# Green Terror sick need help



## twocrazey (Mar 10, 2013)

Hi I Have a green Terror I have had for a few years, he's about 7-8 inches and has been very healthy. I went on vacation for a week, came back and his mouth is swollen, it looks almost crooked a little. He can't eat, and he now has a few small holes forming on his head, one is slightly white, the others have a small red outline. In fact his mouth has a red looking outline kind of where his teeth are. I moved him into my 100 gallon emergency tank, he is by himself in there now. He swims around and doesn't act like he is in any distress, but his mouth doesn't look good. All my other fish are fine, they don't seem to be showing any signs at all. I cleaned that tank really well. My question is, could it just be an infection in his mouth, and would antibiotics help? This is one of my favorite cichlids, would hate to see him die. Any help appreciated...


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Can you grab a pic


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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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## twocrazey (Mar 10, 2013)

Hi sorry for the delay, working long hours. The tank he is in now is a 100 gallon tank and he is in there by himself. He was in my community tank, which is a 160 gallon tank. His tank mates were a dempsey, three severums one pleco and a syndontis catfish. I do weekly water changes about a third of the tank. My Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, and nitrate is around 30-40. Sorry haven't checked the Ph or GH latley, I know I should. I feed once a day Hikari pellets, occasionally freeze dried krill, and sometimes cichlid tetra crisp. The tank has been running for years, pretty over filtered. I do use prime with water changes, and sometimes stress coat. I'll try to post a pic when I can. 
He is currently on day 4 of tx, and is swimming about more. His mouth still is open crooked, and the holes in his head seem to look a bit larger. Still not eating though, and where hi nucal hump would be it looks dark, like it is bruised. Still hopeful.....


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Your nitrates are high, I wouldn't say over filtered. I always stay under 20. Its healthier for the fish under 20 regardless if they can survive higher. Your either under filtered, or not doing big enough water changes, or both.
Could be one if the reasons behind the hith, but then again its one of many factors that is said to cause it as there isn't solid evidence.

His injury could be environmental related as I think some are, but also fighting with other fish which seems to be more the case with mouth injury.

For meds not sure what I'd recommend w/o seeing a pic, but melafix would be a good start. Are you running carbon in your filters? What filters are you using, whats inside them?


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## twocrazey (Mar 10, 2013)

Thanks for the reply, yes I agree that the nitrates were a bit high, I took this test after we got back from vacation. I will try to do more frequent water changes. I am running a marineland c-530, a marineland c-360 and an emperor 400. Yes I am using carbon in them, bioballs, and ceramic bio rings. I do believe it looks like hith on his head now, as the holes have gotten larger and deeper. I have been tx him for 5 days now in a 100 gallon tank by himself. I have been using melafix, and he is swimming around quite a bit now. I think he is more active. I was able to get a picture of him now, and will post it on the next post. Thanks again for any and all advice.


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## twocrazey (Mar 10, 2013)




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## twocrazey (Mar 10, 2013)

Ok I think I found the source of contamination. I checked all my filters out today, and my small canister smelled god awful when I opened it up. Not sure what happened, as I have never experienced that before in over 15 years of fish keeping. The large canister and the emperor were fine. I normally clean my canisters once a month, so it had to have happened in the last month. I haven't had any other fish loss so not sure what got in there and decomposed. Now that I think my tank will be ok, I just need to get this guy back healthy again. The melafix seems to be helping, as my family thinks he is looking better. He still has clear to white stools, is this just from not eating? How long should I keep treating him? Thanks again for all help....


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

wow, that pic does show. It looks all beat up. Definitely some HITH, which is reverse-able as i'm healing a pair of geo's i rescued from someone that had a bad case of it, and its healing, though slowly. I tried a API product last week out of curiosity, and cant remember what its called, but its in a little box 10 packets. I did a 2 day treatment, and seemed like it sped up the process.

That head bump though i'm not sure is hith related, almost like its something else in conjunction, and that mouth injury looks serious. White poop is usually a indicator of parasites or a bacterial infection too, which i dont have any experience with so no idea what to recommend. I'd also remove the carbon not only for the meds, but in general too as it is a suspect for hith causing.

For melafix i'd say a week. I usually get the big bottle thats like $8-

Yeah your fish is dealing with some issues right now for sure. Just keep a eye on him, and hopefully someone else will chime in with some other healing advice.


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