Hello! Any help would be appreciated. I have what I believe to be a convict cichlid, fairly big guy, in a 125 gallon tank. The tank has very few fish in it, it is not overstocked, he is the 2nd largest fish in the tank. I will post pictures below, I'm trying to figure out what is wrong with him and if it can be treated.
About a week ago he started growing these little white tufts on his head (it's not ich) they looked kind of fuzzy. I went to the LFS and showed the guy there who knows our tanks well some pictures and he told me to try Erythromycin. I'm starting to think he doesnt really know much.. So I set up the hospital tank, no carbon, etc, and did the meds course. He seemed better for the first 2 days then suddenly got worse. I ended up putting him back in the big tank after because its so much roomier plus has lights and his girlfriend (an angelfish) is there. I then suddenly had to leave for a family emergency and had to get a friend to feed the tanks for a couple days.
I got back today and he has severe unilateral popeye, and the white tufts appear almost to be like white plastic spears sticking out of him in random places in his head with little white fuzz at the bottom of them.... And this discoloured spot is developing on his forehead... probably has hole in head disease now on top of everything... Anyways please check the pics paying special attention to the white bits sticking out of his head and any tips will be appreciated. I tested the water before I left and had no concerns, the water is fine and the other fish are healthy. My boyfriend used to do 30% water changes weekly but he has been working out of town so now I only do them about every 1.5 weeks. This started right after he was in town and had just cleaned the tank and did a water change. (You can see some poops in the pictures that I took today but the fish is hanging out in the corner where our geriatric pleco lives and those things aren't clean) Also yes his mouth is small and crooked, my boyfriend adopted him when he was a baby because he was being beaten up by his tank mates at the LFS and his mouth has always been like that. He can still eat but he hasn't been eating since he has been sick.
At this moment he is now up in the corner, very still with a slight tilt to him, I'm thinking he is probably on his way out and euthanasia might be the best idea. But we really love this fish and if anyone has a treatment that would be awesome.
nikii
About a week ago he started growing these little white tufts on his head (it's not ich) they looked kind of fuzzy. I went to the LFS and showed the guy there who knows our tanks well some pictures and he told me to try Erythromycin. I'm starting to think he doesnt really know much.. So I set up the hospital tank, no carbon, etc, and did the meds course. He seemed better for the first 2 days then suddenly got worse. I ended up putting him back in the big tank after because its so much roomier plus has lights and his girlfriend (an angelfish) is there. I then suddenly had to leave for a family emergency and had to get a friend to feed the tanks for a couple days.
I got back today and he has severe unilateral popeye, and the white tufts appear almost to be like white plastic spears sticking out of him in random places in his head with little white fuzz at the bottom of them.... And this discoloured spot is developing on his forehead... probably has hole in head disease now on top of everything... Anyways please check the pics paying special attention to the white bits sticking out of his head and any tips will be appreciated. I tested the water before I left and had no concerns, the water is fine and the other fish are healthy. My boyfriend used to do 30% water changes weekly but he has been working out of town so now I only do them about every 1.5 weeks. This started right after he was in town and had just cleaned the tank and did a water change. (You can see some poops in the pictures that I took today but the fish is hanging out in the corner where our geriatric pleco lives and those things aren't clean) Also yes his mouth is small and crooked, my boyfriend adopted him when he was a baby because he was being beaten up by his tank mates at the LFS and his mouth has always been like that. He can still eat but he hasn't been eating since he has been sick.
At this moment he is now up in the corner, very still with a slight tilt to him, I'm thinking he is probably on his way out and euthanasia might be the best idea. But we really love this fish and if anyone has a treatment that would be awesome.
nikii