Can you help me ID this problem?

[MrSugarBear]

I have a female blue ram that developed some kind of issue over the past five days while we were away on vacation. The fish-sitter didn't notice and so she can't help us determine when it cropped up. The fish is in quarantine now, but I have no idea how to treat this issue because I don't know what we're dealing with.

Water parameters are perfect and no new fish have been added in seven months. In fact I can't think of anything that has changed other than pruning of plants and rearranging the aquascape a bit over the past month.

Can anyone help me ID what she has been infected/attacked by from this picture? Freaky looking like multiple parasites, but not at all sure that they are. That hump in her forehead is rather alarming!

Thank you for looking.

 

[Kaluden]

That looks similar to what one of my angels had, except he only had one develop before I saw it and flipped out. I dont know if it is the same for sure, or even if I did the right thing to treat it. Basically I ended up raising the water temp to 82 and adding about 1tbs of salt per gallon into the tank. I did this for 2 weeks then that went away (also did it because ich seemed to be forming on a couple of my guppies at the same time). I can not sit here and say this is how you should fix this, only that it was my experience. I would wait for more people with more knowledge of rams to pipe in.

 

[stormomi]

If there are white puffs anywhere else, it may be ich.. Was there a drop in temperature? I'm not sure about the hump.

I wish you and your lil ram luck!

 

[MrSugarBear]

I'm fairly certain that it isn't ich. The temperature is at 82* at all times because there are discus in the tank and the power does not seem to have gone out while we were away because all the digital clocks are still correct (microwave always goes to 12:00 with even a 5 second outage). I also run a UV "filter" in the intake line for my Rena XP3.

@Kaluden: I found your post about your angel and agree that it looks similar to what you experienced. I really have no experience with parasites and disease so can you tell me what type of salt you used?

Really hate to lose this little girl as she has really grown into a family favorite over the past year and is quite pretty as well

 

[gmh]

My male GBR has similar looking spots on his forehead but no bump. Sounds like a Ram specific ailment perhaps. I love these fish but have trouble keeping them alive more than a few months. Good luck to us.

 

[jaysen]

that is definitly NOT ick. looks like fungus or bacteria. i would treat with full spectrum antibiotics and antifungals. if it doesnt go away i would try an anti parasitic.

 

[J double R]

I'm fairly certain that it isn't ich. The temperature is at 82* at all times because there are discus in the tank and the power does not seem to have gone out while we were away because all the digital clocks are still correct (microwave always goes to 12:00 with even a 5 second outage). I also run a UV "filter" in the intake line for my Rena XP3.

@Kaluden: I found your post about your angel and agree that it looks similar to what you experienced. I really have no experience with parasites and disease so can you tell me what type of salt you used?

Really hate to lose this little girl as she has really grown into a family favorite over the past year and is quite pretty as well

well, youre right, it certainly isnt ich. that isnt because of your temperature though.. at that temp, an ich outbreak would just become severe very quickly, as higher temps only speed up the life cycle.

that said, just because the spots look puffy, is not an indicator of fungus. a few different bacteria, columnaris especially, can be misconstrued as fungus based on its 'fuzzy' appearance.

salt should not be used unless it is a specific treatment for a specific ailment, such as ich (which this is not.) i would go with the anti-bac/antifungal treatment for the time being.

when you treat with an antibacterial medication, make sure you remove the carbon (if present) from the filter, and keep a VERY close eye on your water parameters, as most antibac medications will interfere with, and in some cases, completely crash the tank's cycle.

 

[Star_Rider]

the fact that this is located near the nasal cavity (head) this does appear you could have HITH/HLLE

the eruptions are from the inside out..the lump forming could be the infection just under the skin..they are pimple like..and many form a head and eventually erupt leaving an open wound.

there is much discussion regarding this infestation/infection..revolving around the cause(protozoa and diet seem to be at the root) with HITH they generally find the protozoa..with HLLE the cause appears to be diet. the two are lumped together but it is possible they are different..even the wounds appear different (HITH most pimple like and vertical HLLE seems to run laterally in damge)
either way..clean water benefits in both cases as does improved diet. there is also a chance of infection(as with any open wound)
btw the recommended course of action with HITH is the use of Metronidazole..

 

[Hurley]

I agree with star_rider. The first thing I thought when I looked at the picture was HITH. I'd move her to a hospital tank and treat from there.

 

[Coler]

I agree x 2 ^^ with star_rider & bunny13