something wrong with Cichlid

Question
Chris,

I have a 65 gallon tank with mainly cichlids in it. There is a pleco in it and a gold channel cat fish, 1 angel fish, and a couple tetras. I got this cichlid about 3 months ago and she looked very pregnant and the pet store manager told me she was. However, I kept noticing she was laying on her side alot, so I put her in a floating breeders cage and noticed within the past week that she has a bump on her left side just below her fin. It's mostly red in color but has a slight bit of white/yellow as well. I am trying to figure out what to do if anything for I bought her because she was so beautiful, large, and appeared to be ready to have babies (however she never did) I just don't know what to do for her because I know it has to hurt. I have had this tank for a couple of years however I have had other tanks over the past 9 years and have only have my fish sick/diseased enough times to count on my hands. I do partial cleanings, feed them on a regular basis, and just do all that I can. I didn't want to take her out of the tank and take her to my pet store that I always go to so I thought I would check it out on thhe web. Please let me know what you think. Thank You!

Answer
Hi Connie;

It sounds like an internal bacterial infection. If she is still eating you could try medicated food. If she is not eating you will have to get a medicine to put in the water. The problem is, it will not work very well in the main tank, you don't want to treat the healthy fish and it would take a lot of medicine to treat in a 65 gallon too. Fish medicine is dosed by the gallon in order to get a proper concentration of the medicine in the water. You need a hospital tank to treat her. Get a product called "Maracyn Two" at the fish store. It absorbs inside the fish where the infection is. Other medicines only treat the outside of the fish.

It really depends on the fish's size as to how big a hospital tank you will need, but a 10 gallon would probably be okay. It needs only a top with lights, an airstone hooked to an airpump, and a heater. No gravel, no filter, and no decorations. If there was a filter, gravel and decorations in there they would absorb too much of the medicine and it will not be as effective. Set it up and make sure the heater and air pump works okay and it is ready for the sick fish. You will be changing 50% of the hospital tank water every day to keep it clean. Make the daily change right before you add medicine for that day.

Just so you know for future reference, cichlids are egglayers and don't just "have babies". There has to be a male with your female in order to fertilize the eggs as they are laid. This cannot be done in a breeding trap. they select a nesting site in the tank itself. Depending on the type of cichlid, often both parents care for the eggs and guard the nesting site and then also care for the babies together. Some cichlids are "mouthbrooders" too. The eggs are held inside the mouth of one of the parents and the babies are hatched in there too. The babies swim out in a group when they need to eat and swim back in when scared. This is all very hard to do in a community tank because cichlids are aggressive and sometimes will kill or injure the other fish in the tank to keep them away from the nest and babies. You will then need to move the babies out of there at some point too. Even the parents will become a threat to them. This means more tanks, and more tanks, and more......well, you get the idea. Just be prepared to handle the future generations if you decide to breed any fish. It can be quite an undertaking, especially finding homes for them. Many fish stores do not take them. Check it out before things get too far along so you are prepared.

Let me know if you have any more questions. I hope your fish feels better soon.....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins