Sick cichlid, slime coat problem?? Please help.

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That's a little encouraging, I think lol. Thanks for the input FishingOut. Whatever it is, is not alive in the sense you can see any movement like you would with a parasite. I am lead to believe it is some type of gas he is excreting. I've never experienced this before, and this is only my second cichlid I've kept. Needless to say, the first one (the JD) didn't make it as I mentioned previously. All my previous experience has been with smaller community fish or reptiles.

I'm gonna have to see if I can capture it on video tonight, when it's dark and I have no glare on the glass. I think the camera should be able to pick it up.
 
Cookie*420;4499303; said:
That's a little encouraging, I think lol. Thanks for the input FishingOut. Whatever it is, is not alive in the sense you can see any movement like you would with a parasite. I am lead to believe it is some type of gas he is excreting. I've never experienced this before, and this is only my second cichlid I've kept. Needless to say, the first one (the JD) didn't make it as I mentioned previously. All my previous experience has been with smaller community fish or reptiles.

I'm gonna have to see if I can capture it on video tonight, when it's dark and I have no glare on the glass. I think the camera should be able to pick it up.
Click to expand...

most parasites on fish u would not see move... most of the time they r on one spot feeding on the host....
 
I hadn't even thought of an internal parasite, MBeatrice. Thank you, I think lol, the stress continues. For now, I'm gonna try and capture it on video tonight and post it here. But, I still appreciate any thoughts until I know with certainty what I may be dealing with. The more things to research, the more things I can possibly rule out.

Blacktarotannis-thanks for sharing the information gathered in your book on the fly like that, it's greatly appreciated. :)
 
Dont start dumping chemicals in your tank when your not sure what the problem is. This is only weakening his immune system and might not even be treating the cause.
Id suggest not worrying about the botia. Get 1tbs salt for every 5 gals over the next couple hours to slowly get the botia use to it. Also get out all the hairs you can. Salt is an excellent tonic and really helps the slime coat.
To me it really sounds like somethings wrong with the water chemistry. Something meds will not be able to help with.
 
Adding a chemical would be a last resort for me, I'll go with a salt treatment for now. I've been looking to rehome the Botia (as he should be with a group of Botia's and not alone), so if I were to lose him it would not break my heart. If I thought I could fish him out of the 55g easily without stressing all the fish out, I'd just pop him into my 30g community tetra tank.

I may have to go back to 50% wc's weekly instead of 25% too.
 
I picked up some frozen peas hoping it's a gas issue that the peas will clear up. Maybe it's a far shot, but worth a try IMO. I was surprised when he voraciously took the peas. I gave him three and will give him 3 more tomorrow along with his regular food. I'll also be trying to get the "hair stuff" caught on vid.
 
I've seen this coming off certain fish, but only immediately after a water change and when I didn't degas the new water well enough. These bubbles happen between water changes, too?

Is there an airstone or source of bubbles in the tank? If anything is irritating him like a household cleaner or something in the tap, he may be letting off strands of slime coat which then catch bubbles.

Have you spent a good amount of time staring at the point where the string is originating? Do you actually see a bubble leave the fish?

What kind of dechlorinator do you use?
 
knifegill;4500968; said:
I've seen this coming off certain fish, but only immediately after a water change and when I didn't degas the new water well enough. These bubbles happen between water changes, too?

Is there an airstone or source of bubbles in the tank? If anything is irritating him like a household cleaner or something in the tap, he may be letting off strands of slime coat which then catch bubbles.

Have you spent a good amount of time staring at the point where the string is originating? Do you actually see a bubble leave the fish?

What kind of dechlorinator do you use?
Click to expand...

Very good questions Knifegill- This is noticeable at all times and doesn't seem to change with water changes, I'm gonna start doing 50% changes again today and we'll see if that changes anything. I do have a air stone going in there, and I have the water level about 2 inches lower than the filter overflow to create better water movement and oxygenation as well. I do on occasion wash down the front glass with a paper towel dampened with Windex (I know not the best idea, but I don't spray it on the glass and use it very sparingly). I have spent more time watching now that I think it's gas, and I do see the bubbles seem to congregate on his stomach and lower sides and then strand off like you said, and get caught up on his fins. I always assumed the bubbles on him were from crossing through the air stone flow. For dechlorinating the water, I use TetraAqua- AquaSafe water conditioner at the recommended dose.

I did capture it on vid last night too, I'm hoping the quality/lighting is well enough it can be seen/recognized. I'll upload the vid......
 
The first video, hopefully you can see the bubbles on his side and then as he moves away from the shot you can see a strand of bubbles in his pelvic fins-
[YT]7qq9qkUd6Nk[/YT]

Second video, you can see a strand caught in his front dorsal fin and a bit on his upper front side-
[YT]7wQ2qhGM75s[/YT]
 
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