very sick bumblebee

[damon]

I have a bumblebee cichlid that as you can see in the picture is in rough shape. the problem started about 3 weeks ago. first sign was what looked like an irritated nostril, from there it just got worse. The one nostril became inflamed and looked as if it was mushrooming, which looks very painful but he doesn't seem to be affected by this, still looks the same, acts the same, he's still eating regularly. I treated with Pimafix, then melafix and nothing, it actually started getting worse. I then went to a serious fish store and I wish I remembered what it was that I got him, but I forget. I did a 30% water change waited 48 hours and treated with new medication and it seemed to do a little good then it got even worse. It traveled to his other nostril which is now just as bad as the first. I gave him another 48 hours to recover then I put him in a 5 gallon bucket of tank water with and airstone and gave him a sizable dose of medication. This nearly killed him but did nothing to the (infection). I woke up this morning and checked on him and he had a very prominent raised bump on his body directly in between his nostrils but not breaking the skin (looked like a BB stuck under his skin. Now as I sit here at midnight it has rapidly progressed and now looks exactly like the tip of a Q-tip. I am now at a complete loss...please help. Water quality fine, other fish fine, sick fish still acts normal. 90 gal tank three 2" cichlids, one 6" cichlid, one softball size blood parrot, one 12" pleco, two large silver dollars, and on 6" ghost knife. 76 degrees, 7.6 PH

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[jeff12399]

Try raising the temp to 82-84 degrees add a big dose of aquarium salt. That is how i treat most of my sick fish. The picture is hard to tell but it does look like an infection. You could also try to add some triple sulfa tablets to the water if the other does not work.

Let me know how it works for you.

Jeff

[damon]

Which do you think is the best option with respect to the other fish in the tank, and if it is the salt and increased temp, could you please give me some specifics. I add about 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons during water changes in a 90 gallon tank. How much salt and what temp would you recommend? tank is now 76 degrees also, I think I have a moderately unusual combination of fish, of which I think the ghostknife is the only scaleless fish so with respect to him as well. By the way the big q-tip must have fallen off in the middle of the night cause now there is just a hole in between the two, still hideous nostrils.

[jeff12399]

If at all possible i would move the fish to a small tank (10gal.). Then i would ad 2 tablespoons of salt, Raise the temp to 84 degrees and let him go for a few days.

Jeff