# My cichlids have mouth/fin rot...help?



## MyCichlidClique (Jan 31, 2013)

Hello right now I have a problem with my tank and I was hoping you guys can help me. sorry for the long story but I have a 55 gallon tank with about 20 small african cichlids. Just about a week ago, I did a good 25% water change and as well added 3 new fish (an obliquiden, redtop zebra, and a milomo cichlid) The day after I did my water change and added my new fish, I realized my new zebra started to get pop eye and in a matter of hours, it got so bad, his whole eye was hanging out! I quickly scooped and returned him to the aquarium store where i got him from. The next day i noticed my blue dolphin has a white/palish spot on the side of his body like it got bitten or something. I didn't think it was a big deal so all i did was added some salt to give some remedy. The day after that, it looked like it spread all over him and later that night he died. The next day I noticed both my electric blues are acting weird like they're not swimming much. I noticed one of them has a couple holes in its fins and the other one looked like he has some whitish infection underneath his bottom fin where his ass is. I also have an acei that looks like he developed some sort of mouth rot (his bottom lip is all white) This time i got really worried so the next day i picked up some mouth/fin rot medicine made by microbelift and used it in my tank. By that time it was too late for my electric blue with the infected bottom....the infection ate him so quick, he later died that day so i was down with 2 dead fish. along with 2 dead fish, i have an acei and a livingstonii with mouth rot and an electric blue and a obliquiden with fin rot; my other 16 or so fish seem to be fine. ever since i've been adding the medicine everyday and 2 more 20% water changes. i also scooped out my sick fish and used a q tip, dipped it in the medicine and applied it on their infected areas. for my electric blue, livingstonii, and my obliquiden, it looked like they still have the infection but it hasnt spread in days...although for my acei, it did spread; his bottom fin is all gone and his whole mouth area is white. even they look sick, they all seem to swim fine and even eat right away when i feed them.

before i ask questions, i like to put out *** had fish for 14 years now and i know what im doing; i do water changes weekly, my water is crystal clear and i really believe i dont think my water quality is the issue....this is the first time i ever had this problem. i tested it and here are the readings:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.5
Hardness: 120
pH: 7.6

what even caused this....the zebra i first got with popeye? what are the proper steps for me to really get rid of it? and how can i save my acei because he has it worse than my other sick fish? please help!


----------



## b3w4r3 (Dec 14, 2012)

You have a nitrite reading so your water quality can be questioned. A healthy cycled aquarium should have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite with some nitrate reading. That said I don't think the nitrite alone is the cause of the problem. Sounds more like you have an aggression issue. Providing a full stock list will help others, who are more knowing than I, evaluate your potential for aggression.

The medication you are using could have affected the bacteria colonies causing the nitrite reading, so that may be a secondary issue.

Pictures of the affected fish will help too. Are the white areas smooth, or do they have a cottony look to them?


----------



## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

how long has tank been running? assuming its a cycled tank its pretty obvious u brought home sick fish. i would buy from where u got them again. u should never add new fish to tank without a quarantine period in a seperate tank. i learned that the hard way myself. also the points already stated as far as perameters are concerned are also something that needs to be looked at


----------



## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

that last post should say i would NOT buy from there again


----------



## MyCichlidClique (Jan 31, 2013)

b3w4r3 said:


> You have a nitrite reading so your water quality can be questioned. A healthy cycled aquarium should have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite with some nitrate reading. That said I don't think the nitrite alone is the cause of the problem. Sounds more like you have an aggression issue. Providing a full stock list will help others, who are more knowing than I, evaluate your potential for aggression.
> 
> The medication you are using could have affected the bacteria colonies causing the nitrite reading, so that may be a secondary issue.
> 
> Pictures of the affected fish will help too. Are the white areas smooth, or do they have a cottony look to them?


