sick and spotty red zebra.. help please

[sarahh]

hi there.. fistly, water parameters
nitrate 10 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
hardness 120 ppm
chlorine 0 ppm
alkalinity about 80 ppm
ph 7.7 ish.. a little low..

now, the fish.

Mrs zeb has a little lesion on her fin, there are pics. Her remaining fins are a little ragged ( due to Mr Zeb),but yesterday she started moping around the bottom of the tank.She looked like she wanted to eat this morning, but she never actually ate anything. she swam to the top, but then swam back down again.

We recently added a pleco (12 in) to the tank after 2 weeks quarantine, and she spends a lot of time "hovering" i guess around him. She will swim away from him, then quickly swim back and touch him with some part of herself. I don't know if it's relevant, but definately new behaviour.. anyway, pics here..

oh, last night i treated with pimafix and melafix, just in case. the lesion looked like t had cottony bits on it, but i couldn't be sure, and with no other fish sick i wanted to keep it that way..
the first pic is the damage done,the second the actual lesion

 

[sarahh]

here is another pic

 

[DragonFish71]

I honestly can't see much in the pics other than the ragged fin. So I can only suggest keeping the water as clean as possible. I know that good, clean water can do a lot for perking fish right back up. Hopefully someone else will come along and see what you are describing.

 

[ChileRelleno]

I'd say your pretty much on top of it for treating a ragged fin.

Keep the water quality A1 and medicate with max dosages of Mela/Pimafix combo, I'd also dose with salt at the same time.
If no progress in a week on the bacterial/fungal cotton patches, I'd hit it with max doses of Kordon's 'Rid-Fungus'.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Doesn't really look like anything other than a torn fin.. possibly what you were seeing was an infection or just part of the healing process? I agree, keep the water pristine. If you're up to it, daily 50% PWC's and doses of pimafix and melafix should get her back to normal. If it gets worse or you start to see some cottony growth around the mouth or body, then you probably have a case of columnaris (basically same treatment as above, just lower temp to low 70's and add salt too). Aside from that, you've got a beautiful red zebra

 

[sarahh]

thanks guys..i can probably do a daily 15-25 %, cos it's the 120.

i will keep up the pima/mela fix combo, and add the salts too.. will keep you posted on her progress.. i felt ill lookingat her.. poor little love

 

[sarahh]

and thank you mfd

 

[ChileRelleno]

thanks guys..i can probably do a daily 15-25 %, cos it's the 120.

i will keep up the pima/mela fix combo, and add the salts too.. will keep you posted on her progress.. i felt ill lookingat her.. poor little love

Anything less than 25% isn't worthwhile, 25-50% will make difference.
If ya have a 'Python' its practically effortless.

 

[sarahh]

ok, i did a 30 ish % water change, redid pima/mela.. all the others are doing well still. Mrs Red is still mopey and alternating between the bottom of the tank and then hiding behing the filter.. i think that mr Zeb is just hassling her nonstop.

i think the only way to stop it is to get a few more females so the harrassment stops.. will keep ya posted..

 

[mfdrookie516]

so you just have 1m1fm red zebras? That may very well be the problem if so. With mbuna, you really need a 1m3-6fm ratio to keep the male from harassing the female(s).

 

[sarahh]

thanks mfd.. i really do want to get more females, but at the moment i can't afford the 4-5 inch females i need.. i have had such bad luck with the LFS and juvies that i am trying to save a couple of hundred dollars for a few mature females. i have 8 mature adults in a 120 Gallon tank.. it's pathetic.

The male is about 5-6 inches. He dances for EVERYONE!!! I am currently keeping an eye out on aquabid to find mature girls.. this thursday/ friday should do the trick.. paychecks are in.. i just hope momma can hang in there for a month while they QT.

Quick question for ya.. will adding a group of 6 demasoni be ok? i heard they need more fish to reduce aggression and plenty of rocks, but i don't want them to take over the tank... what species would you add?