New Bumps on fish

[ASteph23]

We have a 10 gal tank with a variety of fish from tetras,cichlids to corys. Just yesterday we did a gravel cleaning and added Tetra's Easy Balance formula because our water hardness and nitrite were not in a good range. The temp has always been 76 degrees.

The day after or cleaning and adjusting I see that my fish has newly formed bumps on his head and one on his body. I am not sure what these are.

I am wary about certain treatments I've been reading on because of my Cory. I do not want to harm him.

If you have any ideas, any advice would be helpful.

I have pictures attached. One is him next to the glass with a reflection of the other side of him.

 

[OrionGirl]

Specifically how many fish are in there, and what kinds?

Do you know your water chemistry parameters? By 'out of range', how high? Nitrites are a bad sign for an established tank, and neither of the additives will remove them. What has your water change regimen been?

Regarding the fish...could be a variety of things, but at a guess that's an infection. A fairly serious one, and most likely brought on by poor water conditions. Getting that sorted will need to be your first order of business, followed by treating the fish, and potentially removing some to get a better, more suited stocking.

 

[ASteph23]

Specifically how many fish are in there, and what kinds?

Do you know your water chemistry parameters? By 'out of range', how high? Nitrites are a bad sign for an established tank, and neither of the additives will remove them. What has your water change regimen been?

Regarding the fish...could be a variety of things, but at a guess that's an infection. A fairly serious one, and most likely brought on by poor water conditions. Getting that sorted will need to be your first order of business, followed by treating the fish, and potentially removing some to get a better, more suited stocking.

I have a diamond tetra, bronze Cory, a red sapphire (I believe was what it was called) and I believe the Orange one with the issue is a cichlid. It's more so my boyfriends tank. I believe he cleans it about every 2 -3 weeks. We get water from Petco so I don't understand the hardness level being up. We aren't advanced by any means. I don't have exact parameters because we just started using the test strips. Via those strips the nitrates are really bad (I'm sorry, I said nitirites before). That Easy Balance won't actually fix it?

I know for sure these fish have been in worse conditioned tank because we recently started to learn more about tank health. They were fine back then. Now that we're taking care of it more, it starts to seem worse.

The Orange one does seem to hide a lot, not really eating, which is not himself because he would eat a lot usually.

 

[OrionGirl]

If water changes weren't being done, and suddenly were, it likely caused a major change in the water chemistry. Big changes are very hard on fish. When you haven't done water changes consistently, the best method is to start doing small changes every day--10-15%, then after a week, start with bigger changes every 2-3 days, until the nitrates and other toxins are managed. Once things are in balance, weekly 50% changes should be adequate.

Why are you using water from the store? What is the hardness? Honestly, in most cases you are better off not trying to change those, as having stable levels is far more important than a specific value.

4 fish isn't bad, but that's not a good mix for a small tank, and while I can't say on the cichlids, the tetra and cory are both fish that will be stressed by themselves. They do best in a group, and a 10 won't support a big enough group.

Read up on aquarium cycling. Once you understand the biological processes that are happening in the tank, you'll be able to get it under control gradually.