thankyou for your reply! I forgot to mention the nitrate is at 20 right now. and yes there was an aggression issue actually but its dealt with now.. I have an electric yellow lapid thats been terrorizing my whole tank for the 8 months i had him. since i seen my blue dolphin and my electric blue with the infected areas (which i thought was bite marks caused by my lapid at the time) i quickly removed him from the tank and brought him to the petstore i work at. ever since, there hasn't been any aggression, the only aggression i see going on is my zebras chasing each other around but thats about it (i believe they're mating right now) do you think the new zebra that got popeye could perhaps cause it?

here's my stocklist (that are alive now):

lake malawi:
1 electric yellow
1 electric blue
1 black peacock
1 ob peacock
4 zebras
1 electra
1 livingstonii
1 yellowtail acei
1 moori
1 bumblebee
1 milomo
1 compresetti
1 aurutus

other africans:
1 obliquiden
1 frontosa
1 marlieri
1 jewel

manmade cichlids:
blood parrot
jellybean parrot

other:
pleco
fasciatus tetra

they're all relatively small around 1-3 inches. my biggest one right now is my livingstonii (5 inches) and hes harmless. My current dominant cichlid i believe is my marlieri.


----------



## MyCichlidClique (Jan 31, 2013)

sumthinfishy said:


> how long has tank been running? assuming its a cycled tank its pretty obvious u brought home sick fish. i would buy from where u got them again. u should never add new fish to tank without a quarantine period in a seperate tank. i learned that the hard way myself. also the points already stated as far as perameters are concerned are also something that needs to be looked at


its only been a month since i recently upgraded to a 55 gallon from a 40 gallon but yes it's cycled. do you think the zebra with the popeye could possibly cause the whole problem? (may i mention i got him from petsmart...) the other new fish were from somewhere else


----------



## b3w4r3 (Dec 14, 2012)

Again I don't know enough about all those fish to give you good feedback, but I know aurutus can be tank terrors. There seem to be some other bad choices for a 55, bumblebee gets too big, and probably the Acei also.

You didn't say what the affected areas look like. White marks and frayed fins are most times aggression related. White cottony areas could be infection. The fish with the pop eye, was it both eyes, or just one? Usually only one swollen eye is due to an injury.

I'm pretty sure you need to slim this stock list down, and refine it a bit. I'll wait for the experts to see this and offer their help.


----------



## MyCichlidClique (Jan 31, 2013)

Also about the white stuff on my acei, it doesnt look like its cotton, looks more like just dying tissue. i have pictures but idk how to post them. im pretty new to this website


----------



## b3w4r3 (Dec 14, 2012)

There is a sticky here somewhere about posting pics. I just upload to imageshare, and uncheck the boxes for display thumb and add logo. Once you upload it will give you some links, the top one will work here, just copy and paste.


----------



## MyCichlidClique (Jan 31, 2013)

b3w4r3 said:


> Again I don't know enough about all those fish to give you good feedback, but I know aurutus can be tank terrors. There seem to be some other bad choices for a 55, bumblebee gets too big, and probably the Acei also.
> 
> You didn't say what the affected areas look like. White marks and frayed fins are most times aggression related. White cottony areas could be infection. The fish with the pop eye, was it both eyes, or just one? Usually only one swollen eye is due to an injury.
> 
> I'm pretty sure you need to slim this stock list down, and refine it a bit. I'll wait for the experts to see this and offer their help.


my aurutus is fine, he hides more than anything. as of now, i dont have aggressive cichlids, just zebras that chase each other. before then it was always my yellow lab terrorizing my tank that i got rid of a few days ago.
all my cichlids are small and they have plenty of space from what i can tell, and even if they get big, i dont plan on keeping them... i work at a petstore and i can drop them off there anytime. the zebra had one eye infected, it started with a white ring growing around the eye then in hours, it literally popped out. my blue dolphin had a palish round spot in the middle of his body, it turned more white over time (it looks smooth, not cottony) and before i know it, he would pass away. my electric blue that died had his bottom infected, it looks very similar to what my blue dolphin had....it was white dying tissue (looked like a bite mark at first but then it spread and it killed my fish overnight) my other electric blue has 2 holes in its top fin and 2 holes on his tail, he also turned black, before he was shiny blue. my livingstonii has a whitish bottom lip, like i said it doesnt look like cotton, just dying white tissue. my obliquiden's problem looks similar to my living electric blue; he has torn up fins etc (his tail also looked like it was bleeding a little bit.. they all look like they're getting a little better. although, my acei is going through what my electric blue and my blue dolphin died from except he has a really bad mouth rot ontop of it..... nothing looks cottony

i have picture of my current infected fish, i just dont know how to upload them.


