Is this a bacterial infection?

fender4string

New Member
My tank has had ich for about two weeks and I reached hyposalinity on Friday of last week. During this time my little singapore angel has been getting worse and worse looking. Just yesterday, I noticed what appeard to be a "bite" mark on her that I assumed was caused by my trigger. The bite looked more like a scrape might and has since spread to her top and to her bottom. Like a narrow football shape. This has appeared on both sides.
Other than that, she is eating very well. There have been a few strange behaviors. One is that she goes to the top corner facing downward, and sits between the glass and the magfloat. She also goes near the bottom next to the overflow box and faces upward. Her breathing is elevated and she has gasped a few times not frequently or with any regularity. She doesn't appear to be lethargic either.
All water parameters are as should be.
Here are some pictures of her. They're kind of blurry.





Whatever this is, will it be treated by the hyposalinity or will I have to do something else. This couldn't have happened at a worse time, what with the ich.
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
It does look like the fish is suffering from aggression, and also a bacterial infection. Are you fish in a QT? Have you determined the which fish is the aggressor? I'd suggest trying to separate this fish, maybe using a tank screen/separator.
 

fender4string

New Member
I'm treating hypo in my display. I kept a close eye on all of my parameters (and will continue to do so) as I understand that hypo can cause your biological filter to lose efficiency initially.
The tank mates are a blue dot toby, a one spot foxface, and a picasso trigger.
The past few days, the trigger has really been in her face begging for cleaning. I haven't witnessed any aggression between the two but if any exists that's where it's originating. She also tried to beg the trigger to clean her but he clearly wasn't interested. I'm wondering if maybe her being so close resulted in a bite from him.
I'll keep a closer watch on them and see if I notice anything aggression wise.
How worried should I be about the bacterial infection and what should I do to treat it (assuming hyposalinity won't help)?
 
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