Weird peeling on frontosa

[neutrino]

Don't know, but I suppose a plug in air freshener of the type that spritzes a shot every so often might be an issue if it's either: a) near enough to an exposed air pump for it to suck it in or b) at or above tank lid level. If that's what it is I'd basically expect symptoms in your whole tank. Otherwise seems like a long shot.

Based on your photo I'd suspect an injury as most likely. Appearing suddenly fits this scenario, even more so if it's just one or two of them-- unless the damage is spreading rapidly on the same fish. Otherwise my standard treatment for scuffs, minor wounds, etc. typically ranges from a little salt, to a little Melafix, to meth blue. I do Melafix at low doses, mainly because of the fast breathing it can cause. I find something like a 1/4-1/3 label-recommended dose of Melafix typically works just fine and lessens the fast breathing thing (which is normally temporary and not a big deal ime). Years ago I used to use an aloe containing med for similar purposes, and since aloe is organic, and according to some sources adds to bio-load, I didn't overdo that either.

...I rarely get sick fish, have dealt with plenty of scuffs and injuries, but beyond mostly minor health issues I'm not an expert, though with Cyphotilapia egg bound females is sometimes an issue and I have some experience with that.

 

[neutrino]

...The sitting on the bottom thing could be stress or possibly some internal trauma or internal injury if it did bolt into something. Is he eating?

 

[niknaksky]

It is one of those plug in evaporation type air wick. Its below the tank thought it would be a long shot as it has never caused problems before.

I will try dosing a reduced does of melafix and see how it goes. she is still eating like a pig so thats a good sign I suppose.

thanks for your help so far will update soon

 

[neutrino]

she is still eating like a pig so thats a good sign I suppose.

Yes, normally a positive sign. When a fish is stressed, sick, or whatever, I prefer to feed lightly, it's less taxing on their digestion and energy for healing when they're trying to recover from something.

Just a general observation-- Compared to some fish, and relative to their size, it doesn't take much food on average to maintain Cyphotilapia once their growth slows down. I gauge feeding by appearance and body profile and adjust accordingly, and their metabolism slows at a certain point, and to a degree seems to adapt to how often you feed them. I've noticed with some other species also, like some geos I've had, that at a certain point, when they slow down growing, the same amount of food makes them fatter, so I adjust it down some.

 

[niknaksky]

So i was doing water changes on my tanks normally i stagger it over a couple of days doing one tank a day but this time I decided to do 2 in the one day.

I was very surprised with the difference in temperature between the two tanks which are set to the same temp.

So I took some water from the front tank in a jug and put the probe form the other tank in and the water was 18c !!!!!
Checked with another thermometer and it was still 18c so ordered a new stc 1000 and the front is back to normal and the others seem more alert.

Not sure how long it has been that cold so have a glass thermometer in the sumps to be a back up.

Thanks for the advice much appreciated