protozoan infection??

[chinchi]

Hi. About 3-4 days ago I noticed some white dots growing on my pleco, so I isolated it from my other fish, raised the temperature and added some salt since I thought my pleco had ich (did not think meditation is necessary since it only had a few dots). I also raised the temperature slightly and added some salt to my main tank. I have been doing about 60-70% water changes in the tank for the past couple of days, adding a very small amount of salt to the water. I would say the temperature is ~20 degrees celcius in the tank. When I took the pleco out 3-4 days ago, I noticed that my channa bleheri (in main tank) is trying to scratch its sides on my gravel and rocks, but nothing appeared to be wrong on it (no ich looking white dots, no growth, fins are fine. etc). Today I have noticed that on the bleheri's head there are some translucent patches, its colour is becoming slightly lighter, and the small tube like things above its upper jaw (feelers?) are starting to rot. it is still trying to scratch itself on the rock/substrate, but the number of times is not increasing. Could this be due to protozoan or bacterial infection? I did some research but can't tell for sure. its feelers (?) were all normal yesterday, but they'r almost completely gone now (only about 1-2mm in length when normal). any help would be greatly appreciated . First pic is how the bleheri's colour looks like a couple weeks ago. second one is how it looks like now.(actual difference is not as obvious, the secon picture's colour is lighter thn what it looks like due to my lighting)

[Morainy]

I'm not an expert for fish diseases and that looks like a pretty expensive fish to me. (I just have small fish.) To me, it looks protozoan, too. Because I don't know much about fish diseases, I'd probably treat with Jungle Lifeguard, which treats protozoan, fungal and bacterial diseases and is not an antibiotic, but if you can find a medication that targets it more specifically, that might be better. Maybe Quick Cure?

[chinchi]

ok thanks. I will try to find some jungle lifeguard/quick cure later today when I have time. is there anything else I can do like changing water, raising temp or adding salt?

[Morainy]

Hi Chinchi,

I'm bumping this, hoping that someone who knows about protozoan infections will respond. I am really not qualified to answer this question and I hope that your fish recovers quickly. Good luck!

[chinchi]

just checked out the Petsmart near me and bought some Ich medication. that is what the clerk over there suggested, so I hope it'll help.
thanks Morainy!

[`GhostDogg´]

I noticed a few spot on my newest RD, he's still in QT.
I added in Malachite Green & it disappeared in just over a day.
I'm not sure if this stuff is good for a pleco @ full dose though.
All I know is this is the quickest working Ich med I've ever used.
I've tried Jungle & it took about 3 days.

[chinchi]

one I got is called Ich Attack by Kordon. Seems to be working pretty well with the bleheri. dots are already disappearing but when she swims, she only uses one of her pectoral fins. other one is completely fine and she can use it, but she doesn't seem to bother and just swims around with one pectoral fin, only moving the other one every now and thn so she stay balanced. anything wrong with this? I cannot see anything physically wrong with her right now except some white dots, a little bit of mucus in front of the dorsal fin, and disappeared feelers (?). pleco died yesterday in a separated tank with what looked like a severe case of ich due to my lack of action (exam month+lack of experience with fish diseases). was a really small pleco too, only about 3~inches, which was probably the reason for it being more vulnerable to ich. . thanks guys

EDIT: base of the pectoral fins where they attach the the body are somewhat swelled up. one side is turning black in colour where it is attached. This doesn't happen often but sometimes when she suddenly moves, gas bubbles would come out of the swell. also, a blister about 1x1mm is on one of her swelled up pectoral fin bases. Could this be gas bubble disease (nitrogen narcosis)? if so, what could i do?

[`GhostDogg´]

I've used Kordon too, i works fast.
Mucus sound like it could be fungus.
I don't know anything bout Gas bubble disease.
But only using 1 fin,blistering,swelling, & black in color doesn't sound right to me either.
Make sure to get an ID on the disease, some time meds can do more harm(sometimes even death) to the fish if they're not the right meds.
Most meds cause stress on the fish, & can mess up their immune systems. I only use meds when needed , or on new fish.

I hope everything takes a turn for the good.

[chinchi]

thanks ghostdogg!
after further reading+research about fish diseases, this seems to be a terrible case of ich+fungus. The ich seems to be improving and I have added some aquarium salt to the tank and am planning on performing a salt dip. Hopefully it will work.

Edit: cancelled the salt dip because I think it might be too stressful for her. added salt and more places to hide to the tank.

[chinchi]

pectoral fin is looking better now, and ich dots are disappearing, but why is there a LOT of mucus coming off of her? almost the entire body is covered in mucus, except a small section on top of her head. That section is looking completely normal though, and shes slightly more active now instead of staying in the pot the whole day. Also, is there any way I can get her to eat? Haven't eaten anything for almost two weeks