# African Cichlid with Sunken head & cheeks



## Bunny581 (Jul 12, 2007)

I'm not sure what type of african this is, I believe it is a malawi. Its head has sunken in on both sides of the top of his eyes and just a little bit back (about until his fin starts) and his cheeks as well. He still eats like a champ and is very active. He seems to be breathing a bit quickly but nothing that would worry me if his head and cheeks didn't look funny. 
We just did a water change and ph is 8.2 to 8.4, temp is 82 and all other chemistry is where it should be. He's the only one in the tank that looks sick. Had some problems (what I belived at least) with his swim bladder a month or so back. A week in the hospital tank and some peas seemed to fix that. I don't know how old he is, so I don't know if its just old age. I'm at work but I'll post some pictures later when I get a chance. 
The hole in the head pictures that I've looked up don't seem to be the same thing as this. 
Thanks for looking.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Sounds like was is commonly referred to as 'Skinny Disease' which is thought to be a bacterial infection although there's some info that seems to point to parasites.

My advise to you: move this fish to a hospital tank and begin treatment with Maracyn and Maracyn-two--used concurently. If after a full round of treatments you don't see any improvement then you can either repeat the Maracyn treatment or post back and we'll look into an anti-parasite med.

One other thing: if this fish is new to the tank--you've had him for less then a few weeks--then it's _possible_ he just needs a few weeks of the proper diet and water condtions. Usually though when one of the symptoms is a sunken-in looking head--and the fish is still eating, its a disease and not merely an issue of nutrition.

Robin


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## Bunny581 (Jul 12, 2007)

Here's a picture. We treated the whole tank twice with Fluke tabs and he's still breating a heavier than the other fish but still swimming normally and eating great. We couldn't move him to our hospital tank because the baby auratus are in there.



















Thanks. We are going to try the Jungle Brand Parasite clear in a few days. We've done a 50% water change after the fluke tabs but want to wait a few days before trying a different medication.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

I'd be more inclined to go with an anti-bacterial if the anti-parasite med didn't work. It's possible that you just need to try a different anti-parasite med but--

Do another partial water change just before you do any more treatments. And running fresh carbon in the filter will also help to remove any residual meds. Make sure you remove the carbon prior to treating.

Robin


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## alienrubberduck (Jan 3, 2014)

I have a Fan Tail Goldfish that got the same thing! only on one side. . . I have had a difficult time finding any information about this condition. . . I've had him for at least 4 years. . . moved him and a Carnival feeder fish (he was a prize! now he's like 4 inches!) to a 55 gallon tank, added plants and tiger barbs. . . a couple of days after the last 2 additions to the tank he looked weird! with this sunken side of his face, he was hiding at the top of the tank in the plants. . . Good to know it has a name. . . I've been treating him with Tetra Fungus Guard, thinking it might be like Dropsy (and I had the medicine) I believe it is getting slightly better, I think I'll go get the Maracyn treatments and try those out 

Thank you for giving this a name! ! ! !


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