Sick cichlid, slime coat problem?? Please help.

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Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2010
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Northern NJ
mocoloco.com
I've had a Chocolate cichlid for about 3 months now and he's doing excellent, with one exception- Over the last month or so I've been noticing what I thought was cat hairs with air bubbles attached to them (I have 2 cats), it basically looks like a string of air bubbles. I'd fish them out with a pipe cleaner but kept noticing it getting worse, and started to worry when I noticed I usually only saw them tangled up on my Choco. and only on that particular fish.

Basically it appears on the fishes side looking like bubbles and gets released and caught on his dorsal fin most of the time. When he does his "feed me food" wiggle, the stuff falls off and I clean it out as best I can, and hours later it appears again. This has been going on for a month, but definitely increased in the last week and a half or so. I have put a little salt into the tank but cannot put too much as I've got a small Botia Striata in there as well. Should I try Pima/Melafix? Does anyone have any ideas as to what this can be?

My water parameters are ok with nitrates being a bit high at 20-25 ppm, but this has been consistent. I do 25% water changes weekly with gravel vacuuming. The cichlid is 6-7", in a 55g with 2 AC 70's & air pump/stone, and shares the space with a 6" L91 and 2" Botia Striata. The cichlid is the only fish in there I have found this fungus-like stuff caught on. The Choco. cichlid seems un-phased by it, but regardless I would like to fix the problem before it effects his health.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.:popcorn:
 
Have you ever tried Stress Coat....I am sure it is not a cure it may help though. I have no idea whats happening in your tank...hopefully somebody will! Though it does look like your nitrates are a bit high.
 
That's not a bad idea (Stress coat), but I feel like it's fungal and Stress coat wouldn't take care of it. I forgot to mention I keep the tank at 80 degrees F as well, not that I think that matters. Thanks, We4wieners. :)

I had a juvie JD in there previously, which died after 9 months and growing about 4 inches in that time (I thought he was perfectly healthy). I never found that hair like stuff in the tank then, or on the JD. I had the same problem with the Nitrates with the JD in the tank as well, and even 50% water changes didn't help. I tried some filter pouches 'Nitra-Zorb', which initially lowered the Nitrates by 10ppm, but they didn't stay there. Since the JD dying, I added a few live plants, the Chocolate cichlid, and do 25% wc's weekly. The Nitrates remain a bit high for my liking (20-25ppm), but I have no luck getting them lower. I don't feel like the bio-load is too high, even tho the cichlid and pleco sh#t constantly. The tank gets cleaned weekly and there's not excess food in the tank. I should mention the 3 fish in the tank will be put into their permanent 90g home within 2 months as well. I feel like the high nitrates may have taken out the JD, I hope this won't be the case with my Chocolate as I've become really attached to him.

Again, any insight is appreciated.
 
Hey I'm reading this book and it actually shows some clear bubbles coming off a fish. Its says..... Clear signs of gas bubble disease. The bubbles are firming in the fins and skin; such bubbles developing in delicate tissues such as the gill and eye can eventually cause death. These problems can occur when the water is supersaturated with nitrogen or oxygen. The condition is sililar to 'the bends' in human divers.
 
blacktarotannis;4499205; said:
Hey I'm reading this book and it actually shows some clear bubbles coming off a fish. Its says..... Clear signs of gas bubble disease. The bubbles are firming in the fins and skin; such bubbles developing in delicate tissues such as the gill and eye can eventually cause death. These problems can occur when the water is supersaturated with nitrogen or oxygen. The condition is sililar to 'the bends' in human divers.
Click to expand...
I am by no means an expert in Aquaria, but that I hav never heard of. Sounds like exactly what cookie is dealing with. Is there a remedy for it?
 
That doesn't sound so good at all. It doesn't say a way to treat this does it? Would feeding the fish peas to help release gas help? Would the nitrates just continue to cause this? My JD never showed any signs of this, however, his diet was much different. I appreciate the insight, Blacktarotannis.
 
Doesnt sound like gas bubble disease to me. But I believe its something along those lines. GBD forms boils on the skin that dont come off.
When I first started fishkeeping I noticed if I did too big of a WC (60-75%) something funky would happen with the gas pressure. Bubbles would form and stick to fish and glass. No hair though.
A fungus isnt going to be bubbles that come off. Hair-like bubble-looking parasites might be what your dealing with. Im sure you would have noticed something like that though.
This is a really hard diagnosis. All I can really say is more than likely its something in the water. Like too much gases in the water, or plants depleting gas's. Strange thing is, with weekly water changes/vacs and 2 AC 70 your tank should be plenty filtered and the nitrates shouldnt be an issue. Plus the JD dieing leads me to believe something is funky in your water.
 
I just got this book.... Its called
Manual of fish health. By Dr. Chris Andrews, Adrian Exell & Dr Neville Carrington....
I haven't finished reading that page yet. Its about understanding water chemistry. Maybe try testing your oxygen and nitrogen levels. I keep reading.
As I look over it fast something about making sure air stones are in there. Also make sure you don't have to much salt.
"When keeping some highly oxygen-sensitive species, such as marines and rift valley cichilds, it is sensible to supplement any water pump-powered filtration with airstone aeration. Although high-salinity water has lower oxygen solubility, aeration is more effective because the denser medium causes the streams to be made up of smaller bubbles with correspondingly larger surface area."
I promise to keep reading.
 
it sounds to me that it is some kind of parasite... try parasite clear tablets from jungle you can get it at local fish stores or even walmart... its cheap and easy to yous and it has worked for me 90% of the time its even worked on internal parasites....
 
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