My flowerhorn Pollock was sick for a while. An open sore appeared on his tail fin, and it would heal and then it would reappear. This went on for over a month. I thought it was bacterial infection, but it also looked like a pimple rather than open sore. Maybe it’s parasite? I couldn’t figure it out. Also there appeared a pin hole on his pectoral fin. It was literally a pin hole size. Then it grew and ended up ripping the pectoral fin altogether. I knew that was bacterial infection, a type of fin rot. The “cone” or maybe a boil on top of his head is also a concern. I’ve never encountered something like this. If anyone knows anything about it, I would appreciate any kind of feedback. The medicines were used by following the directions on the box. I don’t like to use medicines in general b/c I’m not a vet and I don’t always know the exact diagnosis, and don't have the knowledge of every kind of specific medicine for specific ailments. Using broad spectrum anti-biotics isn’t always the best course of action, but a last resort, imo. The medications definitely killed lots of beneficial bacteria, imo. This tank never smelled like fish before. I could smell the water several feet away from the tank.
I chose Eheim classic 1500 XL (2260) simply b/c of the amount of filter media it can hold. Also the Eheim’s pumps seem more reliable last quite a long time, and the location of the pump made sense to me.
The main reason for my flowerhorn getting sick was my old pump, imo. The pump was sort of a cheap pump, and after nearly 2 years of using it, it had lost quite a bit of power. It wasn’t pumping as much as when it was new. The turnover rate had slowed down a lot. I always take the pump apart and clean it at least twice a year. Cheap pumps usually do not last long and lose some of the power after a while. This can affect the health of the fish, imo. This is my best guess why Pollock got sick.
The fish vitamins really did help, imo. Hole in the head disease can cause inflammation in the intestines causing havoc on nutrient absorption. So, by feeding him vitamins, maybe I thought it would help out on absorbing nutrients better. It was probably the combination of the new filter and the vitamins that made him get better.
This was a crazy ordeal. I'm planning on getting a bigger tank for him in the future.
In the end, the pectoral fin grew back some and it continues to grow. Although it doesn’t grow fast since he’s using it all the time. The open sore is gone and there’s a scaring. The sensory pit erosion has nearly healed up, but there’s a small indentation still. The “cone” or the boil has shrunk a bit.
The vitamin I used is called Aquavital, but another good fish vitamins is this one:
Hikari Sinking Cichlid Gold
Hikari Bio-Gold Plus
Hikari Blood-Red Parrot+
Eheim Filter the one that has double tap valves included
Siporax
Substrat Pro
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