Update: Brown Spots On Red Zebra Got Worse, Last Post With Updated Pic

[ExpertBeginnerHA]

HI All!

I have a red zebra cichlid that is in hiding mode (she is one of my females that seems to be constantly breeding, so I think she tries to take a break ocassionally from my brute of a dominant male, and hides).

She looks like she got punched in the lip and I noticed two distinct brown spots on her side. Nothing wrong otherwise. She comes out to eat. No one else has any brown spots.

Is this any injury or an ilness? Like a mite or something? I’ve never seen anything like it with my tropical community fish, Bettas, South American cichlids nor the South African cichlids until now.

 

[ExpertBeginnerHA]

oh, minor update.

There are some little brown marks on my brute dominant male red zebra, and I can see a little brown INSIDE his mouth... but the brown marks on his side are NOT definite spots like pictured above, they are extremely faint and look moreclike rub marks like a car gets when it barely rubs against another car. They are extremely hard to see, and not spots, lines. There is unfortunately no way he will hold still long enough for me to get a picture.

Other than him, the other thing I have noticed is my beautiful Snow White soccolifI has been losing weight and fins more clamped. There are roughly 30 mbuna in there, everyone else looks great, including the 1” babies (who I would assume would be quickest to catch disease if something bad was going on?)

So the red zebra with the definite spots pictured above (also, that’s my other male, not my female, sorry) and the skinny soccolofI (pictured below) are my concerns. Other pictures just to show how nice and big, and seemingly healthy everyone else is. SoccolofI is about 2/3, maybe half the size she was (confirmed female)

(Yes there is a random peakcock in there. He was an accident when I first got all of them...and he has held his own. I was able to rehome the two others, but no one wants him and he’s been in there almost a year now. Please don’t beat me up on that).

 

[A201]

The pictured dark colored speck is a pigment spot common to light colored cichlids. No worries.

 

[ExpertBeginnerHA]

The pictured dark colored speck is a pigment spot common to light colored cichlids. No worries.

Ok yay! That puts me at ease for him at least. I was thinking like with my horse, do I need to take this fish out of the tank and remove these things like ticks?!

 

[ExpertBeginnerHA]

This guy shows similar marks to the dominant red zebra male (though red zebra MUCH fainter marks)...more like paint scuff marks. And there are lots of rocks that could cause this if that is possible, but this guy has had these “scuff marks” for a month or more...

I may be worries about nothing.

I do know the Snow White has lost size/weight and has clamped fins...so something is going on with her. She had a clear string of poop right now. Should I quarantine her and treat her alone with a dewormer or treat the whole tank? Or do nothing?

 

[A201]

I don't think you can pull off the pigment spots. As the cichlids grow the spots sometimes disappear.

 

[ExpertBeginnerHA]

I don't think you can pull off the pigment spots. As the cichlids grow the spots sometimes disappear.

Gotcha!

Any thoughts on my poor Snow White?

 

[A201]

Feed Omega One Kelp flakes or Kelp sinking pellets. It should help with the apparent digestive problems.
Nice looking tank.

 

[A201]

Feed Omega One Kelp flakes or Kelp sinking pellets. It should help with the apparent digestive problems.
Nice looking tank.

 

[ExpertBeginnerHA]

Feed Omega One Kelp flakes or Kelp sinking pellets. It should help with the apparent digestive problems.
Nice looking tank.

Can do! I have both of those, along with spirulina flakes, frozen brine+spirulina cubes, and marine flakes with garlic...and I hand peel peas for them once or twice a week

And thank you! I was actually embarrassed to post those pictures! The tank needs to be cleaned and the sand is all uneven (daily event). They love moving sand and the handful of black rocks I tossed in there for “mental stimulation”... they hate the black rocks and move them all to roughly one place in the tank. Better picture, but this was almost a year ago... you can see one of the pink peacocks that got replaced and everyone is MUCH smaller.

I have frozen blood worms too but I don’t give them to the mbuna tank.

#SpoiledCichlids

 

[ExpertBeginnerHA]

The two spots are now spreading in streaks/rub marks since I last posted. No one else aside from the one other fish s above has the brown rub mark looking affliction, but it is definitely bigger than just the two original spots on this red zebra male?

Any ideas?

I’ve treated with prazipro in the tank, and metro in the food (for the starving Snow White Socolofi) since my last post. That’s it.

Thoughts? Do I need to take a Magic Eraser to this fish? Is he sick? Acting completely normal and eating otherwise.

 

[ExpertBeginnerHA]

Better picture while he isn’t in motion