Chromide Illness

[HayleyJ]

Hi there everyone, I am new to this forum.
I am hoping that someone may be able to help me identifi an illness which one of our newest Chromides seems to have developed.

The only way I can describe it is that the mouth area, in front of its eyes, looks bloodshot (its a silver/red spotted chromide so its easy to see the redness). Ive also seen it rubbing its face on the sand on the floor of the tank.

The new brackish tank in which it is living has been setup for around 6-8weeks now with other fish living in it during that time, being introduced slowly (we also have another Brackish tank which has been set-up for a few months so this isnt our first). We collected the pair of Chromides almost two weeks ago, and they have since produced eggs already. However two or three days ago I noticed that all of the eggs were gone, and the largest of the 2 Chromides has developed this condition since (I beleive that is the female). The only other fish which they are sharing the tank with currently are 4 black mollies, so im doubting that it is an injury. No other fish including the other Chromide are showing any signs of illness. I have just fed them, and the ill Chromide does not seem interested in food, and I noticed that every few seconds it (sorry, hard to explain) looks like its smacking its lips together and opening its mouth slightly wider.

The last water change was last weekend, along with a water test and all the levels were spot on.

Could it just be the stress of being moved, and living in a new environment? They had been in the store a few weeks before collection by us.

Can anyone give me some advise? Thanks.

 

[nmonks]

Without seeing a picture, it's difficult to be sure, but I'd _guess_ this is an external protozoan or bacterial infection of some type, judging by the sores on the outside of the fish. Bacterial infections can be quite common in stuff that has been recently bought, because many shops exercise little useful healthcare or quarantining, allowing bacterial to cross from tank to tank.

Anyway, what's the SG in the tank? If you can, raise it to SG 1.010. You may need to do this over a few hours or days if the SG in your tank is very low (1.003 or less). The high salinity will quickly zap and protozoans, if they're the problem.

Bacteria are more of a tricky problem. If you're lucky, they will go away by themselves, but often you will need some sort of treatment. Antibiotics are obviously one option, but usually you will need to get these from a vet. There are over the counter treatments available, but this are of only mediocre effectiveness at best, and are often completely useless, despite the advertising. Raising the salinity may help with bacteria, as well, so even that is worth considering.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[HayleyJ]

Thanks very much for your reply, I shall go and check the salt level in the tank right now.

Just for clarity, the redness appears to be more under the skin rather than sores on the skin. Its kind of like red veigniness if that makes any sense? The fish is also keeping itself to itself, spending most of its time in one corner quite close to the bottom of the tank.

UPDATE: Just checked, and the SG is 1.004. So we are going to add some salt and raise it as you recommend.

We do try to fluctuate our tanks as a rule, strangely we have just checked our other main established brackish set-up and thats giving the same reading. We arent having any problems in there though.

Will take your advise and see how it goes, and if you have any other suggestions please let me know. I will perhaps see if I can get a pic and post it too!

Thanks again!!