EMERGENCY I THINK

Question
QUESTION: OTHER PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS AND I TRIED TO REPLY TO A QUESTION YOU HAD AND FURTHER EXPLAIN MY PROBLEMS, IF I KEEP SENDING TO DIFFERENT PEOPL NOONE IS GOING TO UNDERSTAND, I SENT YOU THE FIRST ONE AND YOU TOLD ME TO CHANGE WATER AND I DID, BUT I HAD TO CALRIFY A FEW THINGS ABOUT HIS EYE AND NOT HAVING TANKMATES HE IS ALONE, OTHER THINGS TOO TO ADD TO MY FIRST DESCRITION FOR HIM, I REALLY NEED HELP HERE AS HE LOOKS LIKE HE CAN BE FIXED AS HE DONT LOOK BAD JUST HAS CLOUDY EYE AND A FEW SPOTS THAT FALL OFF AROUND HEAD ONLY THEY FLOAT ON HIS SKIN AT CLOSE RANGE, AND HE WONT EAT, THIS IS WORRYING ME, AS IT HAS BEEN A WEEK. THASNK AGAIN

ANSWER: HI Cathy,
 I don't understand what you mean when you say that the spots float on his skin????  Please explain.

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


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QUESTION: THE FISH IS NOT DOIGN GOOD, I AM GOING TO ADD A LITTLE JUNGLE PARASITE GUARD AND THEN A SMIDGET OF BINOX, AS I JSUT CANT FIGURE IT OUT, THE SPOTS MOVE WHEN THE WTER HITS THEM, NOT MOVING UNLESS HE MOVES, THEN THE MOTION OF WATER MAKES THEM MOVE, HE HAS ANOTHER ONE BUT WILL FALL OFF I AM CERTAIN AS DID SOME OF THE OTHERS, HE HAS MORE OF THEM ON THE AREA OF INJURED EYE. I CANT CALL ANYONE, HE JSUT SITS THERE AND I KNOW HE HAS TO BE HUNGRY. 8 DAYS WITH NO FOOD, DO OYOU THNK THIS WILL HURT HIM IF I DO A LITTLE BIT A DAY IF HE MAKES IT? I WONT MEDICATE LIKE IT SAYS JSUT FEEL I NEED TO TRY SOMETHING , I DO REMEMBER THAT WHEN I USED THE PARASITE GUARD HE WAS ACTING FINE, THIS IS LAST TIME HE ATE TOO, I USED IT FOR JSUT A FEW DAYS BEFORE I MOVED HIM TO MY HOUSE, THEN SOMEONE TOLD ME TO CHANGE MEDS AND I DID. PLEASE GET BACK TO ME IF POSSIBLE RIGHT AWAY THANKS AGAIN CATHY
ANSWER: Hi Cathy,
 There is no point in treating him "just a little".  Either you treat him or you don't.  Giving him little treatments just makes the situation worse.  

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


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QUESTION: I hope the photos come in okay, jsut wanted to say if there is anything you recommend i treat with , i dont htink i have time to order online and my pet store carries mostly jungle brand, ich parasite, fungus and intestinal meds. i also have on hand marycn adn copeer safe, he didnt act right with the copper safe, hed to ake it out as he kept making quick moves and hitting things, very  stresssed, as is with alot of the stuff i put in full strength, hope this all is helpful to you, ill watch for anser,  in the phtotos there was a larger white spot on his head more toward top and back and is now gone. this some of the very tiny spots show a little blood or red, like a pinhole of bleeding. Thank you again Cathy
ANSWER: Hi Cathy,
  Looking at the photos you sent it is very clear that this is definitely NOT ick.  

  By the way, your fish is a cichlid from Lake Malawi. It is a little hard to tell from the photos, but I suspect he might be a very old, large Nimbochromis venustus or similar species.

  You should never treat "just in case" it might be something. That will cause a lot of problem.  The typical thing in a lot of fish medicines is copper and copper is very hard on fish.  The theory is that it is harder on parasites but if you keep exposing your fish to copper you will kill it.  

  It appears to be "columninaris" which forms these discrete little mounds on the fish.  It actually isn't really harmful in itself and is usually just a sign of poor water quality.   

  Remind me of the following: what size of tank is he in?
What kind of filtration do you have on the tank?

  Definitely keep up the water changes.  Water changes should never be hard on a fish unless the water you are adding has something wrong with it.  Are you on well-water or something like that?  Do you add chemicals to the water that you add?  

  Right now you should not be adding any salt or any medications to the water, is that right?

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




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QUESTION: Ill do another water change, I have him in 55 gallon tank and a whisper filter that holds two cartridges and one latge bio wheel filter that has two wheels and filters also. I only have stress coat as a water conditioner to remove chloramines and one other thing(i forget) I am worried all this ater changing will hurt his water sysytem,Does meds in the water make ammonia test innacurate? Thanks again Are you saying since he looks old he might be dying? Why then would he get this columaris, he was fine up to this point, acted great. Cathy

Answer
Hi Cathy,
   Water changing can't hurt his water system.  Yes, meds in the water absolutely can make water tests inaccurate, in fact, it is almost guaranteed.

  The only way a partial water change could be damaging is if the incoming water is really bad, e.g., one of my friends gets his water from a well that is near an agricultural field and in the late summer it has incredibly high ammonia and nitrates in the incoming water.  If you are on municipal water, that is very, very unlikely to be a problem (and if it was, your municipal water supplier has very big problems).

 When fish get old, just as in humans, their immune systems become weakened and so things that normally wouldn't be a problem can become more stressful.   

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