What is this red mark/streak on my archerfish?

[Gannon]

Here is an image. You can see the mark on the anal fin. At least glance it looks like a black streak going in the direction of the caudal fin, but it's red if you look closely. There are some small fin tears on this guy that are a couple days old. Perhaps this is a little mark/injury he got from whatever freaked him out and caused the small fin tears? 

Should I be concerned that it's infected? Should I be pretreating with marycyn or something similar? Have really only seen redness under the skin in fish regularly and while I'm see a red mark on a cory cat like this go away on its own in quarantine, I figured I should be safe and ask. Should I do a 40% water change if I get the chance just for safe measure?

[Colu]

Looks like a minor injury to me it should heal given time  you could add some Indian almond leaves as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties @Gannon

[Gannon]

On 1/30/2023 at 1:32 PM, Colu said:

Looks like a minor injury to me it should heal given time  you could add some Indian almond leaves as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties @Gannon

I will do this! It definitely looks like a little scrape to me. Guessing on one of the stones and whatnot. I know they are skittish so there are no rocks anywhere near as high up as they are, but sometimes things happen I guess. Even with more plant cover above them and such they are super spook-able animals. The best thing for that is to be around the tank more often and they get more brave, but being on campus all day half the week makes that hard. 

[Gannon]

Another two red blotches were spotted on a different archer. This was actually spotted the same day as previous but wasn’t as red and the spot by the pelvic fins wasn’t seen until today. 
 

I decided to start to with a round of maracyn in the 125 gallon tank. Mostly because the quarantine tank is occupied and too small. Additionally they would just hurt and stress themselves more while I caught them. 
 

Was it the wrong move to treat this early? I have been quite a bit stressed this week and wanted to make sure these guys are okay but realize medicating when perhaps unnecessary does way more harm than good. Thoughts? I have my pumps pointed at the surface of the water to increase oxygenation enough hopefully given that this is a planted tank and oxygen depletion could be bad at night. 

Should I treat with half doses or something less stressful for the rest of it? Maybe just dose once and leave it for a week like when quarantining?

At least this should help with the red/black Cyanobacteria in the tank. 

sorry that this hasn’t been in the diseases topic I wasn’t aware that it existed until after I posted this!

Edited February 1, 2023 by Gannon

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Gannon FWIW, my female Bristlenose had a weird white cyst on her face. I was definitely planning on treating with Maracyn, but @Colu chimed in and advised a small dose of aquarium salt and Indian Almond Leaves. I decided to give it a try and save Maracyn as a back up, and the salt and IAL’s did the trick. Moved her back to the tank with the male and a week or two later I had a spawn!

I’m lucky in that I haven’t dealt with a ton of disease and curing of diseases, but @Colu is all over the disease section of the forum and seems to know what they’re talking about. 
 

From my non-expertise view I guess the only thing that I see is that now 2 fish have issues. Is there any hard scape they could be scraping themselves on when spooked? Not trying to frighten you or create a panic, but 2 fish having the same issue leads me to believe there may be either A) 2 separate fish injured themselves on potentially the same object or objects or B) there could be something going on in the ecosystem that has impacted multiple fish. Any thoughts, @Colu?

[Gannon]

On 1/31/2023 at 9:22 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Gannon FWIW, my female Bristlenose had a weird white cyst on her face. I was definitely planning on treating with Maracyn, but @Colu chimed in and advised a small dose of aquarium salt and Indian Almond Leaves. I decided to give it a try and save Maracyn as a back up, and the salt and IAL’s did the trick. Moved her back to the tank with the male and a week or two later I had a spawn!

I’m lucky in that I haven’t dealt with a ton of disease and curing of diseases, but @Colu is all over the disease section of the forum and seems to know what they’re talking about. 
 

From my non-expertise view I guess the only thing that I see is that now 2 fish have issues. Is there any hard scape they could be scraping themselves on when spooked? Not trying to frighten you or create a panic, but 2 fish having the same issue leads me to believe there may be either A) 2 separate fish injured themselves on potentially the same object or objects or B) there could be something going on in the ecosystem that has impacted multiple fish. Any thoughts, @Colu?

Unfortunately quarantine is not an option with these fish especially and salt would destroy plants. However, I did dump in some almond leaves. I also wouldn't know which hardscape piece would be causing damage. I know my denison barbs have sustained minor injuries on rare occasion when spooked also. I have seiryu stones in there, but no part of it is sharp or anything like that so I generally doubt that removing anything will fix anything. Also the particular individual fish in the latest image is an interesting case. Whenever he sustains fin damage or anything a fleshy growth will take place during the healing process and then go away within a few weeks usually. It's odd and I haven't seen it anywhere else. I'm sure the same thing will happen here if its an uninfected injury that heals normally. Perhaps not that useful of information, but still interesting. That healing granulation type thing again hasn't been seen in any of the other archer fish. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Gannon Any chance they’ve scraped/injured themselves on the wood in the most recent picture? Don’t get me wrong, I love the hard scape in my tanks but from the pictures you’ve provided that’s the only thing I currently see. If the stone is all low in the tank, then maybe it’s the wood?

