Parrot Cichlid Gill Inflammation/white

[Brianna Leland]

My parrot cichlid (Jellybean) is in a 54 gallon community tank. Ive had him for a year. He has developed a gill issue. Ive tried treating it with api general cure. He seemed to look a bit healthier but now has become shy and appears as if breathing is labored. He wants to eat all his food but most of it pops out the back of his gills after going in his mouth. He looks a bit pale. I change water 25% weekly. I have an ammonia home test and I'm in good parameters. Two of my small fish have died randomly.

Questions pulled from an old forum:

Do the gills looks like there filled with cotton wool? YES
Do the gills look red, pink, and inflamed?YES
Do the gills look blood red like there bleeding? SOMETIMES
Do the gills have excess mucas on them?YES
Are the gills flaps pointing out?NO
Do the gills look mottled like beefburgers?YES
Any red pierce marks on the body, fins, or gills? NO
Any signs of flicking and rubbing?SOMETIMES
Any excess mucas on body or fins?NO
Do any fish peck at the fish gills?NO
Any signs of spitting out food? YES

 

[Colin_T]

The fish has a bacterial infection around the gills. This is identified by the red patching that looks like blood. The bacteria are damaging the gills and will eventually kill the fish.

What other fish died and what were their symptoms?

Did you add any new fish a few weeks before the other fish died?

How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
When was the last time you clean the filter and how did you clean it?

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Wipe the inside of the glass down. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank. Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks.

Get a broad spectrum fish medication that treats fungus, bacteria and protozoan infections in fish and use that.

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will absorb the medication and stop it working.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[Brianna Leland]

Im going to my lfs tomorrow with a water sample to get water quality parameters and will try to figure out what medication to use.
I changed the filter 2 days ago. I clean the tank properly by disturbing the gravel every week.
The tank smells fishy when i open it, which leads me to believe maybe nitrates or phosphates are elevated? My ammonia is perfect but unfortunately that's the only test i have at home.
I will be sure to wipe the glass down when i clean the tank tomorrow. I appreciate you responding to me. I love my fish and this is so sad.
Should i keep the light off for now to help with stress levels? The tank the room is in gets a lot of natural light

 

[Colin_T]

Can you elaborate on changing your filter 2 days ago?
Did you change the filter materials and replace them with new materials?
If yes, this is not the best thing to do. Filters develop colonies of beneficial bacteria that convert ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate. If you replace the filter media, you get rid of these bacteria and can have ammonia or nitrite levels that stress and kill fish.

Filter materials should only be replaced if they start to fall apart. If you have cartridges in the filter and the manufacturer recommends you replace them every month, then don't replace them. Just squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water put them back in the tank.

If the cartridge has carbon or an ammonia absorbing granule in it, you can make a small cut in the top of the cartridge and tip the contents out and throw them away. Then wash the remaining cartridge in a bucket of tank water.

You can add round sponges (from internal power filters) to the intake strainer of most external power filters. You can usually add rectangular sponges to the inside of your current filter. These extra sponges will give you more filter media and hold bacteria if you ever have to replace a cartridge.

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Do you have a gravel cleaner like the one in the following link?
If not, get a basic model gravel cleaner from the local pet shop or make one from a plastic drink bottle and garden hose.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

You can make a gravel cleaner by cutting the bottom off a 1.5 litre or 2 litre plastic drink bottle. Throw the bottom bit away. Stick a garden hose in the top of the bottle and run the hose out the door and onto the lawn.

Push the plastic bottle into the aquarium and fill it with water. Lift the bottle up while keeping the bottom part up higher than the hose. Let the water start draining out of the hose, then put the bottle back in the tank (again keep the bottom of the bottle up to let air out). Once the air is out of the bottle, push the bottle into the gravel and lift it up. The gravel will circulate in the bottle and drop back down, while the gunk in the substrate will be drawn out with some of the water.

You should gravel clean the substrate any time you do a water change. Remove about 75% of the tank water and replace it with dechlorinated water.

Don't buy fancy/ elaborate gravel cleaners because they are a waste of money.

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If the tank light is normally on you can leave it on. However, if the room is bright and the fish is stressed you can turn the tank light off during the day.

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If the tank smells bad then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week to remove the rotting gunk in the substrate. A clean, well maintained aquarium should not smell.

A big daily water change and gravel cleaning the substrate might help the fish heal without the need for medication. Do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate today and tomorrow and see if it helps.

The following link has information about what to do if your fish gets sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/