blood red gills

[ricksconnected]

i have two cichlids im having issues with.
they are white, convict in shape, but w/o the blk lines.
they are experiencing red gills. they both swim and eat fine.
pretty active honestly. did a 50% WC to be on the safe side of good fresh water. outside of this im clueless.
anybody have any ideas on this? the gills are blood red too.
i dont see this on my other cichlids that are in the same aquarium though. (55gal)

 

[drnecropolis]

The only time I have ever encountered that, it was a matter of ammonia burning the gills.. Maybe Jen will know more..

 

[jennm]

You rang?

Parameters, please?

Sounds like burns - ammonia, nitrite, or the silent killer, nitrate...

OR a bacterial infection... but since they are eating etc., that's not as likely (but still possible).

Please post your parameters.

Jenn

 

[ricksconnected]

i'll have to test them jenn. did a 50% WC and left it alone for the moment.

 

[jennm]

Well a 50% WC when you don't know the starting parameters, can be detrimental also. That could cause a pH swing, KH swing...

Always need to start at the beginning. Test the water. That will rule a variety of issues in or out.

If the nutrient level is fine but the pH is off, that could have been fixed easily with some buffer.

If you don't know the starting value of the pH and you do a water change with pH of unknown value, you could initiate a shift...

This is aquarium chemistry 101... unfortunately with freshwater, a lot of people take shortcuts. Some do with salt too... but I see it more often with freshies.

Are you using RO/DI with your freshwater tank? If so, are you reconstituting the lost salts and minerals? DI water alone will kill freshwater fish, because it is stripped of all trace elements. (In saltwater, the salt replenishes the lost minerals and trace elements).

Jenn