Pale skin

[fdiaz78]

Sorry for the crappy pic, but it seems that he has some pale spots on his body. He seems to be doing fine and moving and feeding normally, but it still worries me. Any ideas?

I will post updated water parameters later today since I need to purchase a new test kit. The last time I checked water parameters was about 4 days ago and it was as follows.

PH: 7.8 Approximately
Amonia less than .1 PPM (Not sure about this but will test again)
Nitrates: 0 (undetectable amounts)

Any help would be appreciated. :)

http://home.swfla.rr.com/fdiaz/images/Fish/1.JPG

[OrionGirl]

Moving to the Cichlid Forum. OG

[fdiaz78]

Any ideas? Please help :(

[NatakuTseng]

Its kinda hard to tell, especially since the pale spots seem to have a bluish tint to them, which would go along with the other blue present on his body. I'd do a water change, especially since there is some ammonia in the water, any is really too much. After the water change add some salt, about a table spoon per 10gal to start out with, if that doesn't help add another table spoon per 10gal. Does the skin look like its cloudy, like it has a film over it, or is it raised out from the rest of the body at all?

[fdiaz78]

Originally posted by NatakuTseng
Its kinda hard to tell, especially since the pale spots seem to have a bluish tint to them, which would go along with the other blue present on his body. I'd do a water change, especially since there is some ammonia in the water, any is really too much. After the water change add some salt, about a table spoon per 10gal to start out with, if that doesn't help add another table spoon per 10gal. Does the skin look like its cloudy, like it has a film over it, or is it raised out from the rest of the body at all?


I did a 25% water change about 2 days ago. I am dosing salt as well. As far as the skin, it does not look raised, it looks more like it been worn away. Also, I noticed that he seemed to be flashing on occasion on the bottom of the tank on the sand. Any ideas?

[NatakuTseng]

If its only flashing occasionally, that is probably not a big deal. If he's doing it a lot then its a sign, and seeing as how the skin seems to be worn away its probably a sign. Now by worn away I am assuming that you mean it looks like its gotten eaten away in patches. If this is a case it could be a bacterial infection thats slowly eating the skin away. If it was more centralized on the head area I'd be inclined to think it could be hole in the head. And yet another idea is that if he is flashing on things beacuse of irritation he could be causing that damage himself because of parasites on the skin. An extreme, but always a danger, though I don't think so since the patches aren't bloody, is tuberculosis, from the looks of the pictures I highly doubt thats what it is, at least at this point, but just in case, make sure you wash your hands and that stuff if you must put them in the tank.

[fdiaz78]

Originally posted by NatakuTseng
If its only flashing occasionally, that is probably not a big deal. If he's doing it a lot then its a sign, and seeing as how the skin seems to be worn away its probably a sign. Now by worn away I am assuming that you mean it looks like its gotten eaten away in patches. If this is a case it could be a bacterial infection thats slowly eating the skin away. If it was more centralized on the head area I'd be inclined to think it could be hole in the head. And yet another idea is that if he is flashing on things beacuse of irritation he could be causing that damage himself because of parasites on the skin. An extreme, but always a danger, though I don't think so since the patches aren't bloody, is tuberculosis, from the looks of the pictures I highly doubt thats what it is, at least at this point, but just in case, make sure you wash your hands and that stuff if you must put them in the tank.

Do you recommend I stick it out with the salt for a few more days then try medication?

[JSchmidt]

Who are this fish's tankmates. Those almost look like scuffle marks (from fighting or being picked on) to me.

Assuming there are tankmates, I'd sit, with the room darkened, and watch the tank for at least a half hour, maybe more. If there is any aggression going on, you ought to witness it.

HTH,
Jim

[fdiaz78]

Originally posted by JSchmidt
Who are this fish's tankmates. Those almost look like scuffle marks (from fighting or being picked on) to me.

Assuming there are tankmates, I'd sit, with the room darkened, and watch the tank for at least a half hour, maybe more. If there is any aggression going on, you ought to witness it.

HTH,
Jim

Hi Jim,

I know for a fact that if there is a bully in the tank, it's him LOL. Just in case I did what you said and saw no aggression. I have started to dose with salt along with some Melafix. Hopefully it helps.