HELP! 911 plea for sick freshwater fish

[Christine101]

I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank with an 18 year old parrot fish, a 10ish year old parrot fish and a catfish. I added 2 new parrot fish (did not quarantine, please don't judge, I've never quarantined and never had an issue, thankfully). 2 weeks later I noticed that my cat fish appears to have ich or epistylis, people on other pages are saying epi. Chemicals are perfect (ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, pH). I did an immediate 10 gallon water change (vacuuming substrate) and added 1/2 cup aquarium salt.

While trying to figure out meds for epi, today ALL of my parrot fish are laying on the bottom of the tank. I removed almost all of the decorations and did another 10 gallon water change (vacuuming substrate) and added API General Cure and 1/2 cup of aquarium salt. I am at a loss. I feel horrible. I don't know if the 2 little parrots I added are killing my fish. I am at a loss and heartbroken over my girl, Humphrey (the 18 year old), yellow heart shaped parrot in the front. The reds are the new ones and the next pic is my catfish.

I am surprised they made it through the night, but there is little to no change in any of them. General Cure instructions suggest another dose tomorrow and then a 25% water change. I was chatting with someone on a salt water forum and they suggested a 50% water change and add 3/4 cup of salt today and then another 3/4 cup tomorrow - and suggested I reach out to a freshwater forum ....

Pics of my fish and water test attached for reference.

Thank you for taking the time to help, I appreciate your time, consideration and expertise! And - PLEASE no judgement on the lack of quarantine. I screwed up and feel awful about it. I just want to save my tank.

 

[Andy Sager]

I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank with an 18 year old parrot fish, a 10ish year old parrot fish and a catfish. I added 2 new parrot fish (did not quarantine, please don't judge, I've never quarantined and never had an issue, thankfully).

Until you now have. It's no longer safe to add any fish from anybody directly to an established tank. In my 60 years of fish keeping, I've never seen it so bad that quarantining new fish was as mandatory as it is now.

2 weeks later I noticed that my cat fish appears to have ich or epistylis, people on other pages are saying epi. Chemicals are perfect (ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, pH). I did an immediate 10 gallon water change (vacuuming substrate) and added 1/2 cup aquarium salt.

Your catfish has a bad case of Epistylis. The diagnostic" tell" is that it's covering the eye. Ick will rarely if ever attack the eye. It's most likely that the other fish also have it as well. They would be best treated in a separate hospital tank with Kanamycin ( seachem Kanaplex) in cooler water ( 74-76 degrees). The cooler water will slow down the bacteria that are feeding the Epistylis while the antibiotic will kill it off thus starving the parasites. With the lack of a host in the main tank, any parasites still in the tank should die off as well.

While trying to figure out meds for epi, today ALL of my parrot fish are laying on the bottom of the tank. I removed almost all of the decorations and did another 10 gallon water change (vacuuming substrate) and added API General Cure and 1/2 cup of aquarium salt. I am at a loss. I feel horrible. I don't know if the 2 little parrots I added are killing my fish. I am at a loss and heartbroken over my girl, Humphrey (the 18 year old), yellow heart shaped parrot in the front. The reds are the new ones and the next pic is my catfish.

Your catfish has a sever case of lesions, similar to hole in the head, which is a sign of prolonged poor water quality or poor diet or both. The advanced state of the Epi and the lesions points to it being present for some time. What are you feeding the fish? Are the test results from before you did the water changes or after?

I am surprised they made it through the night, but there is little to no change in any of them. General Cure instructions suggest another dose tomorrow and then a 25% water change. I was chatting with someone on a salt water forum and they suggested a 50% water change and add 3/4 cup of salt today and then another 3/4 cup tomorrow - and suggested I reach out to a freshwater forum ....

Salt can help but it's not as fast a cure as an antibiotic would be. The Parasites themselves are not really the problem as they do not attack the fish like ick does but they attach to the fish and feed off the bacteria on the fish. The problem is when the parasites leave the fish, it/they leave the skin open to infection. The antibiotic can help prevent secondary infection. I would discontinue the General Cure. Do a large water change while the fish are in the hospital tank(s) and let the system run fish free for about a week before adding the fish back in should they be clean by then.

