unclenedsfishfactory.com

Ned - I recently lost an otherwise healthy phenochilus. He was fine for many months, then I noticed his lower lip was white, and his lower abdomen was white too. He was otherwise acting healthy and normal. Then one day, I found him dead upon returning home.

i have now noticed my other pheno with similar characteristics. Is this a disease or infection of some sort?

please post a picture of
or better yet
bring the affected live fish by the store

I can tell almost nothing from a dead body...
for a good hypothosis
I need to see a live sick fish

almost all diseases are curable but need to be caught early

when you say "turned white"
did the body turn white
or was there a white growth on the body?

phenochilus of course is supposed to get silver white blotches as the males mature

fish diseases are rare...
fish aggression
and poisoning
are common

there is a serious
but extremely rare
bacterial disease that malawi cichlids can get...
I call it "Malawi plauge"...
it is some form of flesh eating bacteria...highly contagious...
It can be cured quickly but only with oxylinic acid
which we always have in stock

18 months ago eastern Mass Petco's
had Malawi plague

are all the other fish healthy?
any new fish added inside the past month?

we also need to know:
tank size
temp
tank mates
water chemistry (pH, ammonia, etc.) of tank water and source water
filtration
water change schedule
chemicals you add
diet
potential accidental poisonings
anything else you can think of

it is is normal to lose 10% of your population every year

when you say "turned white"
did the body turn white
or was there a white growth on the body? No growth - just a white bottom lip and white belly.

are all the other fish healthy? Yes
any new fish added inside the past month? No

tank size - 55g
temp - 75
tank mates - 2 elongatus, 2 yellow labs, 2 joh chismulu, 1 borleyi, 1 texas, 2 lemon jakes, 2 taiwan reef, 2 iceburg ahli, 1 OB zebra, 1 polit, 2 permutt
water chemistry (pH, ammonia, etc.) of tank water and source - all chemistry perfect, Framingham tap, aged overnight with cichlid salt, dechorinator, and buffer
filtration - AquaClear 110
water change schedule - 10g every 1.5-2 weeks
chemicals you add - just whats listed during water changes above
diet - Ned Flakes and Veggie flakes
potential accidental poisonings - none
anything else you can think of - nothing else

the dead fish is probably just the 1 in 10 who's number is up

the discoloration is probably the normal change that species does

don't know for sure

mine all developed white bellies and white lower lips as a normal part of their maturation.

The only thing I can think of that could be wrong related to the whiteness is the fact that when fighting, the lip locking causes a marked increase in whiteness in the lower jaw. So it could be agression....or it could be something else completely unrelated to the color change.

sorry.

just a word of caution
on the buffer

in some city water
both major brands (Kent and Seachem cichlid buffers)
are very strong
(in 1 case pH went to 11 on an electronic pH pen)

I suggest one third of the dose written on the label directions
'til you know what it does in your particular source water

for east african cichlids
you'd like to see
a minimum pH of 7.4
a maximum of pH 9.0

I suggest using the Tetra brand pH 5.0 - 10.0 test kit

consistancy is more important than the actual number

in the Lakes
Malawi is pH 8.0 in most areas
Tanganyika is pH 9.0 in most areas
...also Tanganyika has much, much more minerals than Malawi...
neither Lake has much regular salt (sodium chloride)
...the waters there are NOT brackish...

none of the above facts have much to do with the health of aquarium fish...
cichlids are extremely adaptable...
although people trying to breed featherfins and other fancy Tanganyikan mouthbrooders report poor results if the water is too soft