I was recently given a firemouth. He started out pretty bad looking. It had ulcers, sores, and fungus and died after one night in my q-tank.
3 days later I got 5 more. While in the q-taink, none of the other firemouths showed any signs of symptoms similar to the first one. As a pre-cautionary measure I added more salt and raised the temp to about 84 degrees. They were left in the q-tank for about 10 days. 2 of the smaller firemouths died, showing no symptoms except for a bloated stomach a few hours before they died.
Now (after having transported them into my show tank) the remaining 3 have fungus (at least it looks like fungus) growing on them. The largest has 2 'mounds' at the base of it's dorsal fin. The second largest has it the worst, including patches along the side of the body and along the bottom of the mouth, and what looks like the underside of this gills. The smallest of the remaining, only has one spot of it on it's forhead (which looks like it may have just been some kind of battle wound seeing as there is a scale hanging from it).
I have the smallest two back in a q-tank (working on the largest as it seems to be the smartest at avoiding the net). I've done a salt water dip, and now have added melafix into the q-tank. I'm also currently working on raising the temp back up to the mid 80's.
They eat as if there is nothing wrong. Only the second largest is lethargic at times. Another thing I find odd, is that while in the q-tank (the first time) I had baby rosbora in there as well as a peacock eel. Neither the eel or the babies are affected, and both seem to be doing well. I figured if anything those two would drop first before the larger fish.
I'm pretty confused as to what it could be. Or what to do now. If it was cought from the first firemouth, then shouldn't the baby rosbora, and the eel have gotten it too? Now I don't know if I should treat my show tank or not. 125 gallons is a lot to treat. No other fish are showing any signs of these symptoms only the firemouths. I got two of the firemouths from 2 different places and 4 from another place (which I'm about 95% sure the 4 didn't come from the same supplier as the other two).
I just ran out of my test for water params. However my last test (2-3 weeks ago) showed everything was balanced in my tank. No ammo, no nitrite, and 40 nitrate (which is what it has always been). I do have hard water but firemouths like harder alkaline water. As for the q-tank, I used a mixture of half tank water, and half tap water (well water). For filteration, I took a spare filter that I had running on one of my tanks, so I know it's properly cycled/seeded.
Any ideas on procedures to follow etc would be apprecieated. Thanks in advance. I'm unsure what it could be. I'm debating on whether or not to buy medicated food for both the firemouths and my show tank as a pre-caution, but I don't want to do it incase the bacteria/parasite becomes immune to it.
3 days later I got 5 more. While in the q-taink, none of the other firemouths showed any signs of symptoms similar to the first one. As a pre-cautionary measure I added more salt and raised the temp to about 84 degrees. They were left in the q-tank for about 10 days. 2 of the smaller firemouths died, showing no symptoms except for a bloated stomach a few hours before they died.
Now (after having transported them into my show tank) the remaining 3 have fungus (at least it looks like fungus) growing on them. The largest has 2 'mounds' at the base of it's dorsal fin. The second largest has it the worst, including patches along the side of the body and along the bottom of the mouth, and what looks like the underside of this gills. The smallest of the remaining, only has one spot of it on it's forhead (which looks like it may have just been some kind of battle wound seeing as there is a scale hanging from it).
I have the smallest two back in a q-tank (working on the largest as it seems to be the smartest at avoiding the net). I've done a salt water dip, and now have added melafix into the q-tank. I'm also currently working on raising the temp back up to the mid 80's.
They eat as if there is nothing wrong. Only the second largest is lethargic at times. Another thing I find odd, is that while in the q-tank (the first time) I had baby rosbora in there as well as a peacock eel. Neither the eel or the babies are affected, and both seem to be doing well. I figured if anything those two would drop first before the larger fish.
I'm pretty confused as to what it could be. Or what to do now. If it was cought from the first firemouth, then shouldn't the baby rosbora, and the eel have gotten it too? Now I don't know if I should treat my show tank or not. 125 gallons is a lot to treat. No other fish are showing any signs of these symptoms only the firemouths. I got two of the firemouths from 2 different places and 4 from another place (which I'm about 95% sure the 4 didn't come from the same supplier as the other two).
I just ran out of my test for water params. However my last test (2-3 weeks ago) showed everything was balanced in my tank. No ammo, no nitrite, and 40 nitrate (which is what it has always been). I do have hard water but firemouths like harder alkaline water. As for the q-tank, I used a mixture of half tank water, and half tap water (well water). For filteration, I took a spare filter that I had running on one of my tanks, so I know it's properly cycled/seeded.
Any ideas on procedures to follow etc would be apprecieated. Thanks in advance. I'm unsure what it could be. I'm debating on whether or not to buy medicated food for both the firemouths and my show tank as a pre-caution, but I don't want to do it incase the bacteria/parasite becomes immune to it.
