Sick Jaguar Cichlid and Green Terror-Opinions sought-Thanks!

Here are a few closeup shots of our Jag and Green Terror-not in the same tank.

Jag: Milky growth on skin around front of head, cleared region of pigment, peppered fine growth in this region as well, grey lips-do these fish get this (bruising?)when they bang glass all the time?. At times the fish shows normal behaviour, at other times is moping in the corner. This tank is viewable on all 4 sides and I think for a Jag is somewhat stressful. There is at times alot of activity around the tank as we have 3 children.

GT: A white nodule showed up recently at upper base of pectoral fin. (Viral? Lymphocystis?).

Background info:

Jag: ~13", 90 gallon, alone with 3 raphael cats (all seem healthy). Have had issues with water qualtiy lately due to changing a biofilter setup (didn't let new filter settle in long enough). Fish has been under stress due to an initial ammonia spike and nitrite levels that rose to .3-.5 ppm for a time. Test results now are NH4-0, N02-0 and N03- around 10ppm. 30-40% water changes done every 3-4 days currently. Was not eating for a few weeks until recently when he did eat some large guppies (which were clean). He usually is fed a high quality pellet. Unfortunately I have in the past fed him some feeders which I suspect brought in numerous pathogens. I also removed a natural piece of driftwood which I also think brought in other bugs. This tank has been treated before with Malachite Green, Binox and Melafix (not at the same time of course but over the course of the last few months. None of these treatments did much. Other: Temp-76, Salt-1 tsp per gallon, Stresszyme added rececntly to get biofilter advancing. A 24W UV unit was added recently too-it cleared the tank very fast but with the unmature biofilter I think I lost a lot of useful bacteria in the system so I have it shut off for now.

GT: 40 gallon community with 8 tiger barbs, plecos etc. NH4-0, N02-0 and nitrates between 40-80 of recently. Gets fed a wide variety of foods. Looks generally healthy. This tank has had some feeder platys in it (for the jag) and they were not the healthiest either so I may have introduced more pathogens into this system unfortunately as well.

Needless to say I believe my problems are mainly due to having more pathgens brought into the system and puttting the fish under stress at times. The GT tank has been in operation quite a while and I have had no real problems to speak of. Nitrates had climbed higher than I would have like recently but I now have them under control. 2 new plecos in this tank created more waste load which I believe elevated N03 levels faster-I now just adjust frequency of water changes for the 40 now.

Do any fellow MFKeepers have any thoughts on course of action for these 2 cichlids? They both are prized pets! Would hate to see their condition worsen. Friends of mine who keep CA cichlids say they are as tough as nails-they'll pull through (I think so too) but it still is disconcerting to see something that you know is not a sign of perfect health.

For now I am going to just keep water quality up make sure both fish get adequate nutrition. Hopefully they will pull through. I'd like to avoid adding more treatments-The jag tank in particular has had enough of this of lately!

Any input is much appreciated!!

pH of Jags' tank is around 8.0. Out of the tap the water is 7.0-7.5.

I'm using Geosystem Black Beach River Gravel (fine & Medium). It may be buffering up the pH somewhat judging by my pH readings.

Thank you for your comments KC and Guppy.

The Jag looks better over the last couple of days. The "cyst" on the GT has shrunken somewhat since last taking the picture. I think I am going to let the GT ride it out and see.

About 2 years ago I did have some HITH occur on the Jag but the wounds healed normally after improving water quality etc. He does get injuries/wounds regularly in the small quarters he is in (attacking the python etc.) Big fish and scars seem to go the course I think. My biofilter is maturing nicely as water parameters improve, so does the fish. I will post and update in the near future. Thanks again.

Yes, I consistently use salt at that dosage and top up after every water change. It does seem to help. What I found with using Melafix is that it would cause my biofilter media (Kaldnes K1) to go static instead of fluidizing. It creates a fair bit of foaming action. I also aerate the biofilter chamber so it compounded this as well. I've quit using it for now but it did come highly recommended by a friend and here on MFK. I just finished off a large bottle (doesn't go as far in a bigger tank of course) Will buy the pond format if I use it in the future. Thanks again for the input

I thought I would update this thread with some pictures of Jaggy as of today. He is doing much better.. He has been eating over the past week or so and has more of his natural colour back. The milky appearance on his head has disappeared. Water quality in the tank has never been better. I still do a weekly water change of about 30% or so. Water parameters are great and this has helped significantly. My new biofilter is now maturing quite nicely.

As an aside, what temperatures do most of you keep your Jags at those that keep them? I have had mine at 76 for some time. Keeps the tank cleaner (less food) and lowers his aggression perhaps a little bit. I have learned alot by keeping this fish even though I have kept different fish for years. Its great to keep on learning in this hobby even if you do make mistakes along the way. I'm just glad I didn't lose this fish. He's our prize wet pet of the house. Looking forward to giving him the real monster tank he deserves one day.

The GT is doing better too. The cyst has shrunken and although it is still there it still doesn't seem to bother him at all.

Thanks everyone for your input!