Pics of my fish and water test attached for reference.

Thank you for taking the time to help, I appreciate your time, consideration and expertise! And - PLEASE no judgement on the lack of quarantine. I screwed up and feel awful about it. I just want to save my tank.

No judgement about lack of quarantine. Most don't find out it's importance until their first disaster. That's just the way it is. I can't say for sure that all that we can recommend is going to save the tank. It's just impossible to know because of the lack of information regarding the new fish's health and the advanced stage of the catfish's issues. It's like we are coming in 5 minutes from the end of the movie. All we can do is make suggestions that have helped ourselves and others with similar situations. No guarantees. If you need help with a hospital tank setup, I lay out what is needed in this thread, post #2: Quarantine tanks and Hospital tanks, are they really different?

Hope this helps.

 

[Christine101]

Until you now have. It's no longer safe to add any fish from anybody directly to an established tank. In my 60 years of fish keeping, I've never seen it so bad that quarantining new fish was as mandatory as it is now.

Your catfish has a bad case of Epistylis. The diagnostic" tell" is that it's covering the eye. Ick will rarely if ever attack the eye. It's most likely that the other fish also have it as well. They would be best treated in a separate hospital tank with Kanamycin ( seachem Kanaplex) in cooler water ( 74-76 degrees). The cooler water will slow down the bacteria that are feeding the Epistylis while the antibiotic will kill it off thus starving the parasites. With the lack of a host in the main tank, any parasites still in the tank should die off as well.

Your catfish has a sever case of lesions, similar to hole in the head, which is a sign of prolonged poor water quality or poor diet or both. The advanced state of the Epi and the lesions points to it being present for some time. What are you feeding the fish? Are the test results from before you did the water changes or after?

Salt can help but it's not as fast a cure as an antibiotic would be. The Parasites themselves are not really the problem as they do not attack the fish like ick does but they attach to the fish and feed off the bacteria on the fish. The problem is when the parasites leave the fish, it/they leave the skin open to infection. The antibiotic can help prevent secondary infection. I would discontinue the General Cure. Do a large water change while the fish are in the hospital tank(s) and let the system run fish free for about a week before adding the fish back in should they be clean by then.

No judgement about lack of quarantine. Most don't find out it's importance until their first disaster. That's just the way it is. I can't say for sure that all that we can recommend is going to save the tank. It's just impossible to know because of the lack of information regarding the new fish's health and the advanced stage of the catfish's issues. It's like we are coming in 5 minutes from the end of the movie. All we can do is make suggestions that have helped ourselves and others with similar situations. No guarantees. If you need help with a hospital tank setup, I lay out what is needed in this thread, post #2: Quarantine tanks and Hospital tanks, are they really different?

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for your reply, Andy. My plan for today was a 50% water change and adding the salt. I do have Seachem Kanaplex that was just delivered today. So I cannot treat them in the old tank? I do need to get a hospital tank, as the only tank I have is approx 2.5 gallons which I assume is too small for these fish?

I tested the water immediately when I saw they were doing poorly - it was perfect then, too. I even bought a new test kit to double check (the test tube kind, not the strips). I don't think the catfish issue is water quality (I'm stickler on that, honestly). They all eat Fluval Bug Bites Cichlid formula. I had no idea that the catfish was unwell until I saw the epi.

I can get a 5 gallon tank, I have an extra airstone already, I suppose I'll need a new filter and heater since I can't take the heater out of the sick tank. How do I use the kanaplex, just put it right in the hospital tank water? Do I start with new water or take some from the sick tank? Is a week long enough to rectify their health? Do I put the carbon back in the sink tank while it sits vacant? Best way to sterilize equipment?

Sorry, I read your post #2 and still have questions. Thanks in advance!

