# Red Sores



## Darbz (May 15, 2010)

Heya im new here and was told this forum rocks soo yahhh lol

In my current stock in a 15 gallon tank I currently have 3 female guppies , 1 male guppy (who is very non - aggressive) , 6 king blue tetras and one Siamese algae eater.

Current specs are as follows 
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 20
PH 7.6

Now for my problem
My one female guppy has been off by herself in a corner the last couple days , which is very unusual for her , and since i left for work this morning she has developed a fairly large red sore just past her gills. I have then since removed her from the main tank and placed her in the quarantine tank and put Erythromycin in with her. Any ideas on what else do do besides monitor her and do water changes?

Thanks in advance


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Hi there, welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you're doing everything right so far with the quarantine and use of erythromycin. Acriflavin would be another good one or triple sulfa. There are a few different types of bacterial infections that cause red sores (assuming it isn't injury damage) and the treatment tends to overlap. If possible, treat the main tank as well as chances are it has already spread and will infect the other fish if given the chance. 

Bacterial problems tend to thrive under poor water conditions as well, so if you aren't already doing regular partial water changes, that is also a very important step. In that tank no less than 35% weekly would be good. If it's viral, and it could be, then treating the main tank is a must and water changes will also help tremendously to keep down the viral load and reduce the chance of infection. 

Right now your goal is to treat the fish and then make sure that whatever infected them in the first place is out of the water so it cannot re-infect again when the opportunity arises. One of the most common mistakes I see people make is not to treat the main tank in order to save a few bucks.


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

I've got a red sore on the side of one of my prize platies. I've isolated her, and given her an epsom salt bath. She's isolated in 10 gallons of water to himself with a cycled filter. I plan to change 50% of her water daily to see if I can give her a fighting chance to survive whatever this red sore is.

Should I post a pic? Would that help with ID of the condition? 

W


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

It isn't always as important to ID what the problem is as people think - at least in my opinion.

If you can determine if it is parasitic in nature or bacterial/fungal then most medications treat a wide range of problems. Often times bacterial infections become fungal, or open wounds become bacterial infections.

More commonly, by the time you identify the problem, medicating is too late and the fish will die. I personally don't have a great track record with dealing with sick fish, but strongly believe prevention is the best medicine. Water changes and identifiying fish aggression have kept 99% of my fish free of disease. In my opinion, if your fish is still eating, you have a good chance of helping it. If it won't eat, it will likely perish and you will waste money on medicating. 

I have had some luck in using sulphur based medications to treat bacterial and fungal infections (and a combination of the two).


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

That platy jumped out of her hospital tank and disappeared. I suspect the cat, but he's not talking.

W


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Did you want me to come over and we will tag-team interrogate him? You can play the nice guy.


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