kuhlii - is this barbel erosion? mouth rot? and a tumor?

[uimike]

Hi all, my first post here, sorry it is about a sick fish (I believe).
One of my 5 kuhliis was uncharacteristically lying outside of their favorite hiding place (a cave), and I think his mouth, barbels look quite eroded or something...
Also, he has this whitish growth (?) on its head.
Anyway, I really couldn't match these to any of the most common fish diseases, at least the ones listed in the usual sites, and I am really at a loss about what to do, and how sick the fish is.

Kuhliis were acquired from the LFS 1.5 years ago, they were already mature.

Any help will be appreciated!

Fish images below.

Tank is a 65 gal ADA, Amazon Type 1 soil, densely planted (Wisteria, Crypts, Apos, Anubias), Nitrates around 10, no ammonia, nitrite, pH on the high side 8.2-8.4 (local water in San Jose, CA), quite hard 300 ppm. Eheim 2126 filter, external AquaClear 70, 2 small Hydor propeller-type for water movement. Fish companions: 4 corys, 5 clown loach (largest 1.5"), a school of black neon tetra, 5 fairly large rasbora (het).

[uimike]

Nobody?

[KittyKat]

There's definitely *some sort* of barbel erosion. The two bulges at the front are nostrils, not sure about the hole behind one, the white thing above the gills looks like it's on the glass? If it's on the fish, could be some sort of leech.

What are your water parameters and maintenance schedule?

[uimike]

Kat - the white growth was on the fish - fish died yesterday.
Params have been very stable for years, pH 8.3 (that's the tap water here in San Jose, California, and the one used in the LFS); no ammonia, nitrite; very hard water with lots of alkalinity; nitrate around 10.
I do the natural method, with medium low light, lots of current, an Eheim 2126, a Hagen AquaClear 70, Tetra food, Amazon 1 soil (4 years old).

I should have done an autopsy, but came back from work and the poor guy look very dead and bad, I just buried him (her?)

mike

[KittyKat]

Sorry to hear that it died.. was the thing still attached when you took the fish out? I think it is still worth doing a search for freshwater leeches and anchor worms to compare, also check all other fish. Have you recently added any dechor which was outside or in another body of water previously? Any new fish? Plants?

I can honestly see no problems with your water, but how often do you do maintenance and what does it include?

[uimike]

Hi Kat - tx...
Was still attached, but it did look far more like some kind of tumor - didn't seem to have any obvious differentiation. Could it have been a hypha?
I will do the search for worms, and keep a close eye on the other fish.
I recently added 2 pieces of driftwood, bought at the Amano dealer in San Francisco, I did wash, but not boil them. Also, I had introduced several new plants, true.
I don't change the water (I am following the Walstad method) so I just top with distilled water, and do a fraction of Estimative Index fertilization. The other fish as well as the plants, seem fine. The fish seem quite active, colorful and eating well.

I was wondering about the substrate, but I think Amazon 1 is not too harsh on barbels. I heard about nitrate effects, but the nirtrate is OK (~10).

mike

[KittyKat]

To me, the barbels do indicate a water quality problem.. I have done "no water change" tanks with Corys before without seeing barbel erosion, but I have also seen these not work for loaches/Corys too. I'm afraid that I can't help you any more than that, as I can see no obvious problems with anything.

[uimike]

Kat - I will definitely think about what you said (water quality / water changes) and consider whether I should switch to a water change method.
The only drawback for me: my tap water is very hard, so I would need to install an RO system. I heard these waster a lot of water in the process, and, being in California, I am concerned about water conservation.
Are you familiar with RO, and how to save water?

mike