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you so much for your reply, Andy. My plan for today was a 50% water change and adding the salt. I do have Seachem Kanaplex that was just delivered today. So I cannot treat them in the old tank? I do need to get a hospital tank, as the only tank I have is approx 2.5 gallons which I assume is too small for these fish?

While Kanamycin does not kill nitrifying bacteria, it can and usually suppresses them which will mean that your water quality will diminish which will make the water not suitable for regaining health. So treating them in the man tank is not recommended. You can use other containers if you don't have the spare tanks. Walmart usually sells a plastic file box ( Sterilite Plastic Letter-Size File Box, Clear - Walmart.com ) which actually holds 10 gallons of water. ( I used them in my hatchery) They are cheap enough and can work in a pinch. You measure out the exact amount of water you are adding to it because the medications are designed for actual gallons of water not tank size. I suggest you mark the outside of the of the box at different amounts so you know when you are losing water to evaporation and how much water you are actually using and changing when necessary.

I tested the water immediately when I saw they were doing poorly - it was perfect then, too. I even bought a new test kit to double check (the test tube kind, not the strips). I don't think the catfish issue is water quality (I'm stickler on that, honestly). They all eat Fluval Bug Bites Cichlid formula. I had no idea that the catfish was unwell until I saw the epi.

I assume you did not get the catfish looking like that. I can't even identify what specie it is because all of it's natural coloring is missing. As for the food, what else are you feeding them? No one food is an "all you need to feed" food so you should be feeding a variety of foods and vitamins.

I can get a 5 gallon tank, I have an extra airstone already, I suppose I'll need a new filter and heater since I can't take the heater out of the sick tank. How do I use the kanaplex, just put it right in the hospital tank water?

You should be starting the hospital tank with all new water that matches , as closely as possible, to the main tank water's parameters. This way the fish can be placed immediately into the clean water with little stress. Use the Kanaplex as directed on the package. Adjust your dosage if you do not have 5 actual gallons of water.

Do I start with new water or take some from the sick tank?

New water ( as I explained)

Is a week long enough to rectify their health?

Possibly. There is no way of knowing exactly because of the severity of the infestation. Run a full treatment regimen ( 3 doses over the course of a week with a possible repeat for a second week depending on how the fish are doing)

Do I put the carbon back in the sink tank while it sits vacant?

Use new and not until you put the fish back into the main tank. No carbon while under treatment. Just an FYI, Carbon is not really a necessary product anymore as you should be doing water changes more frequently so anything the carbon would be filtering out, you would be doing with the water changes. The carbon has a very short filtering life in aquariums so it's just there more often than actually working.

Best way to sterilize equipment?

I prefer a bleach bath but it will depend on what you are sterilizing. Heaters, you can wipe down with bleach then rinse well. Sponge filters: mild bleach solution only for a minute or so then rinse well as bleach will break down the sponge. Nets: high salt content water or a product called "Net Soak" or letting them dry out completely in the sun. Hoses: a mild bleach solution left in the hoses for a couple of hours then rinsed. What other equipment are you talking about?

Sorry, I read your post #2 and still have questions. Thanks in advance!

I should also add that if you go with the plastic boxes, you need to be very careful about using heaters in them. You are better off adjusting the air temperature of the room than using heaters in plastic boxes.

Hope this helps.

 

[Christine101]

While Kanamycin does not kill nitrifying bacteria, it can and usually suppresses them which will mean that your water quality will diminish which will make the water not suitable for regaining health. So treating them in the man tank is not recommended. You can use other containers if you don't have the spare tanks. Walmart usually sells a plastic file box ( Sterilite Plastic Letter-Size File Box, Clear - Walmart.com ) which actually holds 10 gallons of water. ( I used them in my hatchery) They are cheap enough and can work in a pinch. You measure out the exact amount of water you are adding to it because the medications are designed for actual gallons of water not tank size. I suggest you mark the outside of the of the box at different amounts so you know when you are losing water to evaporation and how much water you are actually using and changing when necessary.

I assume you did not get the catfish looking like that. I can't even identify what specie it is because all of it's natural coloring is missing. As for the food, what else are you feeding them? No one food is an "all you need to feed" food so you should be feeding a variety of foods and vitamins.

