"Bloody" spot on bottom of fish

[Devin]

I have a fish that has a rather large spot on the bottom of his body, near
where the two bottom fins meet just forward of the anal region. Red
streaking also runs down those two lower fins, and is a dark blood red.

I believe I may have had a Nitrate spike. After a 9 gallon change of a 40
gallon tank today, and 6 gallons yesterday, it reads between 10 and 20ppm.
Everything else looks in the Good range according to my two test kits.

PH 6.9 KH just above 40 Hardness in the 60's Nitrite 0 Nitrate
between 10 and 20 Ammonia is 0 or at most .25

There is salt in the water, just over 1 tablespoon per 9 gallons, one change
per month with no salt to keep the levels down.

40 gallon tank, 4 fish, 3 plants in glass "planters" in their original pet
store batting. No substrate in the aquariium, and about 8 or 9 medium sized
polished pond stones as sold at pet store.

Would a Nitrate spike cause this? It literally looks as if he's been
sitting on the bottom and the area has become inflamed. He's active, and
does on occasion sit on the bottom, especially after the big cleaning I did
this morning (broke down filter, clean plant holders, etc.).

I think it might be bacterial, but am going to watch for another day, and
change another 9 gallons tomorrow. I have it aging with an airstone right
now.

-Devin

[Geezer From The Freezer]

It certainly sounds like it could be caused by water quality issues.

Does your fish pooh at all, if so what colour is it?
Do you temperature match your water and also use a dechlorinator?
How often normally do you do water changes and how much?

[[email protected]]

yes, sounds like something caused the water to crash. do a few larger water changes
the redness should fade in 48 hours. Ingrid

"Devin" > wrote:

>I have a fish that has a rather large spot on the bottom of his body, near
>where the two bottom fins meet just forward of the anal region. Red
>streaking also runs down those two lower fins, and is a dark blood red.
>
>I believe I may have had a Nitrate spike. After a 9 gallon change of a 40
>gallon tank today, and 6 gallons yesterday, it reads between 10 and 20ppm.
>Everything else looks in the Good range according to my two test kits.
>
>PH 6.9 KH just above 40 Hardness in the 60's Nitrite 0 Nitrate
>between 10 and 20 Ammonia is 0 or at most .25
>
>There is salt in the water, just over 1 tablespoon per 9 gallons, one change
>per month with no salt to keep the levels down.
>
>40 gallon tank, 4 fish, 3 plants in glass "planters" in their original pet
>store batting. No substrate in the aquariium, and about 8 or 9 medium sized
>polished pond stones as sold at pet store.
>
>Would a Nitrate spike cause this? It literally looks as if he's been
>sitting on the bottom and the area has become inflamed. He's active, and
>does on occasion sit on the bottom, especially after the big cleaning I did
>this morning (broke down filter, clean plant holders, etc.).
>
>I think it might be bacterial, but am going to watch for another day, and
>change another 9 gallons tomorrow. I have it aging with an airstone right
>now.
>
>-Devin
>



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[Devin]

My temperature is contstant at 80 degrees. During the summer it doesn't
vary much from there, and no, I have no way of keeping it lower. That's
just the temp of tank water here in Hoboken, NJ, during the summer.

Water changes are 9 gallons every weekend, when I also rinse filter media
(in tank water siphoned into a bucket, of course), and then on Wednesday or
Thursday, I'll do 5 to 8 gallons of the water, depending on tests and how
the fish's fins look (I have a white one that's gets veins in her fins if
the quality starts to drop).

After the water change yesterday, I noticed something else that has been
occuring, but I had not really "seen" it until I started looking. One of
the other fish has been hanging out at the top of the tank for long periods
of time, possibly eating bubbles, possibly just looking for floating food.
That, coupled with the red spot on the other one, and the fact that I lost
two fish several months back to what I assume was baterial infections, got
me to thinking it might be back.

So, I started feeding the Medi-Gold food again. A little yesterday late
afternoon, and then some more last night at bed time. This morning, the big
fish is not hanging out at the top, and the little guy's red spot is all but
gone.

After the loss of the two fish earlier this year, I had treated the
surviving ones with Medi-Gold for two weeks and all seemed good. Now I'm
reading that you should go maybe 4 weeks with the stuff for bacterial
infections? If so, that's what I'll do this time, and keep a close eye.

Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll gladly take any more.

-Devin