffy" coating (see pic). Haven't seen him (or her) eat today.

Volume and Frequency of water changes:
**every 2 weeks, about 50%. Change every other filter, every two weeks.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:
**just went and bought Jungle brand "Lifeguard, All-in-one Treatment", figured it was a fungus, or something.

Tank inhabitants:
**4 other African cichlids, one plekostemus(sp).

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
**none

Exposure to chemicals:
**none, only non-antibiotic treatment listed above (2nd treatment today)

Digital photo (include if possible): Attached.

Tank Life:
**almost a year.

Filter: Marineland Bio-wheel 330

 

[fishdawg]

it looks like a type of Ick so try adding salt.. but dont add Ick clear made by Jungle i did and it turned
my water a dark blue for about 2 weeks.--killed 2 female guppies--

 

[happyadd]

Looks like a possible scracth on his body off rocks, leave him for a week, stresscoat usually clears it up

 

[WILDER]

How long has the tank been set up as your stats are bad.
If the white is fluffy it can be columnaris.

http/article.discusnews.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

 

[tteel60625]

How long has the tank been set up as your stats are bad.
If the white is fluffy it can be columnaris.

http/article.discusnews.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

Bad how?

 

[sylvia]

High nitrItes - you need to do water changes immediately.

I also think it's columnaris and would treat with an anti-fungus and finrot med. that says it treats flexibacter (columnaris) and aeromonas sp. Also lower your tank's temp. to 75-76 deg F if it's not about there already - you should see an immediate improvement (well, within reason ) as columnaris multiplies quickest at higher temps. Just make shure you reduce the temp. very gradualy or you risk making things worse by shocking the fish.
If you can get hold of aquarium salt, that would do the fish some good as well.

BTW, don't worry about kH and gH Even the pH/alkalinity matter less than you might think unless they are fluctuating.

One little note - if you get any more fish deaths, throw the dead fish in the bin - don't flush. That's to avoid introducing disease into any waterways - wild fish usualy aren't good at resisting the diseases that are common in aquarium fish.

 

[tteel60625]

High nitrItes - you need to do water changes immediately.

I also think it's columnaris and would treat with an anti-fungus and finrot med. that says it treats flexibacter (columnaris) and aeromonas sp. Also lower your tank's temp. to 75-76 deg F if it's not about there already - you should see an immediate improvement (well, within reason ) as columnaris multiplies quickest at higher temps. Just make shure you reduce the temp. very gradualy or you risk making things worse by shocking the fish.
If you can get hold of aquarium salt, that would do the fish some good as well.

BTW, don't worry about kH and gH Even the pH/alkalinity matter less than you might think unless they are fluctuating.

One little note - if you get any more fish deaths, throw the dead fish in the bin - don't flush. That's to avoid introducing disease into any waterways - wild fish usualy aren't good at resisting the diseases that are common in aquarium fish.

I just did a 30% water change 2 days ago, should I do it again?

What is causing the high nitrIte count do you think? Could it be the "Lifeguard" I already added?

The "Lifeguard" says it's a broad range application - Bacterial, Fungal, Viral and Parasitic... should I use something else instead?

How in the world do you LOWER tank water temperature? Turn up the A/C?

Thanks!

 

[sylvia]

High ntirItes are usualy the result of an ammonia spike. If you don't know already, all tanks go through a cycle where ammonia from fish waste is converted to nitrItes and then to nitrAtes by good bacteria that live in your filter's media and in the gravel. note, BTW, that these good bacteria are sensitive to chlorine in water so all water changes MUST be done with already de-chlorinated water and any cleaning of filter media should be done in OLD tank water.

As you tank's been set up for a year, it should eb fully cycled. But if you did a water change with tap water and didn't add de-chlorinator or if you replaced the filter media (never do that BTW - it's entirely unecesary!), you may ahve caused a spike. Simialrly, over-feeding causes more waste production and rotting food also gives off ammonia.

The 'Lifeguard' product you've mentioned, if I'm correct is one of those things supposedly disigned to be added when you get new fish or to keep them calm (kind of like Melafix). I don't know whether it's a de-chlorinator as well. Suffice it to say that I've never used it and that I'm certain it won't be of any real use for fighting a columnaris infection as it probably has very few active ingredients. It's more a preventative than an actual treatment.

Where do you live? If you're in England, get yourself Interpet's (treatment number 8 ) anti-fungus and finrot. That almost always works for me when treating columnaris.

