My mbuna OB passed today

My rescued Mbuna OB passed today. Had him in my bow front when I first got him with all the other Mbuna's Had to move my oblinquereye over to that tank because of getting picked on. So then he picks on my Ob locked lips and the fight was on. After that the injury looked like just swollen lips. but then it turned all whitesh like if it had cotton or cob webs growing on it. I just thought it was scabs on fish (like a human scabs from a scratch) Well this morning I found it. Totaly sad about it since when I got its belly was sunken from the previous owners not feeding it. I just got it back healthy.
So did I do something wrong or is there something in my tank that made the fish turn like that

It sounds like a fungal infection. You should have moved him to a hospital tank and treated with fungal meds when you saw the white fuzz (fungus) Go get some meds for fungal infections and some stress coat to keep on hand in case it ever happens again you can treat it asap.
Sorry about your loss. I know how bad it sucks......

Sorry for your loss.

What is the best fungus med? Should I put med in there now even though all the other fish look good? He is not the first one I have lost in this tank. I have lost other ones that have gotten injuried and the same thing happen to them. It only seems to get on the injured part. So should I treat the whole tank just to trie to kill what ever it is even though the rest look fine?

Treat the whole tank. I use Melflax ...I might be wrong on the spelling.

Is that the one with the green tea extract or something that you can get a wal-mart. It wont hurt the fish even though they are not showing signs? They only show signs when injured.

How do you get a fungus in your tank?

bwj78666 wrote:

Is that the one with the green tea extract or something that you can get a wal-mart. It wont hurt the fish even though they are not showing signs? They only show signs when injured.

Melafix, no it's just Tea Tree extract. And I would treat the whole tank. Because you never know if
any other fish are infected. then take the fish out and treat for 7 days. Just do the community tank once. It want hurt fish that are not infected. Sometimes infected fish don"t show any signs until it's too late. I use a cap full of Melafix, Stress Zyme and Stress Coat after every water change in all my tanks. I go through meds like water.

bwj78666 wrote:

How do you get a fungus in your tank?

Stress, Temperature changes, Excessive feeding and Over populated tanks

I put a heater in my 100 gallon yesterday and now they are all scratching on rocks and sand. Is that good or bad? They are more active since I raised the temp. But they all are scratching a little bit

Could mean Ick. If you raise the temp and use aquarium salt it will help speed up the ick process and it will eventually die off.

bwj78666 wrote:

I put a heater in my 100 gallon yesterday and now they are all scratching on rocks and sand. Is that good or bad? They are more active since I raised the temp. But they all are scratching a little bit

Generally it's a sign of external parasites like ich, velvet, or anchor worms. We'll skip anchor worms as I assume you aren't blind and would have noticed them. Velvet is hard to see unless you shine a flashlight on a fish in a darken room.

Dude...........Get some Melafix or Coppersafe now and treat your whole tank.

You can also use:
Sulfa-MS
Maracyn-Two
Rid Ich+
Maracide

For the next 7 days, you should treat your whole 100gal. like a 20gal. QT tank.
Hope this was helpful, and hope you don't loss anymore fish.

what do you mean a 20 gallon? just put enough meds in there for a 20 gallon?

I am treating the 55 right now just started it. Now I have to treat the 100

bwj78666 wrote:

what do you mean a 20 gallon? just put enough meds in there for a 20 gallon?

I am treating the 55 right now just started it. Now I have to treat the 100

No, most people just use a 10gal. or 20gal. for their QT.
Add the correct dosages. I think it's 1 tsp. per each 10gals. with the melafix.

QT = quarteen tank

okay that is what we did. We took the filters out of one pump and left them in the other. Carbon is old in that set of filters I figured it would not hurt by leaving them in.

Old carbon wont take meds from the water so your fine on that.

If you see any white specks or dots on your fish its more than likely ich.

If you happen to have a UV filter it would be good to use it on the infected tank (the one where their itching) It would kill the free floating ick parasites. If you don't have one don't worry about it unless you can easily afford the $100 or so that they cost.

Go ahead and bump your temp up slowly to 85-86ish if it is ich it will speed up the parasites life cycle so you are rid of it sooner.

I use quick cure for ich and methylene blue for fungus. The methyl blue will stain decorations and air lines though.

Get yourself a hospital tank and set it up. That way next time there is a fight you put the injured fish in there to treat for fungus or whatever. Its a good way to save on meds and observe sick fish.

Sorry to hear about your loss I hope you bounce back and get the tank in order.

The fungus and other stuff is always in the tank it's in the air it's everywhere. It only is harmful to your fish if they are stressed and weak. If your fish was getting picked on that caused stress and your fish became weak. Much like people the ones that are always stress tend to get sick more then the nonstress people.

Also water quality plays a part too. When you have a hurt fish do more water changes and big ones. This will help the fish heal quickly. My blue acara pair fight like crazy when spawning and my male gets scrapes and bruses but I just do more fequent water changes and he heals up fast. Same with my tetras one got a huge scrape for a rock when they were trying to spawn and going crazy. I did a few large water changes and it never got infected and is all healed.

So you are now dealing with parasites?? flashing as it is often called when your fish rub on things. Flashing can be caused by more then just parasites. Ammonia and other toxins in the water irritate the fish skin and cause them Maracyn-Two


You should check your water ammonia and nitrites before adding chemicals to your tank.

If your water checks out then you most likely are dealing with parasites. I can not say it enough but you will be amazed at what a few water changes can do for your fish. Do a 50% water change cleaning all the gravle you can this will lessen your parasite load by phisical getting them out. Then add your treat I like clout and coppersafe best to fight parasites. I just finished treating a fish for ich. I used clout for the first 3 days it's like magic. Then I add copper safe after I do a 70% water change and let the coppersafe take care of any cycts that have yet to hatch.

Bring the temp up to 80f add more airation if you can by lowering the water so your out take splashes or add a bubbled. Higher temps = less o2 in the water less o2 = stress.

You should treat for parasites for 14 days due to thier lice cycle. Even when you think they are gone some can be in the gills and out of site.

Water changes are your friend when dealing with fish illness of any kind.

Ps: old carbon is doing you no good. So just take it out. They say it can start to leak toxins back into the water if it is old. I don't even use carbon in my filters.

Water changes are you best weapon when dealing with any sick fish.

Old carbon does no harm, unless you used it to pull meds then throw it out. When its used up it is just another place for bacteria to grow.