You should be starting the hospital tank with all new water that matches , as closely as possible, to the main tank water's parameters. This way the fish can be placed immediately into the clean water with little stress. Use the Kanaplex as directed on the package. Adjust your dosage if you do not have 5 actual gallons of water.

New water ( as I explained)

Possibly. There is no way of knowing exactly because of the severity of the infestation. Run a full treatment regimen ( 3 doses over the course of a week with a possible repeat for a second week depending on how the fish are doing)

Use new and not until you put the fish back into the main tank. No carbon while under treatment. Just an FYI, Carbon is not really a necessary product anymore as you should be doing water changes more frequently so anything the carbon would be filtering out, you would be doing with the water changes. The carbon has a very short filtering life in aquariums so it's just there more often than actually working.

I prefer a bleach bath but it will depend on what you are sterilizing. Heaters, you can wipe down with bleach then rinse well. Sponge filters: mild bleach solution only for a minute or so then rinse well as bleach will break down the sponge. Nets: high salt content water or a product called "Net Soak" or letting them dry out completely in the sun. Hoses: a mild bleach solution left in the hoses for a couple of hours then rinsed. What other equipment are you talking about?

I should also add that if you go with the plastic boxes, you need to be very careful about using heaters in them. You are better off adjusting the air temperature of the room than using heaters in plastic boxes.

Hope this helps.

Thank you again for all of the information. Quick update and another question:

I set up a new 10 gallon hospital tank with freshwater (no aquarium salt added), a new filter (carbon removed), heater, aerator etc. I moved them all over to the hospital tank and dosed with Kanaplex yesterday. This morning, the larger parrot fish was dead, the other parrots are upright but not swimming around. The smallest parrot has small white salt type speckles on her rear fins, she has her rear fins clamped and is staying in the corner. Could we have ich now, too?? The catfish is hanging at the top of water, his epi appears to be less, but it is hard to tell. His eyes are cloudy. Nobody is eating.

Should I be doing anything in the hospital tank besides the Kanaplex?

Regarding the 55 gallon (sick) tank - how should I treat the tank in preparation to move them back - if they all survive? Should I break it down, sterilize and start over, or should I just let it be and the epi or ich will die off? It was heavily salted after a 50% water change and temp was raised to 78 degrees.

Again, so thankful for your expertise and input!!

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you again for all of the information. Quick update and another question:

I set up a new 10 gallon hospital tank with freshwater (no aquarium salt added), a new filter (carbon removed), heater, aerator etc. I moved them all over to the hospital tank and dosed with Kanaplex yesterday. This morning, the larger parrot fish was dead, the other parrots are upright but not swimming around. The smallest parrot has small white salt type speckles on her rear fins, she has her rear fins clamped and is staying in the corner. Could we have ich now, too?? The catfish is hanging at the top of water, his epi appears to be less, but it is hard to tell. His eyes are cloudy. Nobody is eating.

Should I be doing anything in the hospital tank besides the Kanaplex?

Regarding the 55 gallon (sick) tank - how should I treat the tank in preparation to move them back - if they all survive? Should I break it down, sterilize and start over, or should I just let it be and the epi or ich will die off? It was heavily salted after a 50% water change and temp was raised to 78 degrees.

Again, so thankful for your expertise and input!!

A 10 gallon tank is quite small for fish that big. Check the ammonia and make sure it has a lot of aeration. I would have done two 20 longs for these fish. The 2 smaller parrots in one and the other 2 in the other tank. But it's spilled milk now. You need to keep tabs on the ammonia with that many larger fish in such a small tank.

Moving on, as for the spots on the fish's rear, ick tends to be more symmetrical in size so if they are like that, the possibility for ick exists. Here's the problem tho, To treat ick, you exacerbate the epistylis. If you treat the Epistylis, the medication is not usually good for treating ick. So in this case, if there are just a smaller number of spots, they will leave the fish in order to reproduce so when you see the spots gone, vacuum the tank bottom really well and you may remove the parasites before they reproduce. If you can get a close up pic of the spots, we may be able to better identify what they are.

