Very Sick P Saulosi Male.

[Sluggo]

Hi,

My 2YO male P Saulosi is sick, he's faded, and getting worse.

Started about 3 weeks ago, he began to lose the black stripes on his forehead and flanks and now looks really washed out and tattered.

He was in a 4' tank with his wife, another small Saulosi, 2 juvie frontosas, (4 small frontosas, which were added about 3 weeks ago) a P Stevenii male and a couple of bristlenose.

Tank is very mature and all other fish are okay. I isolated him last Thursday and starved him for a couple of days and have since treated him with an epsom salts solution twice, but the symptoms remain.

He is eating well now, vege flakes, but on sigh of any poo.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Cheers,

Peter

[gianniz]

i actually saw this today in person and i could not believe it was a P.Saulosi!!!!

only thing i can think of is that his getting old and maybe starting to loose pigmentation (like people getting grey hairs).

can stress do this to cichlids?

or is it some sort of disease or mutation...?

or he could be severly constipated.

[Sluggo]

Update: I have now tried a salt bath, no change. Also pimafix.

This little bloke is in real strife..... ANY suggestions would be appreciated, Peter

Hi,

My 2YO male P Saulosi is sick, he's faded!

Started about 3 weeks ago, he began to lose the black stripes on his forehead and flanks and now looks really washed out and tattered.

He was in a 4' tank with his wife, another small Saulosi, 2 juvie frontosas, (4 small frontosas, which were added about 3 weeks ago) a P Stevenii male and a couple of bristlenose.

Tank is very mature and all other fish are okay. I isolated him last Thursday and starved him for a couple of days and have since treated him with an epsom salts solution twice, but the symptoms remain.

He is eating well now, vege flakes, but on sigh of any poo.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Cheers,

Peter

[J_SiN]

i wouldn't say its old age as i have some cichlids that are 4 years old and they look just as colorful

is he still eatting ?

[Sluggo]

Yes he's still eating well, he is less than 2 years old,

Thanks for your concern, I appreciate it.

Cheers,

Peter

i wouldn't say its old age as i have some cichlids that are 4 years old and they look just as colorful

is he still eatting ?

[krellious]

if the tank he is in in atleast a 2ft add the females in too. he if is healthy now should color up within a few days. as for why he has faded i would say stress could cause it apart from that i have no idea.

[Sluggo]

Thanks Mate,

He is in his own tank but getting weaker, I am trying another anti bacterial.

He's a top daddy but I think we are going to lose him. His name is Sluggo, our first Saulosi.

Peter

if the tank he is in in atleast a 2ft add the females in too. he if is healthy now should color up within a few days. as for why he has faded i would say stress could cause it apart from that i have no idea.

[krellious]

Bugger, always sucks to loose the male. I know i love mine. so active and fertile

but just looking at the pcs he seems very fat. do you overfeed him? or as a guess could it be bloat? i havent seen pics of bloat but well it could be

[Skyedge]

Hi Pete,

Sorry to hear that your saulosi is getting weaker.

I am no expert in fish disease, but have been monitoring this threat since day one.

Can you please tell us:

1. Tank set-up - what was in the tank to see if there was anything that actually poisoning the fish slowly. Are you using any prime? any fertiliser? any tank decoration..?

2. How do you do the epsom bath? how much epsom salt?

3. Have you used any antibiotics..?

4. Lastly, what is your water parameter.? I know you said it is a mature tank, but nitrate can still be high in a mature tank.

I would suggest that you stop feeding for a couple of days to see if the belly is swollen or just full from overfeeding.

Chandra

[Sluggo]

Hi Chandra,

Thanks Mate. The tank hasn't had any changes for a several months, other than the introducton of a centre piece driftwood, with plants attached. This came from the tank that your Saulosi were in and it had been in that tank for ages.

I have used a fert, but I chucked the bottle out and I can't remember what it was, having said that I only use it occasionally. No deco's, other than rocks.

I use Prime for water changes, about 7 drops per bucket (9lt).

I use Clarity very occasioally.

He has been isolated for a couple of weeks.

Epsom salts bath, 1 good teaspoon in 2lt of tank water for 5 min, water is then discarded. Did it twice.

I stopped feeding him for three days when I first isolated him, the fed him and he ate readily but that has stopped.

Tank he came from is currently 40ppm nitrate, but due for a change. All the fish are fine

Tank he is in had a 50% change yesterday and I dosed with Wardley Promethyasul, a broard spectrum fish treatment for bacterial, fungal and parasitic diseases. I just tested it and it's about 40ppm, but I will leave it to see if the treatment helps.

It could easily be that Sluggo has an internal medical condition, stroke, cancer etc. This has been suggested by a person with a great deal of experience. We will never know but if he does not respond in the next day or so I will have to put him to sleep.

Thanks for your concern Chandra, let me know how his little boys and girls are.

The 2 discus I got from you are good, both eating. The smaller one eats everything in sight, the bigger on is more reserved.

Cheers,

Pete

quote name='Skyedge' date='Nov 3rd 2008 @ 08:04 ' post='242013']

Hi Pete,

Sorry to hear that your saulosi is getting weaker.

I am no expert in fish disease, but have been monitoring this threat since day one.

Can you please tell us:

1. Tank set-up - what was in the tank to see if there was anything that actually poisoning the fish slowly. Are you using any prime? any fertiliser? any tank decoration..?

2. How do you do the epsom bath? how much epsom salt?

3. Have you used any antibiotics..?

4. Lastly, what is your water parameter.? I know you said it is a mature tank, but nitrate can still be high in a mature tank.

I would suggest that you stop feeding for a couple of days to see if the belly is swollen or just full from overfeeding.

Chandra

[krellious]

try changing the water each day. 2 25% changes. morning and arvo. may not help but most people on a particular cichlid-forum change it like that and it seems to work

[Skyedge]

Pete,

I have some clout if you would like to try some stronger meds. I used it to treat bloat on my tropheus, and I believe it contains metro which is an antibiotic used for digestive problem. Let me know if you want some, I can drop it of at your place tomorrow arvo, as I will be going to belrose for meetings.

The saulosi are doing great, they have fantastic colours. Really the best I have seen so far. Thank You for those fish.

Chandra

[Sluggo]

Pete,

I have some clout if you would like to try some stronger meds. I used it to treat bloat on my tropheus, and I believe it contains metro which is an antibiotic used for digestive problem. Let me know if you want some, I can drop it of at your place tomorrow arvo, as I will be going to belrose for meetings.

The saulosi are doing great, they have fantastic colours. Really the best I have seen so far. Thank You for those fish.

Chandra

Thanks Chandra,

I'll send a pm.

Cheers,

Pete

[Sluggo]

Sluggo passed away today.

Many thanks to all those on and off the forum who helped.

I look forward to some great Saulosi fry down the track from the sons of Sluggo !

Cheers,

Pete

[gianniz]

i am sorry for you loss peter. i know you have done everything you can possibly do to fix him so rest assure sluggo was happy till the last moment

do you remember who sold you sluggo, you might be lucky enough to find his brother living somewhere in sydney