A. cacatuoides - sudden redness on face and red tint on body

[curviceps]

Hello

Here's a pic of my A. cacatuoides "Orange Flash". Just today, it has been acting as the king of the aquarium, swimming around until just a couple of hours ago, when I noticed it was looking miserable and hiding - with redness on its face, a slight red tint on its body and breathing rather heavily.


The female is currently in spawning mode.

Any ideas what this is? I'd like to take some corrective action if the problem is identified soon enough - Apistos don't seem to last very long once it is sick!

Thanks

 

[fishgeek]

localsised reddening can be due to a few things
i dont see any visible external damage so i would prehaps discount trauma, though bruising can occur with no broken surface

parasitic trauma unlikley to my knowledge at the nare's
and bacterial ecchymosis/petechiation would probably be the most likely imo

in this case, it is a judgement call on treatment and how the fish is, as to good clean water +/- antibacterial effective aganst (more commonly anaerobes)
i dont suppose there will be many effective easily sourced options in australia as i believe prescription laws are similar to the uk

andrew
proprietary broad spectrum antibacterial in a smaller vessel cant hurt