# Fish has red spots around gills



## matt75314 (Jan 29, 2013)

My electric blue jack Dempsey has red spots around its gills and is occasionally flashing can someone tell me what is causing this.


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https://flic.kr/p/8425081563


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https://flic.kr/p/8425078275


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Need some additional info, please post:
Tank Dimensions-
Water Parameters (Temperature, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH and if possible GH and KH)-
What and How Often You Feed-
How long the fish has been in it's current tank-
Tankmates-
How long the tank has been running-
Regular water change amount and frequency-
List any water additives-


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## matt75314 (Jan 29, 2013)

Its a 90 gallon tank dimensions are 48x18x24 
Tempeature is 76 degrees 
Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are 0 
pH is 7.2 
GH and KH is 50-100 ppm 
I feed it omega one chichlid flakes and omega one pellets i feed it once a day 
The fish is in the tank by itself and it has been in the tank for 2 months now the tank has been running for about 2 years i had an 2 oscars, jack dempsey, and a texas cichlid in the tank when they were juveniles and i Transferred them into my 125 and left one of the oscars in the 90 gallon by itself and after i gave the oscar away i got the ebjd 
I change 30% of the water every 2 weeks to 30 days and i do add novaqua plus water conditioner with the water changes 
I did have melafix in the tank when i got the fish because it had minor fin rot which It sill has but keeps getting better and i havent used melafix in over a month and only did a total of 3 doses. 
It doesnt seem to be bothering the fish that much i only see it flashing a couple times a week but i do not really observe the fish that much but its really bothering me because i have no clue what it is and the spots are getting slightly larger


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

With bi-weekly to monthly water changes, I would expect to see a higher nitrate reading. At the very least, it shouldn't be 0. What are you testing with? 
What are you using for filtration/aeration? Does the fish scrape along the substrate at all? Is it sand or gravel?
I recommend increasing your water changes to 30% weekly. As to what the red spots are, it's hard to say. Infection or could be parasitic. Have any of the spots healed and reappeared in other locations? Any other symptoms like bloating?
See how the increased water changes do for now. If conditions worsen or don't improve over the next 2 weeks, you may have to medicate. If you want to order the meds now, I recommend API Furan 2. If 2 courses of Furan 2 don't heal the fish, then I'd switch to an anti-parasitic like PraziPro. 
If you do end up medicating, you may want to treat in a separate hospital tank with a cycled filter to save some cash. Furan 2 comes in 10 packets per carton and requires 1 packet per 10g x 2 doses per course. You can perform 2 courses.


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## matt75314 (Jan 29, 2013)

I use API liquid tests and i have a aquaclear 110 i have gravel as a substrate and it does scrape itsself on it but not very often i don't see any that have healed or more that appeared they are just getting slightly bigger and there are no other symptoms i really dont want to treat it for something that i dont know if the fish has it. I'm just going to keep watching it to look for other symptoms and the and heal rate if there is any. Like you said if it doesn't get better soon im going to treat the fish for an infection and/or parisite. I did get API general cure as a precaution when i got the fish because i know that they are susceptible to many things. I never used API general cure before would that work or should i use what you recomended?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

I would use Furan 2 over General Cure for a suspected bacterial infection. General Cure may prove effective as an anti-parasitic. I'd give it a try following the Furan 2 if it doesn't provide positive results.
If you do medicate, treat with one medication at a time. I wouldn't combine Furan 2 and General Cure or PraziPro. Run carbon for 24 hours following a large water change before switching medications.
I'd still give the increased water changes a try first. Clean water low in nitrates (~10ppm or lower) will aid the fish's ability to heal. Also, double check that you're performing the nitrate test correctly. The second bottle needs a lot of shaking before adding the drops.


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