Mystery Disease

[GVsailor]

I have an adult Male Haplochromis sp Spotbar "Yala Swamp" who has developed a growth in his mouth. It looks like he is holding, and he tries to spit it out but can't. He has thinned substantially and has lost all of his previous color. The fish is probably 5 years old, maybe a little younger. Is their anything I can do to help him?

[Marty]

Without pics, it sounds like it's fungal.  Try treating for that asap.  Keep in mind that the average lifespan is 5-7 years for most cichlids, so it might be better to just euthanize the fish if it doesn't respond to treatment.

A couple of meds that might fit the bill:

Quick Cure  - like this one
Clout - like this one
Furanase - don't seem to have good luck with this
PimaFix   - never used this myself
Rid Ich - decent results with this one
Maracyn - decent results with this one

[GVsailor]

Thanks for the reply.  I will try to get a picture of him to help you guys out.  It's really strange, he bred with 3 females and then lost all color and this happened.

[Dan K]

I had similar symptoms with a fish in the past. The growth blocked its throat so it couldn't swallow and I found nothing to save the affected fish. I used clout followed by lots of big water changes and never had the problem in another fish again. However the affected fish never recovered and starved to death.

[Marty]

If it's bad enough, you might consider using an exacto knife to remove some of the growth if it looks like the fish can't eat.  The worst thing that happens is that the fish dies, which it's going to do anyway if it can't eat.

[GVsailor]

I will pick up some clout later today and see if it helps.  He is starting to lose scales too.  Nothing else in the tank has any issues.  I am thinking I may need to just euthanize him.

[Regalblue]

Have you looked inside?  Could it be a piece of gravel?
I've had it happen

[GVsailor]

I did.  It looks like either swollen tissue or a tumor.  The fish started laying on it's side earlier so I decided to euthanize it.  It's not worth watching him suffer. 

[PaulineMi]

Sorry to hear that but you did the right thing.

[GVsailor]

Thanks,

If anyone knows of someone selling an extra haplochromis sp yala swamp "crossbar" male please pm me. 

[Mastiffman]

Thanks for the reply.  I will try to get a picture of him to help you guys out.  It's really strange, he bred with 3 females and then lost all color and this happened.

 Where did you get this info from? Doesn't really make sense as WC can live much longer than that of course in the wild.... I think that if anything it's based on food and water chemical subjection...

[Marty]

What info are you referring to?

[Ron]

What info are you referring to?

I believe the "info" is trying to draw a correlation between the fish breeding 3 times and then getting sick? I'd agree with Mastiffman that it's irrelevant, aside from perhaps showing the fish was seemingly healthy, then got sick.

[GVsailor]

What info are you referring to?

I believe the "info" is trying to draw a correlation between the fish breeding 3 times and then getting sick? I'd agree with Mastiffman that it's irrelevant, aside from perhaps showing the fish was seemingly healthy, then got sick.

That was what I was going for, that he seemed healthy and the disease came out of nowhere.