What's wrong with my Cichlid?

[Slip2043]

Pictures posted


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[samahabou]

This is "ciliated protozoan" also known as ick this a disease which most people get in there tank the fist think you need to do is take the fish out of the main tank and put it in a separate tank so she/he won't spread the disease in you main tank and the way to treat this disease you can buy product it's specific to ick medication and also add salt to the tank and raise the temperature up little.


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[Slip2043]

Sorry I failed to put what I have done already. As I soon as I seen this I immediately thought ick so I treated the tank with ick treatment. The treatment was the one that turns everything green I let that sit for 48 hours and it says to repeat and wait for another 48 hours, so I did. I cleared my water back up with activated carbon but the cichlid never got better. I then thought that it might be sores from bullying so I moved him to my other tank. He seemed a bit more cheerful but never got better. He now looks just as bad and doesn't move much. If you still believe it's ick do you think I should take him to my local shop for isolation and treatment?


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[samahabou]

Pet store can't do anything about it other then give u a treatment over the counter but I would definitely take a water sample to ur local store for a test but best bet is aquarium salt and bump the temperate between 78-82 and do 50% water change. This will help a lot also keep the light off in the tank just for stress purpose.


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[Slip2043]

I'll add salt, the aquarium stays at 80-81 already and I just did a large water change today. I'm really starting to give up on him but my local shop is willing to house sick fish but if it would help I don't know.


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[TMRC Exotics]

Its definitely ich and this is a really bad case. 78-82 is not enough, you need to get the temp to 86 in order to kill the ich. The meds often don't work. Heat is the best way to address this but you will have to get the tank above 85. Are the other fish showing signs yet? This usually spreads.

 

[SonicsDC25]

Heat alone doesn't kill ich at those temperatures, heat only speeds up their life cycle, so instead of treating for weeks, you're only looking at days. Add salt to the tank, it makes the environment for parasites less hospitable. If you get the temperature beyond 86, you could kill the ich with heat alone; however you may as well add salt as well to increase the possibility of full recovery that much more. This is on the more severe side, I may even say there is possibly a fungal infection starting to go on as well, but that's only going by the pictures and the diagnosis isn't as solid as someone who sees the fish in person.

 

[Gillie]

Upping the temp for treatment is also going to require the addition of a large airstone or two.

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[Slip2043]

I already have 2 large airstones in the tank. Upping the temp won't hurt the other fish will it? I have an upside down catfish, glass catfish, knife fish, gourami, Cory cats, rope fish in the tank as well. I will add salt today as well in both my tanks.


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[Slip2043]

How much salt?


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[samahabou]

Usually recommend it Teaspoon per 10 gallon but I usually put more then teaspoon per 10 gallon specially for ick


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[sinibotia]

This is neither here nor there, but your stock list is really, really badly incompatible. Stress from poorly suitable tankmates and habitat will definitely contribute to stress and make the illness worse.

 

[Slip2043]

The cichlid is not a part of the original tank, he was moved there because I thought the ick was actually sores from bullying. I have a cichlid tank he came from but obviously now I know that was a mistake knowing he has ick. I really just need to get him isolated and treat him alone.


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[Slip2043]

The rest of the species in that tank have been together for awhile and I have no problems.


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[TMRC Exotics]

Then where did the ich come from?

 

[sinibotia]

The rest of the species in that tank have been together for awhile and I have no problems.


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Your ropefish and knifefish will almost certainly reach a size where they can and will eat all of the other fish you list.

 

[Gillie]

I already have 2 large airstones in the tank. Upping the temp won't hurt the other fish will it? I have an upside down catfish, glass catfish, knife fish, gourami, Cory cats, rope fish in the tank as well. I will add salt today as well in both my tanks.


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The only fish I foresee issues with at those temps are the cories, they really shouldn't be kept above 76-78f anyway.

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[Toad]

Cories also don't do well with salt :/

 

[SonicsDC25]

I really just need to get him isolated and treat him alone.

After exposing that tank to a fish with ich, treating him alone in a separate tank is a bad idea, you'll want to treat every tank he was in to make sure there isn't any of those parasites leftover.

 

[Gillie]

After exposing that tank to a fish with ich, treating him alone in a separate tank is a bad idea, you'll want to treat every tank he was in to make sure there isn't any of those parasites leftover.

I agree, performing an isolated treatment could be a double edged sword. Even though ich is present in most aquaria and healthy stress free fish are less likely to become infected, it's really not worth taking a chance and not treating all the fish now.

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