Your last question is a little disturbing - don't you have a heater? If not, what temp. is your tank at? A temperature increase could very easily have caused this columnaris outbreak and without a heater with a thermostat or in very hot whether, that could quite easily happen. My tropical tanks have heaters with thermostats - if I want to lower the temp., I set the heater at a lower temperature and it stops heating the tank until its thermostat tells it it needs to start again (but now at the lower temp.).

If you don't have a heater, I suppose turning on the Ac would be an option - but the moment you'd turn it off that columnaris would come back. It's better to just leave the temp. where it's at if you have no way of otherwise controlling it. if you don't have a heater, chances are the temp's relatively low right now anyway. if you don't have a thermometre, BTW, you need one!

 

[tteel60625]

High ntirItes are usualy the result of an ammonia spike. If you don't know already, all tanks go through a cycle where ammonia from fish waste is converted to nitrItes and then to nitrAtes by good bacteria that live in your filter's media and in the gravel. note, BTW, that these good bacteria are sensitive to chlorine in water so all water changes MUST be done with already de-chlorinated water and any cleaning of filter media should be done in OLD tank water.

As you tank's been set up for a year, it should eb fully cycled. But if you did a water change with tap water and didn't add de-chlorinator or if you replaced the filter media (never do that BTW - it's entirely unecesary!), you may ahve caused a spike. Simialrly, over-feeding causes more waste production and rotting food also gives off ammonia.

The 'Lifeguard' product you've mentioned, if I'm correct is one of those things supposedly disigned to be added when you get new fish or to keep them calm (kind of like Melafix). I don't know whether it's a de-chlorinator as well. Suffice it to say that I've never used it and that I'm certain it won't be of any real use for fighting a columnaris infection as it probably has very few active ingredients. It's more a preventative than an actual treatment.

Where do you live? If you're in England, get yourself Interpet's (treatment number 8 ) anti-fungus and finrot. That almost always works for me when treating columnaris.

Your last question is a little disturbing - don't you have a heater? If not, what temp. is your tank at? A temperature increase could very easily have caused this columnaris outbreak and without a heater with a thermostat or in very hot whether, that could quite easily happen. My tropical tanks have heaters with thermostats - if I want to lower the temp., I set the heater at a lower temperature and it stops heating the tank until its thermostat tells it it needs to start again (but now at the lower temp.).

If you don't have a heater, I suppose turning on the Ac would be an option - but the moment you'd turn it off that columnaris would come back. It's better to just leave the temp. where it's at if you have no way of otherwise controlling it. if you don't have a heater, chances are the temp's relatively low right now anyway. if you don't have a thermometre, BTW, you need one!

Thanks for the post...

I have a few questions then...

I should NEVER change the filters? I've pulled some pretty gross filters out of the unit, some that look like they weren't filtering anything, but rather just giving the water something to have to go around.

I've never added a dechlorinator to the water when I've done a water change, but I'm positive I will from now on.

The tank (as shown on the thermometer) is at 84 degrees. I do have a tank heater, but it doesn't run until the winter months come. I'm in Chicago, so in the winter months when the temp drops outside is the only time I need it. The tank is not in direct sunlight, so the only thing keeping the temperature at that level is the ambient room temperature. I have my a/c running all the time, but the tank never goes below 84 or 82 degrees the entire year.

After reading a post earlier, I did go out and purchase both the Pimifix and Melofix at the local pet store. I did a first dose tonight and will do so for the next seven days. I've ceased administering the "Lifeguard". I also purchased a 10 gallon "hospital" tank in case I ever need to isolate a fish. Not so sure I'm going to take this one out of the tank now, as I'm sure I'll need to treat the entire tank and all it's inhabitants at this point. The directions tell me to do a 25% water change after the 8th day, so I'll definately remember to add the dechlorinator at that point.

Question... can I add that directly to the tank with the fish in it, as I do the refill, or do I need to dechlorinate before adding it to the tank? I use a Python syphon to rid and refill, so how else would I get the dechlorinator in the water before it gets in the tank? I'm about 30' from my water surce at this point.

I also invested in an automatic feeder, so I never need to ask a neighbor to take care of my "kids". I have a feeling I was probably overfeeding a bit in the beginning, but got the hang of it after noticing how much food was left over and how much i was actually going thru. LOL

I also bought 2 refillable carbon filters and a HUGE bottle of carbon media. The aquarium shop owner here told me to use it in conjunction with the mesh filters. I'll have to read up as to when and if I need to change the carbon media.

I hope this change in treatment turns the little guy around, and help prevent it in the future.

Thanks again, and any other advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thomas

 

[tteel60625]

Alas, my fellow aquarians, my beloved pet has died.

I Thank all of you for your advice and helpful words. I will always remember them and will be more diligent in the future should I face this situation again.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry bless him. R.I.P.