Sick Male Peacock

[njstockley]

[font="Verdana]Tank size: Hospital Tank: 60 Litres.
pH: 8
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: Between 5-10
kH/gH: Not tested, but London Thames water says very hard.
tank temp: 25

Fish Symptoms: White lesion on left flank, torn fins. Very lethargic, and loss of appetite.[/font][/color]
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Volume and Frequency of water changes: Only placed in tank today - unsure of previous owner's regime. As my hospital tank is quite small, happy to do +50% daily.[/font][/color]
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Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: I use Prime, came from a tank dechlorinated with Aquasafe, considering Melafix?[/font][/color]
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Tank inhabitants: On his own. Previously from mixed malawi tank (incl. Mbuna)[/font][/color]
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Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): None[/font][/color]
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[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]Exposure to chemicals: None[/font][/color]
[font="Verdana] [/font][color="#222222"][font="Verdana]Digital photo (include if possible): Taken on phone camera, so apologies for poor quality:[/font][/color]
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[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Hi all,[/color][/font]
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[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Went to go view some fish this morning, and the guy selling had this aulonocara looking beaten up in his show tank. He said he was going to "get rid" of it later that day, so as well as picking up a couple more fish for my main tank, took pity on this one (free of charge) and have brought him home with me.[/color][/font]
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[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]He's currently in a 60 L hospital tank - no other inhabitants. He has what looks like either a large wound / whitened scales on his left side, and very torn fins. Hospital tank is dechlorinated with Prime, and sits at about 25C. [/color][/font][font="Verdana][color="#222222"]He is very lethargic, and apparently not eaten in a couple of days.[/color][/font]
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[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Unsure at the moment if I've done the right thing, or whether it's just going to prolong the poor thing's misery - is he going to pull through and ever be fit enough to go in my main tank?[/color][/font]
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[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Nick[/color][/font]

 

[afremont]

That spot on the side, what does that look like to you? Is it flat and low to the surface or puffed up in areas, is it spreading? I'd go ahead and put some melafix in, it shouldn't hurt. You might want to put some aquarium salt in the tank too, maybe two or three tablespoons just to make things a little easier on the fish. Keep an eye on ammonia, that looks like a fairly big fish and 50% daily might not be enough to keep things pristine. Keep a real close eye on that patch and examine it with a magnifying lens if you have one. You need to know if it's spreading out or digging into the fish. If you raise the temperature at all, make sure the patch doesn't suddenly start expanding.

EDIT: Maybe just 1 tablespoon in the tank of salt for that particular fish. When using salt, predilute it in some tank water and then pour that back in so the fish can't gobble down some salt crystals.

 

[njstockley]

That spot on the side, what does that look like to you? Is it flat and low to the surface or puffed up in areas, is it spreading? I'd go ahead and put some melafix in, it shouldn't hurt. You might want to put some aquarium salt in the tank too, maybe two or three tablespoons just to make things a little easier on the fish. Keep an eye on ammonia, that looks like a fairly big fish and 50% daily might not be enough to keep things pristine. Keep a real close eye on that patch and examine it with a magnifying lens if you have one. You need to know if it's spreading out or digging into the fish. If you raise the temperature at all, make sure the patch doesn't suddenly start expanding.

EDIT: Maybe just 1 tablespoon in the tank of salt for that particular fish. When using salt, predilute it in some tank water and then pour that back in so the fish can't gobble down some salt crystals.

Thanks for the response afremont.

The lesion isn't flat, or puffy, The best I can describe it would be flakey - it really just looks like the scales have been prised up - I really do think that it was a cut from continued nipping.

It's definitely not spread, and isn't any where else on the fish. Since Saturday, the wound actually appears to be healing (treating with melafix and 75% water change every day) and he is much more active although unfortunately not yet had him feed. Hopefully he will start eating soon as well. I'm going to continue treatment until his side fins are looking healthier then repost to work out next steps.

 

[njstockley]

He's now eating, and more active in the smaller tank. The patch is all but gone, so will just keep him isolated until his fins look healthier and it's completely disappeared.