Sick Parrot Fish

Question

Growth   QUESTION: Hello and thank you for your help. I do believe my parrot fish is a type of Cichlid (not 100% sure).  It is about 6 years old and living in a 55 gallon aquarium along with 1 other parrot fish, a green severm and a common pleco.  Nothing has changed in the aquarium other than a new heater which isn't functioning very well as its changing the water temp day to day by about 5 - 8 deg F.  The Fish has been hiding in the rocks for a few days and just yesterday evening finally came out.  I noticed it was whitish on its body (not slimy but all white like it's been body has been white washed) Just it's face area is it's natural color.  It has a "growth"?? protruding from it's anal area.  There is a kind of clearish sack closest to its body and then something hanging off that which is white with fuzzy stuff all around it kind of like cotton that's been shredded.  It doesn't appear to be eating.  My yoyo loach reacently died unexpectedly (2 weeks ago) it was also about 3 or 4 years old so I'm not sure if it was age or something else.  It just started laying on it's side on the bottom of the aquarium breathing rapidly then it died the next day. Also, the chemicals that I use to treat the water have changed about 4 weeks ago.  Our tap water has chloramine in it so I use the product Prime by Seachem (was using Complete care by Tropical science but can't get it any more)  Also I was using a natural bacteria product for the filtration system but can't get that either so I've switched to the product "Stability" also by Seachem.  The aquarium is always on the acidic side and in the last 4 weeks I've been gradually doing a gravel cleaning (so I don't completely disrupt the biological cycle) the aquarium has started to produce a rather foul smell which started when I replaced the heater in the aquarium and brought the temp back up from about 72 deg F to about 80 - 84 deg F.(the heater was replaced a little over 2 months ago and just in the last 2 weeks I've noticed the inconsistency of the water temperature. ) (I will be contacting the company regarding the heater and replacing it yet again.)  The other fish in the tank appear to be doing well and are eating normally.  I have 3 filters going that hang off the side of the aquarium.  They are small filters that basically add up to enough filtration for the size of the aquarium. not sure what else to tell you but I will attach a photo so you can see for yourself what this protrusion looks like.  I do know that in the past one or both of the parrot fish have laid eggs that did not hatch.  Please let me know if you need any more info.

ANSWER: Hi Colleen,
 That growth does not look good.  Basically it looks like a prolapsed intestine, i.e., part of the lining of the intestine is hanging out the anus.  There isn't really anything you can do for this directly.  Sometimes it resolves itself.  

 The fact that the aquarium is smelling is a bad sign and unusual.  A healthy aquarium has a slight "fishy" smell but it shouldn't smell bad.  When you do a gravel cleaning, do you use a gravel siphon?  If so, you can clean all the gravel with it. That will not disrupt the biological activity of the gravel, in fact, it will probably help it.  

 In general, you should be changing 25% of the water once a week, every week.

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Ron,

Thank you for the response.  I do change the water, 25% every one to two weeks.  I do use a gravel siphon and was always told not to clean too thoroughly, thanks for the tip, it was getting pretty nasty (dirty) It's improved a fair amount over the last month.  This protrusion from the anus is now happening with my other parrot fish and s/he is also turning white.  There isn't any fuzzy white stuff but a definite protrusion. Also, when I was checking things out this morning, the Severum also has some fuzzy off white growth near it's anus, no protrusion.  

I did check the nitrates, nitrites and it's next to nothing and the ph is still at 6.

If it is the intestine like you suspect, what's the fuzzy white coming off it?

Thanks again for your help.

Colleen

Answer
Hi Colleen,
  White fuzzy stuff is almost always a fungus. Fungus will often appear as a secondary infection after some kind of other problem such as a wound.  You can treatid the fungus with any of the anti-fungal treatments, but that won't cure the original root problem unfortunately.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>