Poor fishy.... Any help?

[eraserhead]

My poor male Vieja melanurus... I had a successful spawn with the female I have, got about 200 fry out of the deal. We went to Vegas for the week last week, and when I came back, he was all screwed up. Had somebody coming to feed the fish and check on anything, but apparently she didn't feel like this was something to give me a call about:

I added salt at 1tbsp/5gal, added some malachite green, and have been adding some melafix over the last couple days. The white fungus stuff has come most of the way off to reveal what looks like his musculature. Today a red spot appeared. Here's what he looks like as of tonight (note the white is actually pink, like the color of frickin salmon from the grocery):

I just don't know what to do with the poor guy- A tank just opened up at my house today that I could isolate him in and treat- but treat for what? He has not been getting picked on in the least bit in the tank he's in. Should I euthanize, or let him keep fighting? His general condition has not worsened over the past week. He is not really eating, but he hasn't been laying on the bottom of the tank either... Any advice?

Bobby

 

[robmcd]

That sucks. The same thing happened to a female festae I had and she didnt make it. I know what you mean when you say it looks like cooked salmon. If it happens to my fish again Im gonna euthanize. Just my 2 cents......

 

[Adhlc]

Euthanasia sucks. If he's healing, let him keep fighting. Any idea what may have cause this?

 

[eraserhead]

Euthanasia sucks. If he's healing, let him keep fighting. Any idea what may have cause this?

Thanks for the replies, fellas... I wish I knew what caused it. I had him, his wifey, and the fry cordoned off with some screen in about 1/4 of the tank (it's a 175 bowfront) until a day before we went to Vegas, when I put mom and the fry in another tank. When I took down the screen and rearranged a little he got nipped a couple times, but nothing major. I also have a wild redhead severum who has a little cloudiness in one eye upon returning home. He's not looking bad, but still..

Stuff like this always seems to happen when we go out of town. Last time we went (again to Vegas), our house got robbed while we were gone, and I came home to find a crazy lip infection that ended up killing my all-time favorite fish (he was a midas named Rojo). Sucks.....

I'm gonna let him stew a couple more days and see if he shows improvement. And if not, I'll probably let him stew some more. Don't think I can bring myself to kill him...

 

[perfect_prefect]

isolate him so the meds can be more concentrated, also do 75% waterchanges on the hospital tank daily. i would go with atleast adding salt and heat to the hospital tank, dont really know what other meds to advise. the water changes salt and heat should hopefully help him to recover, atleast that way you know youve done everything in your power to do.

 

[eraserhead]

isolate him so the meds can be more concentrated, also do 75% waterchanges on the hospital tank daily. i would go with atleast adding salt and heat to the hospital tank, dont really know what other meds to advise. the water changes salt and heat should hopefully help him to recover, atleast that way you know youve done everything in your power to do.

Thanks, that should be doable. I see a little encouraging behavior today, he is starting to get his attitude back. The biggest fish in the tank came up to him earlier and he did the little open mouth and advance thing he does. At least he's not being a pushover The big guy is very docile though. The red spot on his side has dissipated for the most part too. Also, he just showed at least a small interest in food. He hadn't eaten in several days, or even gone after the food. But just now he took a couple pieces in his mouth. Sure he spit them out, but he is at least showing some improvement.

Thanks for all your advice, fellas!

Bobby

 

[Aquanero]

I have a Discus that had a similar looking (fungal?) infection on his side like that, BIG UGLY THING. Wouldn't eat, I thought for sure he was going to die. As a last resort I took him out of the hospital tank I had him in and poured Peroxide straight onto the area, I held him out of the tank about 45 seconds letting the Peroxide foam. I did a 50% water change and added Novaqua, because the H202 stripped all the body slime off him I put him back in the tank. In two days he was eating and acting normal and in about two weeks he was healing up nice. He still has the scar on his side this was about a year ago, but he's alive!

 

[eraserhead]

UPDATE

He is very much improving, looks like he is going to pull through! He has started eating quite a bit, and the wounds appear to be healing slowly. I can see some dark coloration on them now, which kind of looks like scales growing back. As long as he doesn't take another downward turn, I think he is going to be okay. The appetite is definitely a good sign. He's eating more now than I have ever seen him, which isn't surprising considering he hadn't eaten in a couple weeks.

 

[MalawiTango]

Melafix always works wonders for abrasions and nipped fins. Good luck bud.

 

[eraserhead]

Melafix always works wonders for abrasions and nipped fins. Good luck bud.

Thanks! It did help.
He is almost fully recovered at this point! Its amazing how resilient some of these fish are. I had his girlfriend tending her fry in a small tank downstairs, and when I put her back in, he just lit up with color. Now they're hanging out all the time again... He's eating, aggressive, and everything is looking good!

Thanks for all the support!