Quarantine tanks for bigger fish can definitely be an issue. Any chance of moving your plants and everything that could be harmed by salt into a quarantine tank instead of the fish? Simply trying to think of anything possible to help the fish. 
 

It’s entirely possible everything will heal up on its own without any intervention; just trying to think outside the box in case things get any worse. 

[Gannon]

On 1/31/2023 at 9:46 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Gannon Any chance they’ve scraped/injured themselves on the wood in the most recent picture? Don’t get me wrong, I love the hard scape in my tanks but from the pictures you’ve provided that’s the only thing I currently see. If the stone is all low in the tank, then maybe it’s the wood?

Quarantine tanks for bigger fish can definitely be an issue. Any chance of moving your plants and everything that could be harmed by salt into a quarantine tank instead of the fish? Simply trying to think of anything possible to help the fish. 
 

It’s entirely possible everything will heal up on its own without any intervention; just trying to think outside the box in case things get any worse. 

Nope moving plants not an option either. Also I've used salt many times before to honestly see no results of my own so I'm not willing to wreck my scape for it anyways on the plant level at least. As for the driftwood, its totally possible, but archerfish need that wood and other pieces of cover to be less nervous. That has at least been my experience as they like having things to weave through and conceal them. Even if thats what they're hurting themselves on I don't see removing it to be in their benefit. Maybe I'm wrong. 

The only thing I've personally seen them run into is the side glass panel. Originally I thought this was because it didnt have a background and confused the remaining space they had when darting, but that also did not prove true. And usually what happens is they swim up to it and swim to the sand briefly on the bottom and get a teeny tiny fin tear or they jump a time or two at the surface. 

I love and appreciate the thought process though. I went through the same list of things in my head essentially.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Gannon I wish I was more help! Hopefully those IAL’s/Maracyn are all you need to ensure nothing gets infected and creates a bigger problem. If I was in your situation that’s what I’d be doing, too. 

[Gannon]

This is also practically the same thing that happens when my denisons get spooked, which has oddly become more common as they've gotten older. When I had to catch out rainbow fish a long time ago they were very upset then particularly. I wonder why both these species are so easily spooked. I would assume due to stressful conditions, but other factors make this seem impossible. First of these being that they get less easily spooked the more time I spend around the tank which makes perfect sense and that they display amazing colors and normal behaviors besides the times someone walks up to the tank and they decide its scary seemingly at random. Only consistent factor is approaching the thank when the lights are out is not a great idea.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Gannon Heard that. I’ve never kept either the Archers or the Barbs, but it seems to be just “what fish do sometimes”. When I’m pulling out Angels from my grow out tank to trade/sell (that also has Platy’s that colony breed in there) some Angels almost willingly go in the net while the last couple seem to be super spooked and I have to chase them around to get them. Even fish raised from the same spawn seem to react differently to “scary” things. 

[Gannon]

On 1/31/2023 at 10:01 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Gannon Heard that. I’ve never kept either the Archers or the Barbs, but it seems to be just “what fish do sometimes”. When I’m pulling out Angels from my grow out tank to trade/sell (that also has Platy’s that colony breed in there) some Angels almost willingly go in the net while the last couple seem to be super spooked and I have to chase them around to get them. Even fish raised from the same spawn seem to react differently to “scary” things. 

The oddest thing I've seen is in the first day of his introduction, my archers were deathly afraid of my phantom pleco. However, they don't care much when my acara gets in their face and chases them, which happens very rarely, but when it does the archers don't freak out at all and just slowly make distance. They don't make sense haha

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Gannon Chalk that one up to “fish are gonna fish sometimes”. Do you keep your water level low for them? Do you have a lot of floating plants as cover or anything? Have you ever seen/trained them to spit water at things to knock down and eat?! Archers have always piqued my interest but I don’t believe I have a tank big enough for them. Sorry to derail this post from the current issue you have with them; simply super curious as to what you’ve seen/observed with them. 

[Gannon]

On 1/31/2023 at 10:08 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Gannon Chalk that one up to “fish are gonna fish sometimes”. Do you keep your water level low for them? Do you have a lot of floating plants as cover or anything? Have you ever seen/trained them to spit water at things to knock down and eat?! Archers have always piqued my interest but I don’t believe I have a tank big enough for them. Sorry to derail this post from the current issue you have with them; simply super curious as to what you’ve seen/observed with them. 

I don't keep the water low for them, the spitting is cool, but mine vastly prefer to jump which really just sends water all over the place and is a little scarier haha. They spitt a couple times and its usually not strong enough to knock food off stuck to glass, they get frustrated and jump haha. They are currently my favorite fish to keep as they're so interesting to watch. They have amazing coloration and their "schooling" behavior is very tight. The 5 of them are very good buddies. 

i do have lots of floating plants as cover for them!

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Gannon Rad! My only real “jumping” fish are my hatchetfish. When I feed that tank in the morning before work I’m always super paranoid about them jumping out. These guys, and my female betta that jumped out the tiniest hole of the lid on Thanksgiving 2021… Jumping fish, man…

What size tank do you keep them in if you don’t mind me asking? Also, what floating plants do you use with them?

Edited February 1, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[Gannon]

On 1/31/2023 at 10:16 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Gannon Rad! My only real “jumping” fish are my hatchetfish. When I feed that tank in the morning before work I’m always super paranoid about them jumping out. These guys, and my female betta that jumped out the tiniest hole of the lid on Thanksgiving 2021… Jumping fish, man…

What size tank do you keep them in if you don’t mind me asking? Also, what floating plants do you use with them?

They're in a 125 gallon tank! I have red root floaters but bigger ones would be better. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Gannon Dope. A 125 would be super fun and has so many possibilities. 
 

I’m kinda surprised it’s red root floaters! They only do well for me in one of my tanks I’ve tried them in. They’re just super finicky for me and only do well with like no flow. 

[Gannon]

On 1/31/2023 at 10:20 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Gannon Dope. A 125 would be super fun and has so many possibilities. 
 

I’m kinda surprised it’s red root floaters! They only do well for me in one of my tanks I’ve tried them in. They’re just super finicky for me and only do well with like no flow. 

Mine do decent with higher flow, just can't be messing them up too badly.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Gannon have you ever had your RRF flower? I can get the tops of mine super red, directly under the light, but I’ve never seen them flower. 
 

Again, I apologize from detracting from your initial post, lol. My bad. Feeling kind of bad at this point. 

[Gannon]

On 1/31/2023 at 10:30 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Gannon have you ever had your RRF flower? I can get the tops of mine super red, directly under the light, but I’ve never seen them flower. 
 

Again, I apologize from detracting from your initial post, lol. My bad. Feeling kind of bad at this point. 

No worries! They don't flower often in the 125 but they used to constantly in other tanks. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@Gannon Any idea what the difference between them flowering in the other tanks and not in the 125 is?

[Gannon]

On 1/31/2023 at 10:34 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

@Gannon Any idea what the difference between them flowering in the other tanks and not in the 125 is?

They certainly prefer lower flow haha. That and not too much or too little humidity. Not sure how to willfully replicate the balance of humidity the 5 gallon tank I used to have had. Every single one flowered in that tank it was pretty amazing. 

[Lennie]

Hey @Gannon!

I can’t clearly understand from the picture but I once had my honey gourami and months later pygmy cory have a red dot appeared on their bodies. They were both healed in 2-3days. 
I remember reading it was about water quality somewhere. I did a water change even though my parameters were fine, but honey gourami healed after 2-3 days without anything.

In pygmy cory scenario, I already had catappa leaf in the tank and dosed stress guard to help just in case. Maybe yours is similar, I’m sharing the pic of mine below.

I think, and some of our friends here also confirmed that, it was probably an injury in my case. Fish can be clumsy, all I have that can be considered “sharp” is also driftwood!

I wouldn’t like to give a bad advice especially when u have a chance to treat it if that is a disease. Just a thought!

does this look similar in person?

 

Beautiful fish btw! Hope they get better as fast as possible

Edited February 1, 2023 by Lennie

[Colu]

It looks like a hemorrhage caused by it swimming into something in the tank it should heal on its own I would just monitor for the next week if you notice it getting worse or any other symptoms give use an update @Gannon

[Gannon]

On 2/1/2023 at 6:46 AM, Colu said:

It looks like a hemorrhage caused by it swimming into something in the tank it should heal on its own I would just monitor for the next week if you notice it getting worse or any other symptoms give use an update @Gannon

I believe you are right! Just a bummer that this happened! I'll be working on preventing it more in the future. Perhaps a tank cover or something when I'm not around? Sounds a bit ridiculous haha

On 2/1/2023 at 12:45 AM, Lennie said:

Hey @Gannon!

I can’t clearly understand from the picture but I once had my honey gourami and months later pygmy cory have a red dot appeared on their bodies. They were both healed in 2-3days. 
I remember reading it was about water quality somewhere. I did a water change even though my parameters were fine, but honey gourami healed after 2-3 days without anything.

In pygmy cory scenario, I already had catappa leaf in the tank and dosed stress guard to help just in case. Maybe yours is similar, I’m sharing the pic of mine below.

I think, and some of our friends here also confirmed that, it was probably an injury in my case. Fish can be clumsy, all I have that can be considered “sharp” is also driftwood!

I wouldn’t like to give a bad advice especially when u have a chance to treat it if that is a disease. Just a thought!

does this look similar in person?

 

Beautiful fish btw! Hope they get better as fast as possible

It kinda looks similar except the big red spot it much lighter in color and the two other smaller scrapes are very dark red, almost look brown or black.