[EHryan]

My 4 year old Demasoni has a problem with her scales and I will do my best to describe her condition.

She's not as dark anymore. And it's as if all of her scales have been outlined faintly. Imagine grout around tiles on a floor. And her scales look rough, not as smooth as they should look.

I should note that my tank had Ich and possibly Velvet about a month and a half ago, and thanks to people here my fish got over that. But this problem with my Demasoni's scales started sometime before that.

Other symptoms I am seeing are her pec fins are frayed a little on the ends. And she is not using them as much, she keeps them tucked in. And shes flashing, not very often, but when she does it's nasty. And also once in a while...one and only one of her gills will be swollen. And that swollen gill seems to be working extra hard. That has been going on for atleast 3 months id say. Shes still eating, still chasing fish. And she may of lost a little weight.

I know its defiantly not Ich and I don't think its a fungus. I read this section a lot and have never seen anyone post pics or describe something similar.

75 gallon
4.5 year old tank
no problems in that 4 years except the Ich recently
Temp 80
PH 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5

About 24 other fish in the tank, none showing symptoms like the Demasoni.

I'm not super worried about her right now, nothing like she'll die soon. But it's not getting better. And I just want to see her healthy.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[cichlidaholic]

Was she adult when you got her? The "faded" look reminds me of a fuelleborni I had that died of old age. He was fully mature when I got him, and I never really knew how old he was.

The flashing indicates something is going on. Is it focused on the gill area? Any redness in that area?

Kim

 

[EHryan]

I can't say for sure how old she is. When I bought her she was around a inch and a half. And it's hard for me to remember back when I first started the tank. I'd have to say I bought her atleast 3.5-4 years ago.

I found her hiding up in the corner this morning. She ate with the rest of the fish when I fed them. She will come down when I go up to the tank and stay around the other fish for a while and then go back up in the top corner after I've gone.

I saw her flash this morning too. I don't see any red near her gills but it would be hard for me to see unless it was really red.

This whole thing with her scales, is that common for older fish close to the end of their lives?

*edit* Another thing I noticed, her bottom jaw, right near her mouth is very light in color. I just dont see anything like a fungus though. Unless fungus can appear flat on the fishnes body, I don't have any experience with fungus on a fish.

I sat still and watched the tank for about 25 min. She would go up to the corner, come back down, go back up. She would stay down swimming with other fish much longer than she would be up in the corner.

 

[cichlidaholic]

Demasoni tend to get a whitish appearance in the mouth area from eating algae, so if you're not seeing anything cottony or fuzzy, I wouldn't be overly concerned about that.

A fish hiding out in the top of the water column is usually a fish that is very stressed by aggression.

Are the scales raised in any way? Does she have a bloated pine cone appearance?

Is she flashing alot, or are you just seeing her do it now and then?

3-4 years isn't what I would consider old.

How is the aggression in the tank? (Stupid question with demasoni involved, but is it worse than usual right now???)

What is the full stock list?