Convict not eating and had a swollen face

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R

rydog

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 25, 2010
12
0
0
Lake Norman NC
Hi all,
I have had a convict cichlid for quite a while now in the same tank with no new additions and without any problems. Recently it looks like he got into a small scuffle and had a white area on his face under his eye. (It looks like he ran into the tank and a couple of scales were removed.) He was doing fine for several days after that but the other day I noticed that he was being "quiet" and staying in a top corner of the tank and not chasing everyone like normal. The next day I noticed that he has a bubble under his eye in roughly the same location that had been affected. The bubble looks almost like a sunburn blister (as if it had water under the skin similar to this http://www.forumaquario.com.br/portal/img_artigos/hexamita0xg.jpg ). His lips also looked swollen. At feeding time he did not show any interest in it and I did see a string of white mucus/poop from his anus. A couple days later the "blister" has gone down significantly but it had a new look to it. There are some small white scale/skin flakes that had appeared under his eye and below that on the cheek.

I have been treating him with melafix. He still isn't eating and I have tried to find Clout anywhere in town and nobody carries it. Is there something else I could treat with? I have not seen any white stringy poop since the first day. Would that be normal with bloat? His stomach is not bloated that I can tell either.

I have tested the water and have the following results:
nitrate 15
nitrite 0
alkalinity 80
ph 7.2
ammonia 0

After a week of treating with Melafix he is looking a lot better. The white spots on his face have gone away and the swelling has as well. It does appear that his gills move at different rates however. Is that normal to see for any reason? The lips are moving a lot more than before when they appeared puffy but there is a white area on his lips in the corner.

Another item... he has not eaten since this all started. Yesterday however I did put in some blood worms which he did show a slight interest in but ended up spitting them out. Could it be that he is getting better but just not there yet or is there something else that I should be doing? I have not seen any of the white stringy poop since the first days.

He is in a 180 gal tank and catching him to move to a hospital tank would not be feasible. Does anyone have any thoughts?
 
White Stringy poop- Internal Parasite


Puffed up wound and white Hairy looking scales- bacterial infection


Recommended actions- erythromycin and sulfa for the white wounds

Internal parasite, garlic soaked medicated food.
 
Now to address the reasons for this. A bacterial infection is always a water quality issue. increase your weekly water changes. Internal Parasites are from contaminated foods and fish that have been added and not quarantined. Continue melefix, and remove carbon from filters. Use 2x doesage of aquarium salt... treat him alone as these medicnes are rather rough, and the only reason I suggest all of them is becuase convicts are almost bulletproof.... almost.
 
jvai said:
White Stringy poop- Internal Parasite


Puffed up wound and white Hairy looking scales- bacterial infection


Recommended actions- erythromycin and sulfa for the white wounds

Internal parasite, garlic soaked medicated food.
Click to expand...

Internal parasites can certainly cause white stringy feces, but this is not the only cause, and in this particular case intestinal parasites seem unlikely.

jvai said:
Now to address the reasons for this. A bacterial infection is always a water quality issue. increase your weekly water changes.
Click to expand...

Bacterial infections are not always caused by water quality issues. A bacterial infection can occur due to a break in the fish's immune defenses for any reason. This case is a perfect example: The fish's protective slime coat and skin were damaged (both are critical immune defenses) allowing for an infection. Increasing water changes is always a good idea though when treating a fish.

jvai said:
Continue melefix, and remove carbon from filters. Use 2x doesage of aquarium salt... treat him alone as these medicnes are rather rough, and the only reason I suggest all of them is becuase convicts are almost bulletproof.... almost.
Click to expand...

Actually all of the treatments you've suggested are relatively safe. Melafix, salt, sulfa drugs, and erythromycin are all pretty benign if used properly.

rydog said:
After a week of treating with Melafix he is looking a lot better. The white spots on his face have gone away and the swelling has as well. It does appear that his gills move at different rates however. Is that normal to see for any reason? The lips are moving a lot more than before when they appeared puffy but there is a white area on his lips in the corner.

Another item... he has not eaten since this all started. Yesterday however I did put in some blood worms which he did show a slight interest in but ended up spitting them out. Could it be that he is getting better but just not there yet or is there something else that I should be doing? I have not seen any of the white stringy poop since the first days.

He is in a 180 gal tank and catching him to move to a hospital tank would not be feasible. Does anyone have any thoughts?
Click to expand...

The different gill movement is interesting, perhaps some neuromuscular damage occurred. That would be cool if you could get a video.
As far as treatment, I'd recommend cleaning the filters and vacuuming the tank to remove as much organic debris as possible, and try feeding him a variety of foods to encourage him to eat. You can continue the melafix, but I would add in an antibacterial like maracyn2.

What is the temperature? You might consider lowering it a few degrees if it's above 80F to slow bacterial growth some
 
Perhaps his new change of behavior is due to the fact that he got beat by another fish in that scuffle, therefore lost his place as the dominant fish in the tank. That could explain his newfound shyness.
 
lol I got owned. touche calioutlaw touche...
 
I am going to continue to do water changes and will step the temperature down a little bit. I have tried floating and sinking pellets, bloodworms and peas. Today I am going to try zucchini but it is frustrating that he does not show any interest since the other day. Obviously treating food wont work. I need to stop by the store and pick up some maracyn2. Is it ok to treat the whole tank? Its impossible to catch this guy in the big tank. As far as the salts go, should I use aquarium salts or epsom salts?

Here is a picture of his face from several days ago but most of this has cleared up http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/ryanshomes/fish/DSCN0197.jpg and here is one from before the last picture when it was puffy under his eye. You can also see it was slightly orange in color. http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/ryanshomes/fish/IMAGE_222.jpg The whole side of the face was puffy/swollen which made the lips not move much at all. Maybe also the cause of the gills moving at a different rate? It has gone down significantly and the lips are now moving much more than before. Sorry no video.

Additional information: no new fish have been added to this tank in over 6 months.

Is there any way that this is just old age? I inherited this fish about 4 years ago and really not sure how old he is. Thank you all for the suggestions!
 
You can treat the whole tank, but it really would help to get him into a quarantine tank. In a 180g tank maracyn2 is going to be fairly expensive, and since this isn't just a topical infection I'd recommend double dosing the tank. A 24 pack of maracyn2 costs about $15-20, and normal dosing for 5 days in your tank would require 108 powder packs, so you are looking at about $90 for normal dosing, or $180 for double dosing. If this isnt feasible then I'd continue with the melafix and vacuum the tank daily or every other day to keep it as clean as possible which will help reduce the bacterial burden.

This isn't from old age, this is from having his skin damaged allowing for bacteria to enter his body.
 
Thanks Cali. I appreciate your insight. Yeah, I was at the store tonight and ran the same numbers after looking at the 24 packs. Ouch. Bought more Melafix...
 
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