My older Green Terror has white bumps and fluffy growth on his shattered pectoral fins. At first, I thought it was from injury from fighting. But the white growth did not go away, and the shattered fins never heal, so it looks more like the fin is rotting away from infection. But he is eating well and none of his younger tankmates were affected. Does anyone know what it is and how to treat it?
White bumps and fluffy growth on pectoral fins
- Thread starter viejafish
- Start date
Please post your water parameters, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, Ph, Gh if available and temprature. A clear picture would be helpful too.
The pH is about 7.5 and GH 14. I haven't checked nitrate for a while but I do 75% water change weekly and the water quality should be fine as all his tankmates are healthy. He is the oldest cichlid in the tank, around 5 year old, and no longer the top fish. He was sometime picked on by the top fish, but nothing seriously. At first, I thought those shattered fins were caused by physical injury, but since they don't heal and the white bumps don't go away for months, it looks more like infection. There is also small area on the center of the body that appears to lose a few scales and and get the same infection. The fish acts normal and has good appetite.
Here are pics of the infection.
Here are pics of the infection.
You should treat that with some stress zyme and some meds... Not sure what you feed it but start feeding it some garlic like NLS foods. Needs some major repair.
If I am going to treat it, it will be in a hospital tank. But I wish I knew what's causing it, so I can pick the right remedy. Is it a bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infection. He had that for months and continues to eat well, so it is not an acute desease, just disfiguring like HITH.
I would get a test kit so you can test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates in the tank going foward.
I would do a bath in methylene blue. Use a double dose of MB 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons of aquarium water. A five gallon bucket works great for this, fill it about 3/4 of the way. Exact dosing is not critacal so if you dose for 5 gallons you'll be good. To the bath add 1 tablespoon of salt, disolve as much as possibile and add the fish for 30 mins. After 30 mins remove the fish and put it in the pre-medacated hospital tank. In the hospital tank use Furan 2 follow instructions on the package. Furan 2 is generally better at low Ph and hardness but in this case I want to try it first as it is a good choice for topical infections. Report the fishes condition after 24 hours with photos. If the Furan 2 isn't starting to work we can switch meds. Please remember this isn't always an exact science we are working from pictures and discriptions so what looks like one thing could be another. Always make sure the hospital tank has a fully seeded filter and test the water before using it. MB is very hard on nitrafying bacteria so a bath is the best way to use it, Furan 2 being gram negative is not hard on the BB so you will have no issue there. You can also add salt to the Hispital tank at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water.
I would do a bath in methylene blue. Use a double dose of MB 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons of aquarium water. A five gallon bucket works great for this, fill it about 3/4 of the way. Exact dosing is not critacal so if you dose for 5 gallons you'll be good. To the bath add 1 tablespoon of salt, disolve as much as possibile and add the fish for 30 mins. After 30 mins remove the fish and put it in the pre-medacated hospital tank. In the hospital tank use Furan 2 follow instructions on the package. Furan 2 is generally better at low Ph and hardness but in this case I want to try it first as it is a good choice for topical infections. Report the fishes condition after 24 hours with photos. If the Furan 2 isn't starting to work we can switch meds. Please remember this isn't always an exact science we are working from pictures and discriptions so what looks like one thing could be another. Always make sure the hospital tank has a fully seeded filter and test the water before using it. MB is very hard on nitrafying bacteria so a bath is the best way to use it, Furan 2 being gram negative is not hard on the BB so you will have no issue there. You can also add salt to the Hispital tank at 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I think I will try the medication bath approach. But instead of using methylene blue, I will alternate between malachite green and Melafix treatment because I have already had them in stock, and the medications have anti fungal, parasite and microbial properties. I will use double the dosage for 30 minute bath each day for a week using the tank water, and return the fish back to the community tank after each treatment. The fish is eating so I don't want to stress him in an isolated hospital tank, besides, returning the fish back to the community tank after long isolation will be a challenge. I will see how it goes and report back.
I think I will try the medication bath approach. But instead of using methylene blue, I will alternate between malachite green and Melafix treatment because I have already had them in stock, and the medications have anti fungal, parasite and microbial properties. I will use double the dosage for 30 minute bath each day for a week using the tank water, and return the fish back to the community tank after each treatment. The fish is eating so I don't want to stress him in an isolated hospital tank, besides, returning the fish back to the community tank after long isolation will be a challenge. I will see how it goes and report back.
You stated in a previous post your GH is 14ppm which is very soft. MG is at it's most effective at GH readings of at least 75ppm or higher. It (MG) becomes more toxic at lower PH and GH levels and was one of the reasons I did not recomend it's use in your case. If you are going to use it regardless you will need to buffer it with Triple sulfa to reduce the toxic effects and increase it's effectiveness. This one of the reasons why when someone uses a medacation and it either didn't work or the results were less than desirable. It is important to always use meds where and when they at at there most effective and exactly how they were intended to get the best resluts, safely. Any drug can be leathal if used indiscriminatly. Melafix smells nice.
As a side note you could use 3x sulfa or Furan 2 in the main tank with no issue and still do a MB/salt bath. However the decision is yours...........Good Luck.
As a side note you could use 3x sulfa or Furan 2 in the main tank with no issue and still do a MB/salt bath. However the decision is yours...........Good Luck.