Ram Cichlid with Fungus?

[1madman1]

I purchased 4 juvenile Ram Cichlids the other day and one appears to have what appears to be some sort of fungus or bacterial infection on its fins.



They appear to be solid white masses attached to the fins. Luckily it doesn't appear to be getting any worse so far. The fish seems to be doing okay, though its swimming may be slightly impaired. What is it exactly? How can I treat it? I don't have much in the way of a quarantine tank unfortunately and I have cardinal tetras and otos in the same tank.

[Zagz]

You could start with some pimafix/melafix. Also change the water before treating, I'd recommend 50%.

[1madman1]

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to try that tomorrow. I don't have much experience with medication, I assume I can get that stuff at my local Big Al's location.

[Zagz]

Yes it is a very mild medication, it is actually 2 meds that can be used together. I don't know how effective it will be if the fish's disease is advanced but worth a try as it will not harm your more sensitive fish. You could also set up a 5 gal plastic rubbermaid container with a heater and airstone as an emergency QT if you feel stronger meds would be better.

[1madman1]

I've done a partial water change, pulled the carbon from my fluval (was to help with excessive tannin), and added the meds. Hopefully all goes well. I hope this stuff doesn't hurt my cardinals. They are getting hard to find around here and some of mine are pretty old(?) now.

*update*
This cant be good! All of the Rams are resting on the bottom of the tank right now and when they move they do so slowly. They are usually all very active. The caridnals and otos are behaving normally. Water tests out fine, but it smells like tree sap now. I used about 8-9ml of pimafix and melafix (its a 20g tank).

*update 2*
They are moving about again, though much slower than usual. Maybe the sudden change from the medication just freaked them out a bit.

[Zagz]

As long as melafix and pimafix is dosed correctly I have never had a problem with it harming sensitive fish. I use tsp measurements so would have to go to a converter to figure out your dosage. What is the temp of your tank? What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate parameters? The new rams may be ill right from the lfs.

The tree sap smell is normal for mela/pimafix.

[1madman1]

1 tsp is 5ml give or take.

The tank temp is 80f. Just tested, ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate is detectible but off the bottom of the test kit chart. (which probably isn't good for my plants! been a while since I last tested that one)

Lfs?

[Zagz]

LFS=local fish store. It is entirely possible all your rams came to you with an illness. Keep treating with the mela/pimafix and keep an eye on things.

[Jchillin]

FWIW, nitrate in a planted tank is a good thing.

The photo above was a little dark so I took the liberty of enhancing it to show the areas where I see the fungus.

Rams are incredibly sensitive fish and your treatment is the best remedy for them. It is not unusual for them to become lethargic when ill. Have they been eating since the treatments began and/or since you had them?

[1madman1]

Yes, the rams have been eating fine, after I found a food that was to their liking anyway. They are relatively messy eaters but spend much of their time pecking at the gravel and plants in the tank. (and thus cleaning up after themselves)

*update*
The rams are behaving normally now and today's dose didn't seem to bother them at all. On an unrelated note, I think the ottos ate my brush algae?!? I didn't know that anything could eat that stuff.

[1madman1]

No improvement from the treatment, in fact it looks like its a bit worse. The largest of the other rams is now showing signs of the same thing. I'm wondering, could it be lymphocystis? Besides the nasty appearance, they all seem to be behaving normally (as far as I know, these are my first rams).