Sick Ctenopoma

[Nickintex]

Just noticed that one of my Chocolate Ctenopomas has white scum on his pectoral fins, a small ulcer at the base of his pectoral fins and a patch of discolored raised scales. I started treating the tank, which also features catfish, angel fish, a ghost knife, and geos, with a combination of Melafix and Pimafix. i also added a small amount of salt. What else can I do? I can't add too much salt, because of the ghost knife and the catfish. Thanks.

[Darbex]

Just my opinion but I dont like mela or primafix never seem to work that good for me and I hate the smell. I would QT it and treat with Furan-2 or Furanase as recommended and add salt. A lot of times daily WC and salt will do the trick with out medication.

[Nickintex]

OK. Just did a water change and found the other Ctenopomas have similar lesions! What kind of disease affects only Ctenopomas? I removed them and qt them in a large bucket with water treated with bifuran. Hope they make it. :(

[cichlid1409]

best of luck nick....hope you can get it straightend out.





nice sig BTW :)

[Nickintex]

Thanks guys. Traci, any input?

[Mzungu]

:(

How long have you had these guys, Nick?

Hope they make it, too. But if there was a recent addition to the tank, it may have spread to others.

[Nickintex]

I got them last winter, at the HFB fundraiser at HAW.

[imagirlgeek]

Sorry Nick...just saw this. :(

Is the white scum fuzzy? Or slimy?

Is the ulcer open and red?

[Nickintex]

The white scum looks slimy and the ulcers are red with a white border, giving it a "peeled away" look. The scales are raised at the site of the ulcers.

[imagirlgeek]

The white scum, ulcers, and raised scales (if it looks like what I'm imagining in my head) indicates a bacterial infection. It could be from something introduced into the tank, or an opportunistic bacteria that lives in the tank all the time and for some reason these Ctenopoma were weakened and became susceptible to it. With the latter, it's usually because the fish were stressed for some reason and their resistance was lowered. Or they got a cut or scrape. Anybody been picking on them, or taking over their area?

It doesn't seem like the bacterial infection is because of a parasite if the other fish aren't showing any signs of infection. And you didn't mention them flashing or rubbing on anything.

You are doing good by isolating them. Keep the stress low and the water clean and use a good antibiotic. Darbex likes Furan-2...I've never used it, but it looks like a good med.

I'm just going to put this out there. For you and for anyone else who might read this. I never recommend this because I know a lot of people don't keep vitamins readily available for their fish, like I do, but if you have some liquid vitamins, add those to their tank while treating them. I know, I know...vitamins for fish but they really do help. I got the advice from an Aquatic Vet and you wouldn't believe how fast fish heal with the addition of vitamins. If you don't have liquid vitamins, but do have Vitamin C tabs, you can crush them up and add to their food (also advice given by an aquatic vet).

[Nickintex]

This is what it looks like 1 day after treatment. This fish is very lethargic. :(
GEDC0095..jpg

[myjohnson]

Should have tried poking it with a stick.

[imagirlgeek]

Columnaris. A bacterial skin infection. Fish that appear healthy can carry the disease, and outbreaks occur when the conditions suit the infection...like temps above 60F and organic waste.

Keep going with the antibiotics. This is going to be very hard to kick. Don't heat the water unless you have to. It'll slow down the growth of the bacteria and allow you to keep medicating.

[Nickintex]

So this columnaris has devastated my ctenopoma population. From ten, I'm down to four. :(
I also lost many cory cats.
:aua:

The other fish are unaffected, but the ctenopomas had sentimental value coz they were given to me by Daniel, former owner of HAW.

[imagirlgeek]

I'm so sorry Nick. Columnaris is nasty and evil. I talked to an angel breeder once who lost thousands of angels to a columnaris outbreak once.