# Please I need help quickly!



## phoebe77 (May 15, 2009)

I want to apologize in advance if I dont do this correctly, i am very upset and worried about this fish. I wish i knew more about it, i dont want to seem like a careless person but i never expected to have these fish to care for. I will try to make this short- 
My boyfriend is in the navy and is currently deployed. He left me in charge of his fish here at our house. Everything has been fine for over a year in both tanks. i only know the basics of care, because he had to teach me in a hurry. 
tank size- 55 gallons
water parameters- i have a basic kit to test Ph, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, etc., the only thing wrong is the nitrates are very high, and i dont know why because it never happened before.
water changes- I try and change half the water at least once a month.
feeding- they eat frozen blood worms one day and dry flakes the next.
type of fish- one (electric or neon?) blue jack dempsey (he isnt sick at all) and one catfish type thing (the sick one), im sorry I dont know the name. Its large with a thick body, flat big mouth, long whiskers, greyish brown colored with spots and very tall top fin. its definitly not a pleco or anything that sucks on the glass. It also doesnt look like a regular catfish. im so sorry I cant explain it better. we've had him 4+ years. Ive never once seen the fish attack or bother each other so im sure it isnt a bite wound.
symptoms- About a week ago I noticed he had a blister type thing, i called the fish store and they said put salt in the tank and raise the temp a little. It seemed like it was getting better, and then all of a sudden yesterday it looks like someone cut a chunk out of him! his wound is large, his skin there is completely missing, I can see the muscles inside. There is also a smaller hole next to it. it has a small white ring around the wound. i changed out 1/3 the water, added more salt, and the stuff i normally add after a water change which is Tetra Easy Balance.
From what ive been able to find online (Ive been looking for hours) it seems like an ulcer. most things ive read say that when it gets this big theres nothing to do. 
Im not sure if i should try getting medicines, I dont want him to suffer. Im a huge animal lover and ive been crying over him all day. I hate watching him suffer. Im also mad that ive been left in this position when clearly im not prepared to care for these fish in an emergency. 

I do not even know how to post pictures, and the photos i tried to take arent very clear. I would be extremely appreciative of any sort of advice you can give me, and please understand I didnt go out and buy these fish without learning about them first, they were just left for me to take care of.


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## SueM (Jan 23, 2004)

First thing to do Phoebe is to take a deep breath, your doing fine.
From your discription it does sound like an Ulcer, the one thing that may help is Melafix, it is for cuts, scrapes, torn fins etc. Next with the high nitrates, that tells you that there are a lot of organics in the water... left over food, bottom needs vacuumed etc. So do weekly 1/3 water changes while vacuuming the bottom & it should resolve itself. 
I hope this helps, keep us posted


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