French Angelfish with Sore on Mouth- Please Help!!!

[daronson76]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum...

I have a French Angelfish that has an open sore/cut on his lip. I just saw it for the first time tonight.

I have had this fish for over 10 years. I have a very basic 55 gallon setup. No corals or invertebrates. At this point the French Angelfish is my only fish and has been the only one for a few years. I couldn't bring myself to add anyone else after my last one died, plus this guy is pretty big for the tank as it is I didn't think it was fair to him to add anyone else.

The water levels are all fine.... I haven't had any trouble with anything in years. pH has always been slightly low but honestly, Nothing has changed. I did a small water change last week...

In the last few weeks he has not been eating well. I have to try different things to get him to eat (fresh clams, squid shrimp from the grocery store, nori sheets and fresh lettuce). He acts interested but then won't eat much if anything at all. Other than that, he acts fine.

And now tonight the lip sore appeared. I also am noticing that he appears to be breathing a bit heavy tonight. I put some fresh lettuce on a clip in the tank and he went crazy trying to eat this but didn't get much off, this is when I noticed the lip.

It looks like a bacterial infection due to a scrape or something to me but I really need other opinions.

I started treatment tonight with MelaFix as I had some in the house.

I am attaching a couple of pics too.

Thank you in advance for your help.

I've had this guy for such a long time, I'd hate to loose him now over something like this!

 

[FTMMWS]

Man ,i love the french ,good looking fish,,welcome to the site
OK,,it does look like he may have just nipped on a sharp rock or coral branch ..
Keep us posted

 

[hippy guy]

YeaH that's my guess too...
.... or maybe its just a coldsore habha

 

[daronson76]

Thanks so much!!!

That's what I'm thinking. He ate some iceberg lettuce today that I clipped to the side of the tank.

It was suggested by the aquarium shop that I give a precautionary antibiotic (I only explained over the phone he didn't see a pic) but I really hate to put it in the tank even if he is the only occupant. Any thoughts????

I'm having flashbacks of all the years of dealing with bacterias, parasites, etc. You name it, I probably have had it in my tank at one point or another. That's why I'm so bummed about this, it has literally been years since I had any sort of trouble.

Thanks again and I'll keep you updated. By the way this site is awesome!

 

[daronson76]

He seems to be better now. The melafix worked like a charm! I also went and bought some mysis and formula two and now he's eating like he never ate before. Thanks for the advice.

 

[FTMMWS]

Glad to hear it,,he's a beauty