Convict cichlid has small white lumps on body

[ScottMcDonald]

I have a male convict cichlid that is about 6.5 years old. Just over a week ago, I noticed a small white mark on his body near the left pectoral fin. It got larger until it was protruding from his body. This morning, I noticed another lump on his head on the same side. They don’t look fuzzy, and while his colouration seems a bit more patchy than usual, I don’t think its ich. I’m currently treating the water with Pimafix, and I’ve also added a bit of aquarium salt. It’s possible he injured himself on a decoration, which I removed today.

He also looks slightly bloated, and has seemed a bit unbalanced when swimming, sometimes his back. Could I get some help identifying what this is, and what should I do to treat it? Thanks.

 

[Sgooosh]

I have a male convict cichlid that is about 6.5 years old. Just over a week ago, I noticed a small white mark on his body near the left pectoral fin. It got larger until it was protruding from his body. This morning, I noticed another lump on his head on the same side. They don’t look fuzzy, and while his colouration seems a bit more patchy than usual, I don’t think its ich. I’m currently treating the water with Pimafix, and I’ve also added a bit of aquarium salt. It’s possible he injured himself on a decoration, which I removed today.

He also looks slightly bloated, and has seemed a bit unbalanced when swimming, sometimes his back. Could I get some help identifying what this is, and what should I do to treat it? Thanks.

a bacterial infetion?

also this post got duplicated @Fishmanic

 

[Colin_T]

It just looks like excess mucous. Check the tank conditions for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
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. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[ScottMcDonald]

It just looks like excess mucous. Check the tank conditions for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
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. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Thanks, I'll try that. By gravel clean, do you mean clean it with a siphon?
2 weeks ago the pH of the tank was slightly above 7, it shouldn't have changed since then. Just tested for ammonia, and its fine, ~0ppm.

 

[Colin_T]

Use a basic gravel cleaner like the one in the following link and get the gunk out of the gravel.

Aquarium Cleaning Made Easy

Aquarium cleaning should take 30 minutes every two weeks. Learn how the professionals do it in 18 easy steps.

www.about-goldfish.com