Sickness or scarring

[Mistacooldude2]

I have 2 Escondido carpintis that recently have gotten white splotches on their nose areas. I doubt is lip locking. They are a breeding pair and I’ve never seen them fight once. I even kept them in a ten gallon for a couple weeks while I was transferring tanks and they were very passive towards each other. Is this some sort of infection I’ve never seen before or did they just both cut themselves on a rugged rock

 

[Stephen St.Clair]

The white patches look like a bacterial infection to me. I agree that the blemishes do not look like war wounds, nor do they look like a fungus. Probably a good idea to pick up a good antibiotic med asap. Hope things get better soon.

 

[Mistacooldude2]

The white patches look like a bacterial infection to me. I agree that the blemishes do not look like war wounds, nor do they look like a fungus. Probably a good idea to pick up a good antibiotic med asap. Hope things get better soon.

Thanks so much . Any antibiotic in particular? I can probably pick some up tomorrow. Also, are they in any jeopardy right now?

 

[Stephen St.Clair]

Kanaplex & Furan 2 are a couple of meds often mentioned in the forums regarding bacterial treatments.
Bacterial infections are probably the most serious disease fishkeepers have to deal with.

 

[Mistacooldude2]

Kanaplex & Furan 2 are a couple of meds often mentioned in the forums regarding bacterial treatments.
Bacterial infections are probably the most serious disease fishkeepers have to deal with.

Thanks. They’ve had it for a week without it worsening. I initially thought it was scarring but it just hasn’t gone away. I’ll medicate tomorrow

 

[duanes]

It could be that they have started to lip lock, pic 2 looks to be the dominant one, and male, but can't tell if pic 1 is a female, or subordinate male.
The lip lock (or whatever) scars may have become infected, so If it's bacterial do not turn up the heater, many bacteria become increasingly virulent at temps above 80'F, (and carpintis natural habitat is often much cooler than the average aquarist keeps tanks)and I agree with Stephan, you could use a broad spectrum antibiotic that covers both gram positive or gram negative bacteria. The only way to determine which type, would be to take a sample to a microbiologist.
Before the antibiotic adding salt also may help.
Note the white scarring of these JDs mouths from lip locking in nature.

 

[Mistacooldude2]

It could be that they have started to lip lock, pic 2 looks to be the dominant one, and male, but can't tell if pic 1 is a female, or subordinate male.
The lip lock (or whatever) scars may have become infected, so If it's bacterial do not turn up the heater, many bacteria become increasingly virulent at temps above 80'F, (and carpintis natural habitat is often much cooler than the average aquarist keeps tanks)and I agree with Stephan, you could use a broad spectrum antibiotic that covers both gram positive or gram negative bacteria. The only way to determine which type, would be to take a sample to a microbiologist.
Before the antibiotic adding salt also may help.
Note the white scarring of these JDs mouths from lip locking in nature.

Thanks so much. It’s hard to tell in the picture but they are definitely male and female (they’ve given me fry numerous times). It would surprise me if they were lip locking because they are very passive towards each other. They even share food and a cave together. I won’t rule it out however, so I’ll monitor aggression. It’s a species only tank so I keep them at around 75 degrees. I was about to raise the temp so thanks for that.

 

[Mistacooldude2]

Update: Sadly duanes was right. Walked in today to see them viciously lip locking. The female was the one insisting it too. I don’t know what caused them to be peaceful for the year and a half I’ve had them to fighting overnight. Any ideas on what I should do? It was the same when I had them in my 125. They were peaceful then they kicked into breading mode and tried to kill everyone and everything (except each other). Should I separate them? would their aggression go down if they are separated and no longer a pair. I’m also aware they lip lock when pairing up. Any chance this is happening (They are already paired).

 

[duanes]

This is the case with most cichlids, they constantly require expanding space, and drastically changing attitude with age.
3 or 4 months with a cichlid shows us very little as a point of reference for any cichlid species.
You can only really state experience with confidence, after a span of 2 or 3 years with a species, many only totally mature at age 3.
Most of the time a 125 is adequate as a grow out tank, but at maturity most medium size cichlids would guard a space equalling 250 gallons in nature, and will only let up on an intruder or unreceptive female after it leaves that amount of space.
A young compatible pair may work in a 125 for a while, but with size and maturity that 125 becomes less and less adequate.
My carpintis spawned 3Xs successfully in a 150, after the 3rd spawn, and each put on more size, the female was killed.
I believe it was my own fault, for not recognizing the signs, the tank was becoming less adequate.