# Help! Fuzzy patches & open red sores on OB Peacock!



## tintedrosie (Apr 25, 2013)

Hi everyone. I am brand spanking new to the forums. As a tiny bit of background, I'm a first time cichlid keeper, but I'm a laboratory scientist (Biochemistry - Microbiology) so I'm pretty familiar with bacterial issues and stuff, and I've done a LOT of research about these fish before taking the plunge (har har). I'm better at looking at it all under a microscope rather than diagnosing through the aquarium glass though.. that's where you experts come in.

My issue: Bought a beautiful OB Peacock last Friday. He was shy for a bit, and still hasn't eaten (doesn't seem to like floating pellets, sinking pellets, nothing, been using Hikari). Think he may have had something when I brought him home, because my tank was perfect. He started to develop a red wound on the back of his dorsal fin on his body. He also has a translucent white fuzziness on parts of his body (not around his mouth though.. just on his sides and around his dorsal fin), and now the red part has gotten even more red and larger, the fin is detaching in a tiny spot, and I am heartbroken. From what I've read, I'm thinking it's Columnaris.. but you guys are the experts. The first 2 pictures are of his issues. The 3rd is of him when I first brought him home all happy and not dealing with fish grossness.




























This isn't a case of aggression, because right now he is the only fish (don't yell at me for not buying multiples at once. The LFS didn't have any others I wanted, and at this point I'm glad I didn't give them any more business.)

Tank stats: 55 gallon
Totally cycled (been doing it for over a month and a half, watched Nitrite peak and then flat line)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10ppm
Phosphate: 0
pH: 8.2
Temperature: 79 F

What I've done (read on this forum, and online):
If it's what I think it is (Columnaris), they're aerobic gram negative and nonhalophilic (hate salt), so I added salt (at 1 TBSP per 5 gallons over a 36 hour period of time). I also gave him a 30 minute bath in Methylene blue with a little Furan Two added in to water taken from the tank. I then dosed the rest of the tank with the Furan Two (I don't have carbon in my filter).

He looks miserable. Is there anything else I can do for him? He won't eat either. Sorry for the long post, but from reading so much on this forum already, I figured I knew what the questions would be if I didn't provide it all up front. Thanks in advance everyone!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Columnaris is usually gray and not red at all. Let's see if others chime in.

My fish with columnaris ate and swam around as if he did not have a care in the world.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I agree with DJ. My experience with Columnaris exhibited white fluffy growths on the fish. The redness came much later.

Is it possible that this fish is dyed? I'm asking because the yellow is quite vivid, a bit un-natural for an OB peacock. If so, this may be the problem.

It's not a water quality issue in your tank - it could have been long term damage from the LFS water quality, though.

I think you are on the right track. This looks pretty painful. It almost looks like some sort of flesh eating bacteria. Right now, you're battling a larger tank than you need to be battling, so I would continue with the baths and keep a close eye on him. I highly suspect you bought the fish with this problem.

And, you aren't going to get scolded for buying one fish at a time from me! Sometimes you don't have access to everything you want at once, and I would rather see you do that than just start throwing fish in the tank. Besides, had you brought more, you would have alot more worry right now than you do.

Please keep us posted.


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## tintedrosie (Apr 25, 2013)

Yeah he does have fluffy white growths, and he's swimming around pretty normally. I thought at first maybe the not eating was stress from the move, but maybe not. Wondering if he rubbed it open on that red spot? Regardless, whether it be Columnaris or some other bacteria, after the zillion treatments I did yesterday, I woke up today to see the redness is almost all gone. Obviously the wound is still there, but it isn't looking as raw. Fingers crossed. I'll give him another bath later tonight and continue dosing my tank with the Furan Two. Ughhh. I'll keep you posted.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Even scrapes are not normally red. I think this is something else, but good what you are doing is working.

(I meant to say my fish did not look miserable at all...if it were not for the gray patches on the sides of his body you would not know he had columnaris.)


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