Poor Red Parrot Cichlid...

[firebirdmc]

I've recently finished cycling my new 55 gal. freshwater tank. Cycled for about 6 weeks, used mostly water from my existing 20 gal, and finally added the whisper x45 from my 20 gal in addition to the aquar clear 110 for this 55 gal. (needless to say, I should be covered with filtration). Ammonia and nitrite are 0. Nitrate is <10ppm for this 55 gal. tank. I had my one red parrot in the tank during part of the cyling period. I opted to go with some feeder goldfish for part of the cycling. They apparantly were diseased and are gone now. About 2 weeks ago, the red parrot got really sick. Had trouble breathing, laying sideways on the bottom of the tank, and had little white spots all over him. Looked to be ick. I treated him with Rid-Ick for 10 days doing partial water changes almost each time. I also raised the temperature to about 85 to speed up the treatment and kill the ich. It totally worked, and he was up and about with no spots by day 3 of the 10 day cycle. Three days ago I added my other 4 malawi cichlids from my 20 gal into my new 55 gal. Everyone seems to be getting along fine, until I noticed something last night. The red parrot now has white fuzz/cotoon above his lips and up until his nose. It appears to be Columnaris. Upon reading about this, it says that one of the likely culprits is higher than normal water temperature.

Did I give the parrot columnaris by treating him for ick? As soon as I realized he might have columnaris, I did a 50% water change last night. Currently there has been no change in his behavior... still swimming like normal and eating food. Not sure if I'm getting to the disease in time, or have mis-diagnosed. Would frequent water changes and bringing the temp back down to 75 degrees help him get better? When I get home from work today I'll check to see if there's any improvement on the white fuzz.

I appreciate any help and would be happy to provide more info.

Thank you!