Getting frustrated!

[dr_girlfriend]

I have been battling some mystery disease on my flowerhorn for about 7 months now. It started out as a small white spot on her side. I treated it with salt and it seemed to stop growing but never went away. Then it started growing and another one popped up near her tail. Then one near her eye and now one right at the base of her dorsal fin. They have gone from the white spots to pitted lesions. I tried salt treatment a few times, I tried metro twice, I've done a treatment with prazi, and most recently 2 treatments of melafix once alone and one with pimafix. No change.

I'm reluctant to treat more aggressively until I can find out what exactly this is. If anyone has seen this or dealt with this before please let me know.

She is in a 29 gallon alone and water conditions are completely normal. Her appetite and behavior is normal.

 

[TCTFish]

I have some questions...
What type of filter do you use? What are the tests measuring? Please provide numbers if possible on ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Pay close attention to nitrate levels. That's what I'm mostly interested in, though the other results have their own importance. Though stated the water parameters are all normal, but not everyone tests for nitrates. Nitrates are often overlooked and can actually be a source of disease.

Being the fish is alone in it's tank, the problem may have come from either any live feeder fish or something in the water allowing for disease causing bacteria to thrive such as high nitrates. 7 months is an aweful long time. Something isn't right with the water somewhere.

I'm guessing that's a fungal/bacterial type of infection. Hard to tell from the picture...are these lesions fuzzy?

For unknown problems for strong fish like the flowerhorn I like to use a mix of methylene blue and malachite green (half dose of each). Remove carbon during treatment and do exactly as stated on the directions. The only diifference is the dose...only half each, but it's a full dose combined.

What do you feed the fish? How often and how much per feed? Is the fish scratching?

BTW...nice looking fish, though I have to say a 29 gallon tank is a bit small for him.

 

[dr_girlfriend]

I have an emperor 400 for filtration. 0 amm, 0 nitrite, 80 nitrate as of tonight. Usually the nitrate is between 40-80. Its a little on the high side recently because I've dropped from weekly to 10-14 day water changes because of my surgery on the end of may. I try to keep nitrates down no higher than 80 though.

As far as fuzzy, no. they are relativley clean. Shes not scratching.

I do not feed feeders for that exact reason. She currently eats hikari carnivore sticks and tetra cichlid sticks 3-4 times a week. (Thats all she will eat, very picky eater)

I think the 29 is ok for at least a few more months. Shes grown about 3-4 inches since I got her last september, so shes about 6-7 inches right now. Probably the end of this year I'll get a 55 for her. I would really like to breed her, she is a rare older strain of flowerhorn, but thats out of the question until this gets cured. I;m also nervous about moving her until this is cured also, shes under enough stress as it is.

Also this started in a different tank, shes been in the 29 for 6 months, moved from the 10 gallon hosptial tank I had her in at first to treat HITH and ich, which was resolved, then a few weeks later this popped up.

So you think blue/green combo would work? I was also considering sulfa, or ampicillin. I'm also thinking of putting a UV sterilizer on the tank full time.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Are you sure she is not scraping her self against something? I really have never seen anything like that.

 

[TCTFish]

It's most likely a bacterial infection. Perhaps it became infected when she was put back in the tank. PArasites such as ich can leave tiny wounds behind and in a high nitrate system, can become easily infected. Nitrate limits should be no more than 40 ppm, but I even recommend lower than that. Especially with heavy waste producers. she's a big fish. She expells a lot of waste. Fish also expel waste (ammonia which eventually becomes nitrate) through their gills from breathing. Other than for size sake, another reason for a bigger tank is for more oxygenated water for good, clean respiration.

Stop feeds for about a week. She'll be fine. The important thing now is to get the nitrates under control so she can heal. High nitrate will hamper treatment efforts. There's a lot of bad bacteria in there.

I have found that a nitrate reducing routine of 10% water change with a vacuum two to three times a week. until nitrates reach an acceptable level has worked well with minimal stress on the fish. Try getting it down to 20 or even 30 ppm. Change carbon every two weeks as opposed to once a month while she's in that tank. NitraZorb pouches and DeNitrate pellets are excellent helpers in reducing nitrates along with the water changes. Feeding should only be about 3 times a week...no more than what she can consume in two minutes per day. I'd change the type of food too. Pellets can weigh heavy in the gravel and add to the nitrate problem. Picky eaters always seem to take a liking to thawed out frozen foods such as krill, silversides, beef heart, brine shrimp and a spiralina enrich food or algae based food. Add a bit of garlic in there about once a week or bi weekly to help prevent any external parasites from taking hold of her. It's also an appetite stimilant.

Medicating can be difficult while trying to reduce nitrates because of the water change routine. What I would do is go as directed on the medicine bottle for up to two weeks, then go to the above described routine for two weeks. If needed, retreat with a different medication.

Start with the methylene blue and malachite green treatment first. Then go on to the frequent small water changes for two weeks. IF nitrates are still high after those two weeks (anything reading above 40 ppm) continue for one more week. After, treat with the ampicilin for two weeks if the infection is still present. You can still get that??? Is the package new or is it something you've had on hand for awhile? It's hard to get here. It use to be always available but because of increased prices on penicillin, it's not economical anymore.
Get that 55 going soon. She needs the water volume just as much as the space Also, it'd be a good idea to get a large bottle of Cycle or Nitromax...or even Mark Weiss's Bacter vital...a bio additive to dose in the tank. Go ahead and double dose after each water change. You can even pour it right onto the bio wheels. This will help prevent nitrite and ammonia from backing up and help with any ammonia spikes if any.

Another thing I thought of was to condition the tank with NovAqua water conditioner...that specific brand. It will help keep electrolites from escaping and will help aid in healing. It will also provide an extra coat of slime to prevent more bacteria from entering the wounds.

Good luck Don't be surprised if the nitrates take a few months to get down. After the second treatment if it gets that far, start up the routine until nitrates are below 40ppm if it's still a bit high.

Hope I didn't confuse ya...lol. Ask if you have other questions.