----------



## MyCichlidClique (Jan 31, 2013)

b3w4r3 said:


> Again I don't know enough about all those fish to give you good feedback, but I know aurutus can be tank terrors. There seem to be some other bad choices for a 55, bumblebee gets too big, and probably the Acei also.
> 
> You didn't say what the affected areas look like. White marks and frayed fins are most times aggression related. White cottony areas could be infection. The fish with the pop eye, was it both eyes, or just one? Usually only one swollen eye is due to an injury.
> 
> I'm pretty sure you need to slim this stock list down, and refine it a bit. I'll wait for the experts to see this and offer their help.


my aurutus is fine, he hides more than anything. as of now, i dont have aggressive cichlids, just zebras that chase each other. before then it was always my male yellow lab terrorizing my tank but i got rid of him a few days ago.
all my cichlids are small and they have plenty of space from what i can tell, and even if they get big, i dont plan on keeping them... i work at a petstore and i can drop them off there anytime. the zebra had one eye infected, it started with a white ring growing around the eye then in hours, it literally popped out. my blue dolphin had a palish round spot in the middle of his side, it turned more white over time (it looks smooth, not cottony) and before i know it, he would pass away. my electric blue that died had his bottom infected, it looks very similar to what my blue dolphin had....it was white dying tissue (looked like a bite mark at first but then it spread and it killed my fish overnight) my other electric blue has 2 holes in its top fin and 2 holes on his tail, he also turned black, before he was shiny blue. my livingstonii has a whitish bottom lip, like i said it doesnt look like cotton, just dying white tissue. my obliquiden's problem looks similar to my living electric blue; he has torn up fins etc (his tail also looked like it was bleeding a little bit.. they all look like they're getting a little better; they all eat and swim quite a lot. although, my acei is going through what my electric blue and my blue dolphin died from except he has a really bad mouth rot ontop of it..... nothing looks cottony

i have picture of my current infected fish, i just dont know how to upload them.


----------



## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

all i can say is never ever buy from petsmart. the fish are all disease ridden. i will ince in a while take a look around in the local petsmart and it is awful. they shouldnt be aloud to sell fish. the ignorance of the employees also sickens me. that is my opinion.


----------



## Doyoulikefishsticks (Jan 10, 2013)

sumthinfishy said:


> all i can say is never ever buy from petsmart. the fish are all disease ridden. i will ince in a while take a look around in the local petsmart and it is awful. they shouldnt be aloud to sell fish. the ignorance of the employees also sickens me. that is my opinion.


Hey, my Petsmart (Should smart really be in the name?) isn't as bad as one of my LFS...That place was so bad, the guy (Owner) had 15+ tanks and in 4 of them there I saw dead fish. I talked to the guy and tried to explain how to raise fish, but he would not listen. He stated he never keeps African cichlids for more than a week, and only does special orders, because he cannot keep them alive...lol, really? You can't keep fish alive for more than a week? Good job buddy.

I have yet to see my review of that pet store posted on google, its a shame I didn't copy and paste what I wrote, Im starting to think it will never be posted for some odd reason.

Sorry to ramble off topic, I really can't help you with your situation. You did say you've been keeping fish for a long time, for me its been about 6 months or so. So, I wouldn't dare suggest anything because anything I suggest you probably already know. Best of luck to you! :thumb:


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

MyCichlidClique said:


> i have picture of my current infected fish, i just dont know how to upload them.


viewtopic.php?f=47&t=253657


----------



## b3w4r3 (Dec 14, 2012)

Any updated on the condition of your fish? Hope all is well. Post some pics if you still need help. I'm surprised no one has addressed your tank size and stock list yet. I can't see this mix working out long term myself.


----------

