I had a Bolivian Ram that had what looked like a large whitehead pimple on it's upper gill cover. I isolated him for a few days trying to figure out how to treat it. I never got the chance to treat it as he expired. He had no other symptoms that I could see. The only thing I did was add salt to the hosp tank.
I think I bookmarked some articles on this, and if I can find them I'll post them. The 'pimple' on your fish looks more reddish than white?
No it looks white. It's a few little ones. They come to the surface then go away. But his gill cover is all inflamed really bad, haven't seen many white heads lately but his gill plate is in bad shape.
In any case after looking at some old articles and other forums no one seems to be able to positively identify these pimple-like symptoms - whether red or white. Some claim to be a form of external hexamita, some claim to be flukes, some claim it's viral and can not be treated except with clean water and vitamins.
If the antibiotics continue to fail, I'd go in another direction sooner than later. I'd probably try metro before I would give up on antibiotics.
It is very possible. It is hard to tell on mine because it's in the gill. So it's not showing up easily since it's a thin plate of tissue. All I know is no meds have worked, no salt treatments.
What is Metro?
I was reading about gill disease, I was ignoring it for the most part because I keep my water prestine, It's planted so 50% water change weekly. But there was a part where they say if you have abnormally hard water it can cause it. I know German Blue Rams can be delicate and like softer, low ph water. I have hard water and a ph of like 7.8-8.0. So maybe it's gill rot because of the hard water. The guy i purchased them from said they were wild caught. Girlfriends dad purchased 4 of them for his 90 gallon and they are all dead. He has high ph hard water too.
The little guy has gotten much worse. Both gills now and huge and gaping. The gills themselves are tuning dark almost black, his eyes are very dark and the black from his gills spread to his body. He looks horrible but is still acting very active and hungry. I also noticed the past few days his poop his been stringy and stays on him a long time. And it's brown more clear.
This is so distressing. I wish we knew for sure what's going on here. Did you try treating him for gill flukes? He originally did some scratching... but he hasn't done that persistently.
Your description of him now sounds like a serious bacterial infection, though flukes could have opened the way for that.... Sorry... I'm just thinking out loud...
You've tried several antibiotics on him... he has seemed better for a while.... then he backslides....and now this....
Do you see excessive mucous production from the gills? Gills that are turning black surely sounds like a very bad sign. If this is a bacterial infection it has resisted several antibiotic regimes, and your description certainly presents a grim picture.
Brad, what are your params? Do you use strips or liquid test kit, forgive me if this was answered earlier in this thread.
Also, what is that rock on the right side of the tank in the second picture, the white rock to the right of the "ruins" decor? I see more of it next to the pvc, too. It looks like Texas holey rock, which is limestone, and, if so, that's the reason your ph is so high, if that is what I'm seeing.
I would get it out of there and let his water start to get softer and the ph will also slowly start to go down. Not that this is the problem, essentially, but higher ph and gh/kh may complicate things for him.
It is holey rock, I didn't even think about that. He hides in it so I kept it in there because he likes it. Never thought it could be hurting him. I just checked params for my main tank last night. It had a PH of 8.2 and a GH of 20 drops. All are API liquid drop kits. I haven't tested Ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate in a long time because both tanks have been setup with existing media and have been setup like that for a long time.
The main tank has a good amount of driftwood and is planted so it is probably even softer with a lower PH then the QT tank. I don't see any mucus coming from the gills.
Yeah, I was afraid of that. I didn't notice it the first time I looked at your thread, but in trying to take another look to help me re-think the problem I started from the first posts. South Americans definitely don't need to have holey rock in with them, though it is pretty and has neat holes for them to swim through.
Just for good measure, please check the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in his tank. Just to rule out any factors.
