white pimple and a little fluff??

[Princess1982]

Hi All

My chocolate pom pom seems to have a whitish coloured pimple with a little white fluff coming out of it on the top of her gills. Unfortunately, my pearlscale noticed at the same time I did and ate the fluff off of her! Now all is remaining is this whitish coloured pimple. I just took her out of the tank to take a photo but you can't see it out of the water. The area just looks slightly raised. I had a quick look at her gills and they seemed normal and other than a few scales missing (on the other side to the pimple) she seems in perfect health and is still eating etc. Does anyone know what this could be and how I should treat it?

There are no signs of deteriorating fins or any red streaks so I don't think it is fin rot. Could it be fungus? None of my other fish seem to have it but they are seem really interested in the fluff/pimple.

Tank Info:

450 litre jewel vision
1 x common goldfish
1 x black moor
1 x panda moor
1 x white ranchu
1 x bronze lionhead
1 x blue pearlscale
1x chocolate pom pom
1 x red cap oranda
1 x leopard sailfin pleco

All 2 -3 inches except the common who is 5 inches (she is being rehomed in a pond in a couple of months)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 20ppm (same as it come out of the tap)

I have literally just closed down a quaratine tank 2 days ago for the new additions to my tank so don't have one set up to seperate her. Can I treat the whole tank or is the best treatment likely to be unsuitable for the pleco?


Thanks in advance for your help,

 

[Princess1982]

It seems from my online research that esha 2000 is safe to use with pleco's. Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[jlk]

Hi Princess! The 'pimple' is on her gill plate not on her poms, correct? Look at her very closely and see if there any other white bumps/bubbles anywhere else (namely the gill plates and pectoral fins). I would not jump to treating yet until we figure out if is something that needs treatment. Does the esha2000 list its ingredients? Thanks!

 

[Princess1982]

Hi JLK

The pimple is on the very top of her gill plate. The white bit of fluff was on the pimple but had a thin white strand running to one of her pom poms. As the pearlscale ate the fluff there is nothing else there now except this raised bump. She does seem to be flicking quite a bit as do a couple of the other fish. I'm worried there may be some parasites still in the tank but the white spot has been completely clear for nearly 3 weeks. I'm confused.
I have been trying to join a forum called pleco planet and it seems a general treatment like Esha 2000 is safe for all fish including plecos. It treats everything including fungus, ulcers, wounds as well as bacterial and parasitic infections so it seems like a good general treatment to try. The ingredients are ethacridine lactate, copper sulfate and proflavine hemisulphate.
Of course I don't want to treat for nothing but I'm sure something is going on in the tank.
Thanks JLK.

 

[jlk]

Copper is a bit of strong treatment but it does cover most parasite issues (not all). If it was just a single bump, I would not be overly concerned. If there are multiple fish flashing, then something else is going on. I assume the paarmeters are fine here and I know you take excellent care of your fish. The other two meds listed are different forms of acriflavine/acriflavine like compounds. They have antiseptic and antifungal properties. I dont know if this med will affect your good bacteria but I am inclined to think that its possible based on the antiseptic/antibacterial properties of the meds. I would observe everyone for another day or two before considering treatment. If things take a turn for the worse before this, go ahead and treat. Keep us posted!