What’s wrong?

[Jaws22]

found this on my marbled lung fish today after he went into the tank yesterday. Doesnt look like the Pulchra or the polys went for him(ive seen the damage from both) and he was fine when i got him. I removed him from the tank and hes in a plastic basin ive used before when taking care of injured/sick fish. What can you tell me?

 

[kno4te]

Maybe heater burn. Is your heater exposed?

Clean water should get it healed up.

 

[Jaws22]

I live in a really warm country so my water is at good temperatures without a heater.

I really need to know what’s going on because i dont want the same thing to happen when i put him back in.

 

[wednesday13]

Either ammonia burn...a tank mate...or he tried to wedge himself in/under something... since these guys could pretty much live in a toilet bowl id guess he got picked on or did it himself on some deco. to me it kinda looks like repeated bites/mouthings more so than any fungus/water issue. My p. annetcens of 7 yrs hated cichlids of any sort. cohabd together for yrs. before hed surgically cookie cutter them lol... but lungs are pretty defenseless aside from their jaws. from 8"-30" hed often lose limbs and get picked on by most tankmates. once had a silver aro destroy the poor guys tail. took a cple yrs to grow back normal. Maybe use a "pup tub" inside ur
main tank for him until hes bigger. they dont need much room. heres a pic of my current lung setup. Nothing fancy, but keeps him safe with easy breathing acess. i use a simple airline/pvc setup to provide fresh water into the tub.

 

[Judyok]

If the white spots are "fuzzy", it could be a bacterial infection.

 

[Jaws22]

Not exactly sure what you mean by fuzzy.
Also , if he was being picked on, could the common pleco have been the culprit because none of the other stock could do that though ive never seen him suck at the sides of another fish before?

 

[Jaws22]

Update

 

[squint]

Maybe a Saprolegnia or water mold infection.

 

[wednesday13]

Not exactly sure what you mean by fuzzy.
Also , if he was being picked on, could the common pleco have been the culprit because none of the other stock could do that though ive never seen him suck at the sides of another fish before?

Looks fitting to me for him to be the culprit...i have a flagtail prochilodus who did similiar damage to florida gar and a lung also... hope it heals up quick for ya.

 

[Rocksor]

I would put methylene blue for at least a week. Do daily water changes since it does kill beneficial bacteria.