# Aci with scrapes, external agitation of some sort.



## EHryan (Dec 10, 2005)

Hello. I have a 5 inch Aci that has been fighting what I think is an external parasite for sometime now. I wouldn't say that it flashes intentionally against rocks but it jerks forwards a lot. It will shoot like 3-4 inches really fast...then stop....then do it again...then stop, sometimes in a circle, sometimes in a straight line The scrapes come from it hitting the rocks, heater, filter, etc. It had a bad episode of this about two hours ago and is now hiding.

I have never had experience with ich but I do not see any signs of ich.
I have had velvet years ago but this fish isn't showing the same symptoms. No hanging out in the filter return stream, no gold dusty look to body.

PH 8.2
Temp 78
Nitrate 30
GH7

I am going to remove him tomorrow to a 10 gallon and I am not really sure where to begin for meds. That's what I was hoping for some input on. I treated the whole tank with Prazi Pro a couple weeks ago for a week but it showed no results. I was thinking maybe API General Cure or SeaChem Paraguard.

Oh and no other fish in the tank is experiencing this, and this Aci is not the victim of any bullying.

thanks for any input.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Any other symptom other than the jerky swim episodes?


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## EHryan (Dec 10, 2005)

Actually there has been some aggression. Sat down and watched the tank today before I removed him and I noticed the #2 male Aci in the tank chase him pretty good a few times. I think I am going to remove the two males in the tank and order online 3 females in the upcoming weeks. I think this other male has just used this as an opportunity to assert himself. He's about 1.5 inches smaller. There usually wasn't much drama before this.

I also noticed that his stomach looks sunken in a bit. He has been eating. His pec fins are frayed.

I remember months ago I noticed that he had lost some weight and his fins were tucked. But this went away after time on it's own. It just seems like he has been fighting something on and off.

I removed him today and dosed with General Cure.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

He may just need some time in the hospital isoloation to fatten up and heal his fins...which will happen without meds.


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## EHryan (Dec 10, 2005)

Thanks. Yeah that is going to be part of the plan. I think that alone will help a lot.

However, I noticed that the large scrape he has had on his side looks like it has fungus on it. Guess any sort of fungal med for that. Can I mix that with the General Cure?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

General Cure isn't much use unless you're treating for internal or external parasites. I'd do a large water change, run carbon in the filter for 12-24 hours to remove the remaining meds then dose pimafix and/or melafix for 5-7 days. Keep the water clean, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and nitrate below 10ppm.


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## EHryan (Dec 10, 2005)

I stopped the general cure and just let its scrapes heal with clean water.

However, I think it has ich. I noticed today faint white spots on the top half of the body, especially close to his head. I don't really see any on the fins. When I looked up pics of ich most of the pics looked like grains of salt attached to fish. This doesn't look as clear cut. They don't appear to be raised. But they are clearly there, lots of them, faint white small spots. I had to get a flashlight to really see them. It was only when some sunlight hit the tank that I noticed them.

Think it's ich?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Happy to say I don't have experience identifying ich, although I'd venture a guess that it's not difficult to detect visually under normal aquarium lighting.


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## PreposterousFish (Jan 8, 2013)

Regardless, it wouldn't hurt to treat with salt and raise the temperatures. When you have ick in your tank you usually have more than just one fish with it.


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## EHryan (Dec 10, 2005)

Yeah no doubt it has ich for sure. I put a small light over the hospital tank and it was pretty obvious. I've been really looking close at the other fish in the main tank. Don't see anything yet.

I started raising the temp to treat it, but then I noticed that it's largest scrape, which has been getting smaller, has cottony patches covering it. I'm thinking columnaris. Unless that's what it just looks like when a bad scrape heals. Never had a fish with a nickel sized scrape before.

If it is columnaris then I don't know what to make priority first for treatment. I know for columnaris and ich require very different temps. I do have Maracyn that I can dose for the columnaris but with the higher temp the oxygen is already low enough. I do have an air stone besides the filter for surface agitation.

Thanks for all of the replies by the way.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Try a medication instead of salt/heat for the ich. No, wounds do not normally look fuzzy when they heal. Maracyn alone may not handle the columnaris. I'd make the columnaris the priority.

Maybe an email to the medication manufacturer to ask what you can use for ich that can be combined with Maracyn and Maracyn2 for example?


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## EHryan (Dec 10, 2005)

I have both Maracyn and Maracyn Two in there now The wound/fungus looks a lot better today. I emailed Sentry and asked them if there is anything I can stack with those two meds for the ich. Thanks for the suggestion.

I actually have ich meds. I bought them before I read about the heat treatment. The reviews for the API ich cure aren't really that good and some people said that it killed their fish. But outside of a fish forum I'm skeptical when it comes to things like that.


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## EHryan (Dec 10, 2005)

I'm not going to start another thread for this and when I searched I got a little info but not too much. But I was wondering can a fish that is coming close to the end of it's life have symptoms that mirror being sick? I have an 8 year old yellow lab. He maybe even a tad bit older. He's been acting kinda off lately. Sometimes it seems like he has trouble seeing the glass. He'll bump into it, get stuck in the corner for a sec. He has kind of a little wobble when he swims, and it seems like he has a slight swim bladder issue going on...tail is up a bit, head down, seems to need some extra effort to get down from the surface. And I noticed that his face/forehead has a white dusting look to it. He still eats and chases other fish. I'm really surprised that he made it this far since he's a bit of a fatty. I just remember reading a few times that when a fish is close to the end they can get sick as their immune system breaks down. Not sure.


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