Fish jumped out of tank, irritated sides

Liv2011
  • #1
Late Saturday evening (the 5th) I found my African cichlid on the carpet of my room. I have no idea how long she was there. She wasn’t really wet anymore, but she moved when I picked her up, and once I got her back in the tank she started breathing again. She sat at the bottom at first, but within a few hours she was swimming normally. I have now blocked all jump routes.
She hasn’t eaten since then, and starting on probably Sunday or Monday her sides have been patchy and pale, with white edges around the patches. Her slime coat has to be a mess after the carpet (I saw hairs stuck to her when I found her, and I had to handle her to get her in the tank). I’m worried she’s gotten an infection.
Tank details: it’s a 20g long QT tank. She came with a black neon tetra and an Australian rainbowfish (I got them all from a friend who’d kept them together), who have been in this tank with her for a little while. They’ve mostly been fine, but the rainbowfish had a slight fin problem, as did a few fish in my other tanks (idk why, my water conditions are always stable) so a few days before the cichlid’s jump I moved the other fish into this QT tank to treat with methylene blue and a little aquarium salt*. Everyone seems to be getting along at this point, and some of the other fish are improving, but it’s only a very temporary situation. I don’t have the exact water parameters for the tank right now; the methylene blue would probably mess up the colors of the test results. In any case today is water change day so if they aren’t good they will be shortly. It’s not a big tank, so if I have to start water changing more frequently that’s not a problem.
*15 tsp aquarium salt for 20g; I read that this level should be safe for the salt-sensitive tetra.
 

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A201
  • #2
The white patches are probably fungus attached to abrasions.
More or less carpet burn.
Some use salt to stimulate & promote new slimecoat growth, other use water conditioners that contain aloe vera.
 

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Liv2011
  • Thread Starter
  • #3
The white patches are probably fungus attached to abrasions.
More or less carpet burn.
Some use salt to stimulate & promote new slimecoat growth, other use water conditioners that contain aloe vera.
Thanks for responding!
I can’t really increase the salt levels, because of the tetra, but I can pick up Stress guard or something like that. Hopefully the methylene blue should help with the fungus.
(Side note: your profile says you’re an African cichlid guru. Do you mind if I ask if you have any idea what kind of cichlid she is? The friend I got her from doesn’t know and I’m new to cichlids. I’m not looking for an exact species, just trying to work out what her permanent tank should look like.)
 
A201
  • #4
Looks like a female Peacock "Aulonocara". The exact variety will be difficult to identify. Looks like she has traces of yellow. Might be a Sunshine Peacock, a very common variety.
I occasionally use "Jungle" Start Right, water conditioner w/ aloe vera, for stress coat problems. Only drawback is the aloe vera colors the water slightly yellow.
 
Liv2011
  • Thread Starter
  • #5
Looks like a female Peacock "Aulonocara". The exact variety will be difficult to identify. Looks like she has traces of yellow. Might be a Sunshine Peacock, a very common variety.
I occasionally use "Jungle" Start Right, water conditioner w/ aloe vera, for stress coat problems. Only drawback is the aloe vera colors the water slightly yellow.
She does have a little yellow stripe along the top of her dorsal fin, with a black border just beneath it. Sunshine peacock would make sense. The store where he bought her stocks a lot of those. That would also fit her size and temperament.
I don’t mind if the water gets stained. I mean, this entire tank is blue right now.
 

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