As for the main tank, turn the heat up to 84- 86 and leave it there for 2-3 weeks ( the longer the better) and that will speed up the life cycle of the Ick parasite. With no fish in the tank to be a host, the parasites will die of starvation after 48 to 72 hours from hatching. So between the salted water, the heat and the lack of fish, whatever is in that tank should die off. When the fish are ready to be moved back, you'll want to do a complete water change with gravel cleaning the night before returning the fish to the main tank.

For now, you should just use the Kanaplex as directed in the hospital tank. You can do salt baths on the fish by using 1-2 tablespoons of non iodized salt in a gallon of tank water then place the fish in the bath for 5-10 minutes daily until you see improvement. This can help expedite the killing of the parasites. HOWEVER, I do not suggest doing the bath to the catfish so unless you place the catfish in a separate tank, the salt baths on the parrots will not stop the parasites from congregating back onto the parrots.

As for the larger fish dying, sorry to hear but it's probably because it was in an advanced state of infestation so the treatment came too late for him/her.

 

[Christine101]

A 10 gallon tank is quite small for fish that big. Check the ammonia and make sure it has a lot of aeration. I would have done two 20 longs for these fish. The 2 smaller parrots in one and the other 2 in the other tank. But it's spilled milk now. You need to keep tabs on the ammonia with that many larger fish in such a small tank.

Moving on, as for the spots on the fish's rear, ick tends to be more symmetrical in size so if they are like that, the possibility for ick exists. Here's the problem tho, To treat ick, you exacerbate the epistylis. If you treat the Epistylis, the medication is not usually good for treating ick. So in this case, if there are just a smaller number of spots, they will leave the fish in order to reproduce so when you see the spots gone, vacuum the tank bottom really well and you may remove the parasites before they reproduce. If you can get a close up pic of the spots, we may be able to better identify what they are.

As for the main tank, turn the heat up to 84- 86 and leave it there for 2-3 weeks ( the longer the better) and that will speed up the life cycle of the Ick parasite. With no fish in the tank to be a host, the parasites will die of starvation after 48 to 72 hours from hatching. So between the salted water, the heat and the lack of fish, whatever is in that tank should die off. When the fish are ready to be moved back, you'll want to do a complete water change with gravel cleaning the night before returning the fish to the main tank.

For now, you should just use the Kanaplex as directed in the hospital tank. You can do salt baths on the fish by using 1-2 tablespoons of non iodized salt in a gallon of tank water then place the fish in the bath for 5-10 minutes daily until you see improvement. This can help expedite the killing of the parasites. HOWEVER, I do not suggest doing the bath to the catfish so unless you place the catfish in a separate tank, the salt baths on the parrots will not stop the parasites from congregating back onto the parrots.

As for the larger fish dying, sorry to hear but it's probably because it was in an advanced state of infestation so the treatment came too late for him/her.

Update on my fish. The smaller parrot has white specks - but it might be resolving (hard to tell and get a good photo) but she really isn't coming out of the corner. The 2nd smaller parrot seems fine and mostly eating. The catfish is alive, laying on its side but it's vent/cloaca is enlarged (constipated?). The larger parrot (my 18 year old) has the tips of her fins turning black and she has black on her face and side - almost fungal looking. Pics attached. Hopefully you can see what I see in person.

I did a 25% water change (ammonia was high, as you expected - I'll do a water change everyday) and I added kanaplex and salt.

Fingers crossed .... I'm a little more hopeful, but not 100% convinced they'll all make it (except for the little parrot that is active).

Again, thank you for your expertise!

 

[Andy Sager]

Update on my fish. The smaller parrot has white specks - but it might be resolving (hard to tell and get a good photo) but she really isn't coming out of the corner.

Yeah, hard to tell from the pic whether it's ick or not. I'm not convinced it is from these pics.

The 2nd smaller parrot seems fine and mostly eating. The catfish is alive, laying on its side but it's vent/cloaca is enlarged (constipated?).

