Ulcer? on Angelfish's side

[snailtrax]

CAM00392.jpg Can anyone tell me what caused this, or how to treat it? The fish is a medium sized Sunset Blushing. This pic is a bit worse than I thought it would be, but hard to get the fish to show you the right side and his white reflects a lot of light, so this is the best I could do for now.( I circled the spot in blue.) I've had a sore like this appear on one other fish...an older gold one, and I hoped it would heal if I kept the water quality up, but it never did. There's no sign of bleeding, etc, and the fish doesn't seem distressed or weak yet, but it just looks like a couple of layers of it's skin is missing in this round spot. The other fish died eventually, with the spot getting only a bit larger, but it was a fairly old fish, too. This one is no more than a year old.

[troy tucker]

I can't beleave no one has tryed to help. This could be fish louse. http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforum...r-fungus/page3
Give this thead a read.

[snailtrax]

I can't beleave no one has tryed to help. This could be fish louse. http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforum...r-fungus/page3
Give this thead a read.

Thanks, Troy. I did find this thread before posting, when I did a search for "ulcer", but didn't read it all through to the end because the first photo didn't look like my angel's (mine isn't red), and unfortunately the rest of the photos on this thread were taken off. Maybe I'll net the fish and see if I can get a better look with a magnifying glass, and if I can't see anything, I'll pick a drug and try it.
Since I've had it appear on 2 fish over the past 6 months, I just figured that it must turn up on other angels now and then.
Still hoping to hear something new, and may try to get a better photo to post.

[troy tucker]

I have bred Angels for years and never seen it. But I would try Metronidazole.

[snailtrax]

I have bred Angels for years and never seen it. But I would try Metronidazole.

I netted the fish and stared at the sore place with a magnifying glass last night, but couldn't see any visible parasites. It seemed to be getting deeper, though, because blood vessels were starting to show and not just missing 'skin'. Still a perfectly circular area. I set him up in a 10 gallon with some Tetra Parasite guard which includes Metronzadole, also some Kordon slime aid with vitamins (forget the name) and a bit of salt. Hoping to see some improvment in a few days with that treatment. The tank's on my covered deck, so I don't have to worry about a heater.

[aquabee]

Tetra Parasite Guard is really good stuff. Hopefully it kicks in soon. Have you salted the tank also?


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[aquabee]

Never mind, just saw you mention that you added salt. Keep us posted. Is it still eating?


Sent from my iPhone by one of my fish

[aquabee]

How's it doing?


Sent from my iPhone by one of my fish

[snailtrax]

some improvement

How's it doing?


Sent from my iPhone by one of my fish

he's hanging in there. think I can see some shrinking of the sore. not eating all that well, though. Don't think he feels safe alone.

[mistahoo]

What are you feeding it? Bloodworms are hard for them to resist! If you're feeding some sort of pellet food, try soaking in garlic to entice it to eat.

[aquabee]

You can even put drops of Kent's garlic in the water to both stimulate appetite and act as a mild antibacterial agent.


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[morpheus]

Bloodworms are rarely refused...brine shrimp as well although adults dont have much nutritional content anymore. blackworms if you can find them are good too as a treat

[snailtrax]

Silly fish looked at the bloodworms like they were rattlesnakes. Don't think I've ever seen that Kent's Garlic. Will shop. :)
I think he just missed that joy of feeding frenzy that comes with life in the big tank. I decided, after putting him thru 3 treatments & subsequent water changes, to return him to the big tank where he'd eat better. I can still see the affected area on his side, but I like to think it looks better. Today, however, I noticed a similar bare place, not quite as regular in shape, but basicallly oval, on the side of one of my blue angels. It's always been a tough and health individual, and I'm starting to wonder, could my large clown loaches have anything to do with this? I've never seen one of them hit/bite an angelfish in there, but I do have 3 large ones, 5-6 inches and Thick! in there. Can't think what else would be fast enough to hit an angel and knock off an area that size in one hit. Anyone had any experiences with batterings from their large loaches?

[troy tucker]

The fact that loach have blades in their face. Make it possable.