Apistogramma Agassizii female fin wound

[Duffmanj]

Hi all,

This may have been covered somewhere else in the forum (but I can't find it) so I'm creating a new thread for some advice.

My female Agassizii is missing the rear half of her tail fin. This has happened in the last day, as yesterday she was fine. I have her and a male in with some neons, with no history of abuse other than the usual Apisto 'chase' occasionally and both are guilty of this.

There has been no recent change in water chemistry, tank mates, routine or anything. I've been trying to get a picture of her but she's being quite shy, as can be expected!

The male looks slightly more aggressive than normal, dorsal up and pecs out almost constantly:

My questions are:

- What do you think might cause the sudden change in behaviour, if this can be attributed to the male? (Educated guess says it's him)
- Will it grow back, how long does this usually take?
- Is there anything I need to look out for in the meantime (fin-rot for example, which I believe is a whiteness around the edge?)

All help much appreciated!

JB.

 

[Duffmanj]

Anyone?

Got a picture of the female...

 

[Cooder]

By the looks of that it hasn't damaged the base of the fin, so this should under normal circumstances grow back. I've seen much worse fin wounds than that recover

Keep water quality good, and provide lots of cover for her to escape the male and she should be right as rain...

 

[Mike Wise]

It appears that your female was not ready to breed, but your male was looking for a female who would. In the wild the male would court any female entering his territory. If the female wasn't receptive, then the male drives her out of his territory to wait for another female to come by. The female would leave the male's territory and not be damaged. In your tank the female has no place to go so the male damages her while trying to drive her away. Her fin doesn't look too bad. It should grow back. Time depends on age, water conditions, etc.

 

[Duffmanj]

Thank you. Anything I should treat the tank with that might help?

 

[Mike Wise]

Anything I should treat the tank with that might help?

Just excellent water quality and patience.

 

[Duffmanj]

Thanks again.

Some places recommend that large water changes are not ideal for Apistos. I'd be interested to know your opinion on this?

 

[gerald]

She looks thin too. It might help to move her (or the male) to another tank for awhile and feed her well until she's looking robust again, before putting them back together. Large water changes are not a problem as long as you pay attention to the quality of the replacement water. I like to aerate new water in a bucket or barrel with some tree leaves for a couple days before adding to Apisto tanks.

 

[Duffmanj]

Thing is, she's still eating quite well. I'm a bit stuck as I can only move her into my other apisto tank, but with my hongsloi pair that might not be a good idea :-( point taken though, I will see what I can do.

That's interesting, what kind of tree leaves do you use?

 

[gerald]

Oak, beech, ash, maple, magnolia, sweetgum, hickory, elm ... any of the common hardwoods (although depending where you are, these may not be common). Search "leaves" and you'll find several threads in thsi forum on how to use them and why they're valuable especially for soft-water fish.

 

[Duffmanj]

Brilliant I will do thank you, good advice!

 

[Duffmanj]

So, been keeping on top of tank maintenance but seems she's only got worse. Been hiding out under some wood for the last week and barely seen her, but tonight she was out and she's struggling.

Will do some research tomorrow on diseases causes and treatment, input is welcomed though of course. Her tail fin doesn't seem to have improved at all and her anal fin has a white fluffy growth on it.

Hoping to borrow a tank and move her to it tomorrow.

 

[gerald]

Yeah, that's not just a battle wound. The fin deterioration, hunched back, and lethargic behavior suggest an infection of some sort.

 

[Duffmanj]

She's in a hospital tank now, seeded filter but planning to run meds so not of the utmost importance anyway. Bare bottom with a cave and some ceram-rings/plastic plant to break it up a bit. Filter is a sponge running off of a pump so plenty of oxygenation.

 

[Duffmanj]

Unfortunately she passed yesterday, perhaps the move proved too stressful for her, though I made sure that the temperature was the same as were the water parameters. Something to learn from, I guess.