This may be a reaction to the salt. If you read back, I said to do salt baths for the parrots but not the catfish because cats don't usually like that much salt. I CAN tell from your pic however, that this catfish has been deteriorating for a long time. It has lost a lot of it's skin and flesh on the anterior/dorsal side and is full of epistylis on it's bottom.

The larger parrot (my 18 year old) has the tips of her fins turning black and she has black on her face and side - almost fungal looking.

I thought you said this fish passed? Glad to hear if it didn't. The black edges are a result of ammonia burns, not fungus. Fungus is white or gray in color.

Pics attached. Hopefully you can see what I see in person.

I did a 25% water change (ammonia was high, as you expected - I'll do a water change everyday) and I added kanaplex and salt.

Fingers crossed .... I'm a little more hopeful, but not 100% convinced they'll all make it (except for the little parrot that is active).

Again, thank you for your expertise!

You are going to be fighting an uphill battle if you need to do daily water changes to control the ammonia because you will be diluting the kanamycin which you need at full strength to kill off the bacteria that is feeding the epistylis. If you don't keep the dosage full, you could potentially create drug resistance which will be a whole other problem. I would consider getting a second larger tank to use for the hospital tank so you can separate the fish.

 

[Christine101]

Yeah, hard to tell from the pic whether it's ick or not. I'm not convinced it is from these pics.

This may be a reaction to the salt. If you read back, I said to do salt baths for the parrots but not the catfish because cats don't usually like that much salt. I CAN tell from your pic however, that this catfish has been deteriorating for a long time. It has lost a lot of it's skin and flesh on the anterior/dorsal side and is full of epistylis on it's bottom.

I thought you said this fish passed? Glad to hear if it didn't. The black edges are a result of ammonia burns, not fungus. Fungus is white or gray in color.

You are going to be fighting an uphill battle if you need to do daily water changes to control the ammonia because you will be diluting the kanamycin which you need at full strength to kill off the bacteria that is feeding the epistylis. If you don't keep the dosage full, you could potentially create drug resistance which will be a whole other problem. I would consider getting a second larger tank to use for the hospital tank so you can separate the fish.

Yes, it's an awful mess. Definitely need a bigger tank. I would love to move them back into the 55 gallon next weekend after a deep clean, if at all possible (I know you said 2-3 weeks)? The fish that died was the much bigger parrot, my old girl is still hanging in there.

As for the water changes, I didn't realize that the kanaplex was 'building on itself'.... I thought that a water change and then adding the next dose would be ok?

Would it be acceptable at this point to euthanize the catfish? I didn't realize how far gone he was earlier. I don't want him to suffer. He is definitely unwell.

 

[Andy Sager]

Yes, it's an awful mess. Definitely need a bigger tank. I would love to move them back into the 55 gallon next weekend after a deep clean, if at all possible (I know you said 2-3 weeks)?

At this point, I wouldn't plan on that. Get a second or larger tank for the hospital tank.

The fish that died was the much bigger parrot, my old girl is still hanging in there.

As for the water changes, I didn't realize that the kanaplex was 'building on itself'.... I thought that a water change and then adding the next dose would be ok?

It's not that it's building on itself, Medications inhibit certain biological systems in pathogens at full strength and this may not happen immediately but happen from prolonged exposure. So every time you do a water change, you would need to replace the exact amount of the medication to match the amount you removed during the water change to keep the medicine at the therapeutic level. The water change schedule on the directions is to keep the levels from getting too high which can become toxic to the fish. This is why you follow the directions on the packaging regarding adding more medicine or amount of water that needs changing, etc.

Would it be acceptable at this point to euthanize the catfish? I didn't realize how far gone he was earlier. I don't want him to suffer. He is definitely unwell.

The biggest problem with the catfish is the epistylis and not the lesions. Those lesions can be healed over time with clean water and a good well rounded diet. If you can cure the epistylis, there's no reason to euthanize the catfish.

