 Here are some examples of ulcers.
We lost the third picture. One
out of the three
fish did not make it. It had over 14 ulcers on its body that were the size of
pencil eraser to the size of a US quarter. The fish was "loaded"
with flukes.
 Due
to the absence of that third picture, not
sure which fish made
a full
recovery after receiving injections of antibiotics.
One must keep in mind that it is not the parasites
that kill the fish but the bacteria that sets in one the parasite has breached
(bitten) the fish.
For ulcers that are very small or not very deep you
can try one of the following:
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How
To Treat |
First you can try hydrogen peroxide. Soak a
cotton ball in the peroxide and dab the areas. Take great care to hold the fish
so that you do not get the hydrogen peroxide in the eyes, mouth or gills.
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Treatment #1 |
High
salt .6% (6 pounds of salt per 100 gallons) used as bath for an hour or so.
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Treatment #2 |
Potassium Permanganate (herein referred to PP) will also work. Baths in PP is
rather complicated and is best left to those who are very familiar with PP and
its use. One can very easily kill the fish if they do not know what they are
doing.
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Alternative treatment #2 |
PP scrubs work very well. Simply make a paste of PP and water. Pond water or tap
water makes no difference because PP is self-sterilizing. Place PP granules in a
small container with a lid. This can be used over and over and all you have to
do is replace the lid until the next time you are ready to use it. Add
enough water to make a thick paste. Please wear gloves and eye protection. There
is no way to do the following procedure and you are going to end up with stains
on your hands that will take several days to wear off. Use a cotton ball or
Q-tip (what you use will depend on the size of the area) and gently dab the
area. Take great care to hold the fish so that you do not get the PP in the
eyes, mouth or gills. After dabbing the area rinse the fish in clean water that
is preferably pond/tank water. No sense stressing the fish by using tap water
that is not the temperature the fish is used to being in. Only do this procedure
ONE time.
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In
Summary |
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If
you do not see a vast improvement in the fish in 48 hours, try one of the
alternative treatments listed above. The next day if the area does not look
better it is time to try a different treatment.
If the fish does not show signs of
improvements with any of the above treatments in a few days OR looks worse, it
may be time to do injections of antibiotics.
The problem is that unless you can find a
fish friendly veterinarian, you will find it impossible to find injectible antibiotics.
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