Rope Fish Was Attacked Behind Its Left Gill.

[jgray152]

Hi there

The rope fish I have I have had for about 4 months now. I have had one before this one and he was about 7 years old when he got ick and died.

A little over 1 week ago my rope fish was attacked by my electric blue cichlid which I am trying to find a new home for. He was attacked right behind his left gill and on his left fin and near the top of his body above the gills. I have been watching him everyday hoping it would heal on its own but recently I saw it get infected or atleast swallen and get a deep red color in certain areas. His scales near his head are torn up a pretty bad and his left gill, on the edge looks to have some damage.

I put him in a hospital tank today with some MelaFix. I had good luck with this in the past for certain things but I have no idea if this will work on the rope fish.

Are there any suggestions on medications I should be using for this? I will be getting marine salt soon for my african cichlids, should I put some in the hospital tank?

Thanks
Justin

 

[pica_nuttalli]

since ropefish are adaptable to low end brackish, adding salt wouldn't hurt and would help fight any bacteria. just don't go overboard.

out of curiousity, why are you getting marine salt for your cichlids? i've never heard that they need salt, per se, just hard/alkaline conditions. while marine salt would definitely create such conditions, the resulting brackish water might still not be good for the fish.

also, are you removing the african cichlids from your community tank or are they still in with the needfish and whatnot?

 

[jgray152]

Well the Rope Fish didn't make it through the night. I found him laying on the ground as if he was alive, I went to feed him but no movement.
Poor guy. I loved him Anyone want this electric blue guy before I kill him with my bare hands?

Well im not going to make it brackish im just going to add a small amount to keep most of the fish happier since some originated form lower then brackish salt conditions. Plus it will give them more slim coat, maybe a stress reliever, and a possible disease deterent. I have a pleco but he has been in salt before in the past so I will raise the salt level slowly again with him and keep watch.

I am going to do more research on salt level, one guy at the pet store said I could add 1/2 cup to every 3 gallons. Seemed like a lot to me. So im no doing that much. He said, which may be true, 1/2 cup per gallon is marine tanks, 1/2 cup per 2 gallons is brackish, and Africans and some other freshwater fish 1/2 cup per 3 gallons. He said they can with stand A LOT of salt. Lets not go crazy here though.

I have 5 african cichlids right now but only 3 types. 2x Jewel Turquoise Cichlids, 1 E-Blue, 2 E-Yellows. The only one that I have problems with is the electric blue one. The rest are pretty much community fish and they leave everyone alone, they will even share hidding spots together.

The blue guy was the newest addition. He goes after everyone. I think he was the cause of my butterfly fish jumping out of the tank and commiting suicid because he would go up every day and try to nip them. I hate him.

Im gong t ocall the store I got him from and see If I can exchange him for something else. So far a $26 fish cost me over $40 in fish.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

the Jewel cichlids are actually riverine Africans and are from a 100% completely different environment that the Electric Blues & Yellows.

if i recall, the only fish in that tank which actually needed any salt in its life was the dragon goby--and that fish should be long gone. there are plenty of other fish in there that will actually suffer with the addition of salt, even in small amounts, so again I strongly discourage you from adding any.

anything less than 1.001 sg is not going to have an effect on bacteria in the tank so there's really no benefit to adding it. as for the thickening of slime coats, that is a known stress reaction to water contamination. its not beneficial to the fish and is in fact a symptom of improper water conditions.

if i were you, i would definitly return the electric blue. i might even return the electric yellows, just because they like hard water while most of your other fish are softies. let me remind you of exactly what nmonks said about salt tolerance:

Anyway, on your list, the only fish with brackish water tolerance are the jewel cichlid, the ropefish, the and the needlefish (if Xenentodon cancila). All three of these naturally occur in slightly brackish water, albeit not commonly. If your needlefish is one of the gar-like characins (check for an adipose fin between the dorsal and the tail fin) then it is intolerant of salt.

in other words, the vast majority of your fish won't like salt and not one of these three species *needs* salt. i would also like to point out that nmonks is not only an active biologist but is the editor of a brand-new text on brackish water fish. if anybody on here is to be considered an authority about whether or not salt should be added to a tank, then its this guy.

(ps: you shouldn't add any salt )

 

[jgray152]

Right when I thought I found a knowledable guy at the fish store.

My PH is around 7 right now. Everyone seems happy with that. The yellow guys I have had for 3 years now? Same water condition as it has always been. I really hate the blue guy. If I can find a home for him he is gone!

Ya NMoks seems like a VERY knowledgable guy.

BTW. The Dragon Goby is out of the tank and no longer in our life. I couldn't get the money to make a brackish tank in time I guess. I returned him and told the guy that he sold me a fish for the wrong type of water conditions. His words, "They can live in freshwater". Ya right. I told him as they get older they need to be in brackish waters, he argued, I backed off.

Well now that I know what fish are brackish, which is usually the cool looking ones, I will stay away from them. I wish my girl never talked me into getting the needle fish, even though he is cool to look at, Now i need to spend money on rasing my own feeders.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

everything you have should be fine with a pH of 7. i only wish that i could be so lucky as to have neutral water.

have you looked at the price of crickets in your area? you also might want to consider starting up a worm farm too. needlefish prefer invertabrate feed anyways, so you don't really *have* to start raising feeders. but if you'd rather stick with feeder fish anyways, just get some mollies for cheap and start raising baby livebearers.

have you read the pinned topic on feeder fish in the Oddballs section?