# HELP required Please my Lake Malawi has red sores



## swww69 (Jul 7, 2008)

Hi all new here.
One of Lake Malawi fis has red sores on both its sides and seems to be getting worse i have taken a picture which i hope will help.
I am new to fish keeping so any help would be appreciated
Sorry dont know how to upload picture if someone can help

Many Thanks
Sean[/img]


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

You need to upload your pic to a photo host, such as Photobucket, then you copy and paste the img tag below the pic into your post on here.

Are these red streaks, or open sores?

How long has the tank been set up?

What are the water parameters on the tank?

Have you added any new fish recently without quarantine?

What is your usual tank maintenance routine?

What is your full stock list?

What size tank is this?

Have you lost any fish recently?

What are you feeding?

Are any of the fish flashing against objects in the tank?

We need alot more information, as you can see, and the pic would be great. :thumb:


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## swww69 (Jul 7, 2008)

Thank you for your quick reply ill anser as much as i can

Are these red streaks, or open sores?

How long has the tank been set up? 
8 months

What are the water parameters on the tank? 
Ph 7.5
Nitrite, NO2 0-20
Nitrite, NO3 80

Have you added any new fish recently without quarantine? 
No recently added fished - Had about 20 baby fish born inlast 2 months and still breeding have 2 diffrerent fish with eggs in mouth

What is your usual tank maintenance routine? 
Water Change 30% every 3-4 days

What is your full stock list? 
Blue Dolhpin - Male and Female
livingstones- Male and Female
Electric yellow cichlid - Female
Taiwan Reef - Male
Red-top kimpumpa Male - Female (About 14 Male/Female Between 2 weeks - 3months)
Zebra Obliquidens Male - Female
'The Red Zebra' - Male - Female (female carrying eggs)
Pseudotropheus demasoni male - #Female died 3 months ago - 6-8 male/female baby fish which hatched after female died.
Plecko

What size tank is this? 
4ft x 2ft x 18inches

Have you lost any fish recently? 
Lost 2 about 3 months ago could not find them in tank were 1 demasoni 1 Electric Yellow

What are you feeding? 
Cichlid flake ciclid min pellet 1 time a day

Are any of the fish flashing against objects in the tank? 
Couple of them flash against the fine gravel bottom sometimes

Hope this helps


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## jordanroda (May 4, 2006)

those look like bite marks to me... opcorn:


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## swww69 (Jul 7, 2008)

Here is another pic they are definetley not bite marks as thay are on both sides and some lumps near top of fin


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## jordanroda (May 4, 2006)

u right not bite marks...but **** that livingstone is fat!


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

NO3 is your nitrate reading, not nitrite. It's getting a bit high for my preference, so water changes are in order.

What is your ammonia reading?

I would also want to make sure the nitrite readings were a flat zero, not questionable.

How many gph goes through your filtration?

That's a pretty volatile stock list you have there. None of these are pairing fish, they are harem breeders, and require several females to each male of a species. So, I would imagine the aggression level can get quite high in the tank if these are all adults.

Demasoni should never be kept in pairs. Due to their conspecific aggression, they should be kept as singles or in groups of 10-12 minimum, hence your dead female.

The fish in question may have been injured, but I believe it may be infected now.

Do you have a tank to move it to? If so, I would pick up some broad spectrum antibiotics such as erythromycin or sulfa and initiate treatment.


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