Red Devil Sick

Question
QUESTION: Ron I am emailing again because you never responded to my questions and also I sent you pictures and I have no idea if you ever got them.  I have a question running on your board RED DEVIL SICK...you answered but it's not anything near the help I need...can you plz go back and reread my dilemma..I am emailing again because my fish responded beautifully to the erythromycin treatment its been two weeks and the fungus is coming back, I sent you pictures of her did you ever receive them, also you just assume she scratched herself and that isnt the case at all here...she is getting the pitts back in her mouth area and the red patches are again coming back on her skin...I had done my water changes ever tues on the nose, I have sucked her gravel repeatedly for months so its not toxins built up as you suggested in our past posts....if I dont act quickly on this fungus thing it will spread like wildfire so for now I am going to go back to the erythromycin treatment sigh....where is this fungus coming from?  I clean my filter weekly and dispose of the filter packs monthly as recommended...she is alone is the tank now....no plants no nothing to scratch herself Ron....I have two filters going a 400 emperor and a 350 penguin....plus a long wand air stone.....no idea where the fungus is coming from I need some help plz respond ....did you ever receive my pics I sent them to you directly Ron...as I mentioned all levels of water testing are zippo....all I have again is hard water and thats it.....Plz respond I need help or I am going to lose my girl......we have a running Q & A but you havent responded in weeks.......Sincerely, Julia

ANSWER: Hi Julia,
 Sorry for not responding sooner.  Things got VERY busy the last few weeks.  

 Keep in mind that erythromycin is an antibiotic, i.e., it attacks bacteria.  Antibiotics cannot do anything about fungus.  So, given
that the erythromycin helped in the past, I suggest that your fish has a bacterial infection and not a fungus.  Your best bet is probably to continue with the erythromycin.  That said, it is very rare for cichlids like red devils to get bacterial infections so I don't really know where it is coming from. Sorry.

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


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

QUESTION: Ron thanks for responding, as of right now I did yet another water change 25%, I will continue the erythomycin but I almost wonder what on earth she has if devils dont get bacterial infections but yet this helps its almost a fluke to me, that said Ron I have a few questions still if you can help.....I only did that first treatment for 4 recommended doses and they stopped added the carbon back and we were on our way, my question is this, do you think I should do an additional treatment maybe I didnt get it all whatever it was and it needed a new dose, the box says that I could repeat, if this safe Ron?  Also how long can my tank go with no filter running?  If I do the water changes twice a week can I run this tank with no filter for two weeks?  Also do you think I should try Maracyn the regular one and not the 2?  Also when I do my 25% water changes do I add chlorine remover to the water I took out?  I know how you feel about salt Ron, do you nix the idea that I would add salt back to what I take out?  Did you get my pics Ron I can send again so you can get a look.  Let me know I still have them ready to be zipped just give me a email address that I know will reach you.  Also I did this, lord knows if it was a good thing but its done here, I took out all her gravel and boiled it in a pot, I figure if something is in that gravel I will surely kill it by boiling the gravel, its cooled of course and rinsed and back in the tank and she seems rather happy to have it back because she loves to dig her heart out, she is eating and is totally not aware that she has pitts under her nose and also a spot on her tail in the middle, this is new now, all of a sudden she has a bump in the middle of her tail fin, it's driving me coo coo at this point.  I hope you can answer all the questions above, I dont know where else to turn except to the pet store and that makes me wonder if its just for a sell.  Oh one thing more, do I keep her temp up to 82?  She seems so much more frisky at that temp then when shes just at 78 degrees.  Thanks so very much Ron, I will hope to hear back from you on all this.  Gosh I almost forgot to mention .......I have a 29 gallon tank that I just got going to make a hospital in case this stuff keeps coming back, I have four danios in it now for cycling, if this fish clears up and it comes back I am going to drain this tank and let it air dry for 5 days and start over, how do I store the filter pads in my filter they are just a week old, or do you suggest start fresh completely. Sincerely, Julia

Answer
Hi Julia,
 That's quite a bit to figure out, so here goes....

82o is fine.

Whenever you use an antibiotic (including on a  person) it is absolutely essential that you do it for the full time.  Doing it for less than the full time kills the weakest bacteria but leaves the strongest, allowing them to then reproduce and the infection comes back even stronger again (this incidentally is a huge problem with people medicine and likely the source of many human deaths).  Improperly used antibiotics are worse than no antibiotics at all.

You should always have the filter on, but you should take on the carbon part if you are treating the water.  

If you add chlorine remover, you add it to the water BEFORE adding that to the tank.

There is no need to air dry a tank for 5 days, particularly if you are going to put the same filter pads back in.  

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