Bottom eater with white spot on his nose

Question
I have two bottome eaters - that look like cat fish but I don't recall their name.  My PH has been high, which I am rectifying now.

Ph is currently at 8.0, Alkaline 240, hard warter 250, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 80, Amonia is at 0.  

One of the bottom eaters has a fair sized white bump on the end of his nose.

Should I remove him and take him to the Pet store where they can medicate him?  I took a white molly in yesterday and they said it looks as if he has a parasite.

Thanks.

Answer
Hi Shirley;

Taking it to the fish store will only make him more stressed and could cause him to get even more sick. They are unlikely to want to do that anyway, for fear of infecting their other fish.

If the spot looks like a white pin dot it could be ich. Or, it could be irritation from toxins or overcrowding. Is the tank new? How big is the tank? What kind of filter system does it have? How many fish are in there? How big are your fish? How often do you make water changes?

It is best not to alter the pH. Your fish are accustomed to it now so changing it is worse than being in a pH that doesn't seem "right". Every time you add a pH altering product, it will change very quickly and then will often go back to where it was anyway. This is very hard on the fish. Mollies like a higher pH anyway so it especially okay for them to leave it alone. If you have shells, limestone or coral, take them out. They are the cause of your high pH level. They will forever leach minerals into the water until they are totally dissolved. Unless you were to coat them with epoxy or something they will always do that. As your tank system ages the pH will slowly be more neutral. Make partial water changes of 25% weekly to keep the water clean.

Get back to me when you can with the info I asked about and we can hopefully figure out what's going on. Make a 25% water change right away to hopefully help them feel better for now in case it is something in the water like new tank syndrome toxins or toxins due to a filter change.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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