# Frontosa injuring himself



## puakoa (Aug 29, 2019)

Hi,
I have a 90 gallon tank with only one occupant, a Frontosa who is about 14 years old. As Frontosas do, he gets spooked easily and darts around the tank. The only real "decoration" i have in the tank is a large clay pot that he likes to hide in at times. There are some rocks at the back of the tank also. He tends to bang into the top of the tank and the filter intake and output pipes as well as some of the rocks and probably his pot and scrapes himself. The scraped area will be white like he skinned himself but the white patches don't seem to be going away and there are a few larger ones. I treated the tank with Melafix and Pimafix for 4 days so far since I was worried he could get a bacterial or fungal infection. The areas look a little better but I'm wondering if I should treat him with something stronger. He has had them in the past and they would go away but since there are more I don't want to risk his health. I also use Algaefix on a regular basis. His water changes include aquarium salt, baking soda and epsom salts. 
Anyone have this issue before and have luck in treating it? 
Thanks so much!


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## puakoa (Aug 29, 2019)

I'm trying to get a good photo to upload and hopefully someone will be able to diagnose him.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

A photo may help!

Usually clean water will help heal up wounds quickly so consider increasing water changes especially if your nitrate level is elevated. Hopefully you have an aquarium test kit and if so, post the results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

I'm not sure why you are using Algaefix treatment on a regular basis so what is the reason for using it?

While I'm asking additional questions, what are you using for filtration and how often are you servicing the filter(s)?

What is your normal water change schedule including how much water you are changing at one time? Also what is your water source since you live in Hawaii, that is treated city water, well water, cistern, R/O, or what?


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## puakoa (Aug 29, 2019)

I appreciate your reply. When I get home I will work on getting a pic and uploading it. Also a current water test. The Algaefix is because the tank was filled with algae and it was very difficult to remove from the rocks. It's all gone now and I am trying to keep the tank clean. We have county water which is from a reservoir and I run it through a filter before using it in the tank. Since he's the only fish in the tank I do a 30% water/filter change every two months and it's never really dirty.


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## puakoa (Aug 29, 2019)

Sorry...can't seem to upload a pic. I tried from Google photos and then opened a Flickr account but the instructions are different then what I find on Flickr. Each time I try to preview the photo nothing happens


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## puakoa (Aug 29, 2019)

https://pix.sfly.com/gO8_SK


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Your pic did work but I'm not sure what he's got, it is definitely more than just a scrape I think.

Were you able to test your tank water parameters?


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## puakoa (Aug 29, 2019)

The water parameters are:
ammonia - 0
ph - 7.6
nitrite - 0
nitrate - between 20 and 40 
Before I started treatment I did a regular cleaning with 30% water change but left out the carbon so I could use the meds. After 4 days I did a 10% water change and that's when I posted. I haven't put the carbon back yet in case I need to treat him with something else.
I wonder if I am overfeeding, I could never find an actual suggestion for the hikari cichlid gold mini pellets that I feed him and I give him about 25 a day. We also recently went on vacation and I had a house sitter taking care of our animals. I've told her how to feed him but she has been known in the past to overdue it for all of our creatures 
I appreciate any help you can give me. He looks a bit better than a few days ago.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Just a guess you are using test strips based on the 20-40 nitrate range you posted?

I would do a 50% water change to get your nitrate down even lower to help with healing.

It is possible the house sitter overfed so if you see any uneaten food in the tank, try and remove it either by siphon or a net. It is also possible uneaten food is in the filter also so you may want to check it also.

BTW, you never posted which brand and model filter you are using.

Do you know if your tap water has chlorine or chloramine added by the county? If so, you need to treat it before adding to the tank. I'm not sure what you mean by using a filter before adding new water so please explain.


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## puakoa (Aug 29, 2019)

I didn't use test strips. I used the 2 bottle nitrate test but now that I look at it, it is WAY past expiration date. I don't do a lot of testing because there have been no issues for years with my normal maintenance schedule.

I have a SunSun HW304B 525GPH canister filter.

I removed all uneaten food with the cleaning I did this past Sunday.

Our county water used chlorine and I always use StressCoat with any water additions. I also have a filter in the laundry room attached to the faucet with a filter that removes chlorine. This is where the aqaurium water supply comes from.

After the water changes I have already made if I do a 50% change what would you suggest to since this would upset the biological filter?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Why would a water change upset the biological filter? The bacteria live on the surfaces...not in the water column.

I can't see the pic...what do the "scrapes" look like? Dime sized or larger? Fuzzy? On the sides of the fish?


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## puakoa (Aug 29, 2019)

Sorry...i was always told not to change too much water at once, guess i am using the wrong terminology.
no fuzzy on the scrapes, it looks like a very thin piece of skin when you scrape yourself that hangs on to his scales. They are different sizes. I have actually seen him dart into something and cause some of them. He scrapes his mouth and his sides depending on where he darts in the tank.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If it was a scrape the scales would be off. This is something on the outside of the scales?

You don't want to change your water parameters (like pH and temp for example) with a large water change, but as long as you match parameters you can easily change 50% (the norm for Africans) and I often change 75%.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

DJ, I saved his photo and attached it here. Hopefully that will help.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Good pic but I don't recognize it.


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## puakoa (Aug 29, 2019)

Thank you guys for posting. I'll do some more water changes and some extra salt to see if that helps. Do you think it would be beneficial to treat for bacterial or fungal issues since it can't be identified? There has been some improvement since I used Melafix and Pimafix.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Any update on how your fish is doing?


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