# Need help, sore on acei again and fuzzy spots on fins on oth



## Icemom011 (Sep 21, 2017)

Hi. I have been battling some infection / parasites for a while now in my cichlid tank. It's a 75 gal Malawi tank, i hve aceis, labs and rusties. It started with what looked like ich, so i treated with super ich cure, that didn't work, changed to rid ich plus, then melafix, then course of erythromycin. I continued to have issues, like sores and spots, lost some stock. My last three week treatment was with sulfaplex, and finally it seemed like it cleared up. Now, a week later, i see spots on them again, jst a couple. And my acei has a sore on his side, started as a scale lifted up, now clearly a sore. Took carbon out again, and went with melafix . I have ammonia spike after sulfaplex, went to 4ppm, i put a fake plant frommy other tank to reseed the bb, and with some water changes it went down a bit to maybe 2ppm. I'm at the end of my rope with this. Although it appears different this time, before they would stop eating, have breathing issues, hung head up in the corner, get bullied and beaten up (not in plain view, but the results looked like it, they would end up with huge patches of missing scales and sores) . What am i missing? What should i do? Right now and have couple of fish with some fuzzy looking patches on fins, and acei with sore on his side, see pics


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I'm sorry but that doesn't sound like a disease to me it sounds exactly like aggression issues from too many males and not enough females or just a tank bully in general.


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## Icemom011 (Sep 21, 2017)

He's the one of more aggressive males, and it didn't look like a bite from the beginning. And what about the others with fuzzy staff on the fins, that looks like a fungus to me, i will try to take pictures and post later on. His sore started as a raised scale wwirh some fuzz around it too, btw?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

What test kit are you using and what are the rest of the water parameters?


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## Icemom011 (Sep 21, 2017)

API freshwater master test, ph is 8.0, ammonia 2.0 ppm nitrites are 0, nitrates are 10 ppm. And the fuzzy growth is on his left pectoral fin, i have another fish with fuzz on the pic fin, but that one isn't posing at all. Thank you for your help


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## Icemom011 (Sep 21, 2017)

Anyone? Thanks


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

It's very difficult to actually see the "fuzzy stuff" on the fins. I have found that the length of treatment listed on most medications are a little on the conservative side and a lot of diseases are becoming resistant to treatment. If it went away with sulfaplex then it was probably working and needed to be continued for a couple of weeks after the symptoms went away. The bad thing about using an inadequate amount of antibiotics is that it makes the disease more resistant to other treatments. Worst case scenario is that it's columnaris and it's a pain to get rid of.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Icemom01, your ammonia level is high and probably spiked due to the use of medications to treat the original issue. I highly recommend increasing your water changes to get that ammonia down as low as possible. A 50% water change should cut the ammonia level down by half and may need to be repeated every couple days to keep it as low as possible.

The increased water changes may help to clear up any issues though I find it difficult to see the 'fuzzy stuff' on the fin also. As daniel said, the problem with scale damage may be due to some aggression issues that are normal in a Malawi tank.

How many fish total do you have in this tank?


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## Icemom011 (Sep 21, 2017)

Hi, and thank you for replying. I have been doing water changes every couple of days, ammonia is down to 1 ppm. I use prime twice a day to help neutralize the toxins. Nitrites are 0, nitrates 10ppm. The patch on the acei'fin looks much smaller, one on rustie seems to be gone. I netted acei with the sore last night and gave him a salt bath, 1% for one hour. The pics of him is from today. I don't think it looks much different, maybe a slight improvement. I have 6 aceis, 4 rusties, 3 adult labs plus 6 babies


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

Looks like aggression problems. You may be doing more harm than good trying to treat the tank for no reason.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I really think that whatever fuzzy stuff is coming up is a secondary infection due to injuries caused by aggression.


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## Icemom011 (Sep 21, 2017)

..Surviving doesn't always mean they're thriving...

@caldwelldaniel26, so are you suggesting that i euthanize them?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Icemom011 said:


> ..Surviving doesn't always mean they're thriving...
> 
> @caldwelldaniel26, so are you suggesting that i euthanize them?


I doubt he is suggesting that option, his saying is just an option he uses in his signature.

Thanks for updating stock list and test results. I would just keep up with 50% water changes to keep that ammonia level as low as possible. You could even bump it up to daily or every other day with no harm to the fish. The cleaner the water, the quicker the healing process assuming there isn't a secondary infection that you are seeing getting worse.

You should not need to use the Prime twice daily unless you are also performing a water change.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

No, that's my signature and it's not meant to suggest anything about euthanizing fish. It's a reflection on how some fish keepers will keep their fish in poor or less than ideal conditions and claim that just because they are surviving that they "must be doing something right." Thus "surviving doesn't mean thriving"


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## Icemom011 (Sep 21, 2017)

Oh, ok. My apologies, i didn't realize it was part of your signature, @caldwelldaniel26. Today's test show ammonia at 0.5 ppm. So going down. Thank you. I have some small videos, showing the sore better than pictures, is there a way to post it here? Thank you, guys for weighing in on my situation. 
@ Dee, ok, i will quit adding prime then. Should i expect the nitrites to spike next, or not necessarily?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

It's okay, FYI I only advocate euthanasia as a last resort when all other treatment fails. It may or may not spike nitrites depending on whether or not the antibiotics killed off that strain of bacteria.


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## Icemom011 (Sep 21, 2017)

So fast forward a week later, sore have closed and just a slight mark left on his side. Although i see some what appears to be scratch marks, whether he's too big for caves he's trying to get in or what? I don't see anyone scratching. Still slight issues with other acei fins. I guess i will continue melafix a little longer. What SunGrow Aquarium Cleaning Pump Kit me, is ammonia. Still reading 0.5 - 1.0 ppm. Nitrites 0, nitrates 10ppm. PH 8.2. Why do i still have ammonia? Is it normal for cycle to take so long?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Icemom011 said:


> So fast forward a week later, sore have closed and just a slight mark left on his side. Although i see some what appears to be scratch marks, whether he's too big for caves he's trying to get in or what? I don't see anyone scratching. Still slight issues with other acei fins. I guess i will continue melafix a little longer. What SunGrow Aquarium Cleaning Pump Kit me, is ammonia. Still reading 0.5 - 1.0 ppm. Nitrites 0, nitrates 10ppm. PH 8.2. Why do i still have ammonia? Is it normal for cycle to take so long?


Yes, it can take more than a month most often and that's why we push doing fishless cycles. I'd recommend ordering some bacteria to help things along, I've used Startsmart Complete by TLC with good results.


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## thornsja19 (Feb 4, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> Icemom011 said:
> 
> 
> > So fast forward a week later, sore have closed and just a slight mark left on his side. Although i see some what appears to be scratch marks, whether he's too big for caves he's trying to get in or what? I don't see anyone scratching. Still slight issues with other acei fins. I guess i will continue melafix a little longer. What SunGrow Aquarium Cleaning Pump Kit me, is ammonia. Still reading 0.5 - 1.0 ppm. Nitrites 0, nitrates 10ppm. PH 8.2. Why do i still have ammonia? Is it normal for cycle to take so long?
> ...


Haven't used it to cycle a tank with the fish in it, but Seachem Stability is what has been the beneficial bacteria that jump started and finished a fishless cycle for me the fastest


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

thornsja19 said:


> caldwelldaniel26 said:
> 
> 
> > Icemom011 said:
> ...


I haven't had good results using Stability for a "fish-in" cycle. I recently worked with another forum member to get them through the same issue and the Startsmart worked pretty quickly.


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## Icemom011 (Sep 21, 2017)

Thank you!


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