 

[Christine101]

At this point, I wouldn't plan on that. Get a second or larger tank for the hospital tank.

It's not that it's building on itself, Medications inhibit certain biological systems in pathogens at full strength and this may not happen immediately but happen from prolonged exposure. So every time you do a water change, you would need to replace the exact amount of the medication to match the amount you removed during the water change to keep the medicine at the therapeutic level. The water change schedule on the directions is to keep the levels from getting too high which can become toxic to the fish. This is why you follow the directions on the packaging regarding adding more medicine or amount of water that needs changing, etc.

The biggest problem with the catfish is the epistylis and not the lesions. Those lesions can be healed over time with clean water and a good well rounded diet. If you can cure the epistylis, there's no reason to euthanize the catfish.

I wanted to give you a quick update on my fish. I have completed all tank treatments. My 18 year old Parrot Fish was unwell and not eating for almost 2 weeks. She started to look better, but too weak to eat. We softened food and fed her by hand for a couple of days - now she is coming to the surface and eating on her own! Her color is back, her gills and eyes look great!

I truly think that my catfish was sick before I got the newbies and I just didn't know it because I rarely saw him. I think he was the issue and the start of this horrible ordeal.

So the end of the story is: I lost my 10 year old parrot and my catfish ... my 18 year old girl survived, and so did the 2 new parrot fish. Tank harmony for now ... hoping to add to the tank in May (with quarantine, of course!).

Thank you again for your expertise and input!!!

 

[Andy Sager]

I wanted to give you a quick update on my fish. I have completed all tank treatments. My 18 year old Parrot Fish was unwell and not eating for almost 2 weeks. She started to look better, but too weak to eat. We softened food and fed her by hand for a couple of days - now she is coming to the surface and eating on her own! Her color is back, her gills and eyes look great!

I truly think that my catfish was sick before I got the newbies and I just didn't know it because I rarely saw him. I think he was the issue and the start of this horrible ordeal.

So the end of the story is: I lost my 10 year old parrot and my catfish ... my 18 year old girl survived, and so did the 2 new parrot fish. Tank harmony for now ... hoping to add to the tank in May (with quarantine, of course!).

Thank you again for your expertise and input!!!

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear.
As for the catfish, what he had was not contagious so not the initial problem. What he had would be the equivalent of you having an ingrown toenail. Yes, it's a problem but your other toes can't catch it from the one toe, they would get it from what caused the ingrown in the first place.
While the general thought was that Hole in the head or lateral line disease was caused by a pathogen, there is more evidence that it's caused by poor diet/ low vitamins and poor water quality. Many a fish with lateral line disease has been cured not with medications but just with a diet upgrade and better water quality. Bottom line, it's a common condition with cichlids so if you see anything like that starting, you need to address those 2 things A.S.A.P. to prevent them from getting worse.

 

[Christine101]

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear.
As for the catfish, what he had was not contagious so not the initial problem. What he had would be the equivalent of you having an ingrown toenail. Yes, it's a problem but your other toes can't catch it from the one toe, they would get it from what caused the ingrown in the first place.
While the general thought was that Hole in the head or lateral line disease was caused by a pathogen, there is more evidence that it's caused by poor diet/ low vitamins and poor water quality. Many a fish with lateral line disease has been cured not with medications but just with a diet upgrade and better water quality. Bottom line, it's a common condition with cichlids so if you see anything like that starting, you need to address those 2 things A.S.A.P. to prevent them from getting worse.

Thanks, Andy. What I meant was his epi or ich, not the other issue (lateral line disease) he had going on.

I feed the parrot fish "Bug Bites"- what do you recommend for food in addition?

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks, Andy. What I meant was his epi or ich, not the other issue (lateral line disease) he had going on.

I feed the parrot fish "Bug Bites"- what do you recommend for food in addition?

Cichlids eat a large variety of foods. Fish, Shrimp, Insects, Worms, Lizards ( although Parrots may not have the mouth for lizards) , Snails and some even things like clam meat, fish eggs and the like so the more variety you give them, the healthier they will be.