black face on one side

[blueblue]

Some apisto friends in Hong Kong are discussing a symptom in apistos that
the fish's face turns dark/black on just one side of the
head, please take a look at my hongsloi (which already passed away)
in the following URL:
http://www.aqugrass.com./phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=45978

I wonder what kind of disease it is, and are there
any suggested medications? Thanks much.

 

[tjudy]

Te disease is bacterial, and not all that uncommon. Luckily it can be treated effectively with most antibiotics, but my experience has been that it required a slilghtly longer treatment period.

 

[fishgeek]

anything pressing on the local nerve(controls the melanophores in the skin)
thyroid tumours have been suggested

andrew

 

[blueblue]

Thanks much Judy and Andrew

To Andrew: What kind of medicine is recommended
for the case when it is a local nerve problem?

 

[tjudy]

Is it possible that an infection causes internal inflamation and swelling? Since that part of a fish's body is bony, it will not noticeably swell up, therefore creating internal fluid pressure in the tissues. That idea supports both theories here... an infection that creates pressure.

 

[fishgeek]

right on ted
as i said anything pressing on the nerve, further than that without proper investigation is just guessing

blue tumours need to physically be removed, cyst's could be physically drained
we are pretty limited in what is done to fish in general and especially to the small ones we keep

there are vets who will radiograph and anaethetise surgically remove mass's
financially maybe this is not viable for our smaller cheaper fish?!

when i get longer i will have a look through texts for other suggested pressure surces and any appropriate therapies

 

[blueblue]

Thanks much Ted and Andrew. Here is another URL which shows a pair of
infected apisto.
http://www.aqugrass.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=58538

They are paired up and the female fish is guarding her
fry. The question of the owner of this pair of fish is: How come both the
male and female fish get the problem at the same time and the infected-area/symptom-area is just on one side of their head? Will the fry also get
infected? It looks really weird... Please advise and thanks much.

 

[fishgeek]

only other examle;s i have managed to come across are after injections of medication, inj may irritate nerve and lead to colour change
can take weeks to resolve

the fish have only a small area affected because that area is controlled by one nerve
the area in the picture's maybe due to damage behind the operculum, watch that postion for any growth's

thyroid goitre's can be nutriotonal. low iodine
otherwise i have no idea's as to why both fih and similar onset

andrew
sorry for the delayed response

 

[blueblue]

Thanks Andrew; and, will the fry be infected?

only other examle;s i have managed to come across are after injections of medication, inj may irritate nerve and lead to colour change
can take weeks to resolve

the fish have only a small area affected because that area is controlled by one nerve
the area in the picture's maybe due to damage behind the operculum, watch that postion for any growth's

thyroid goitre's can be nutriotonal. low iodine
otherwise i have no idea's as to why both fih and similar onset

andrew
sorry for the delayed response

 

[fishgeek]

i am not aware of any suggested infectious cause's blue and can find no particular medical therapies

if goitre is nutritional add some seweed, it has a decent amount of iodine
dieter untgasser also suggested water bourne iodne as beig useful, i would have though eating it a better cure
otherwise i can think of no extra medical options you have

did you ever see any swelling behind the operculum?

andrew

 

[blueblue]

i am not aware of any suggested infectious cause's blue and can find no particular medical therapies

if goitre is nutritional add some seweed, it has a decent amount of iodine
dieter untgasser also suggested water bourne iodne as beig useful, i would have though eating it a better cure
otherwise i can think of no extra medical options you have

did you ever see any swelling behind the operculum?

andrew

Thanks Andrew for the suggestion.

I didn't see any swelling behind the operculum... the only visible
symptom was the darkened face on only one side...

Some people in Hong Kong proposed that this problem
was due to a big collision between the fish and the tank.
I myself have big reservations for this point; I do believe
that, at least in some cases, it is a kind of infection...

 

[fishgeek]

vets you deal with fish will see this kind of response occasionally after injecting fish
so the local irritation can be a cause(much like banging your head hard enough) if that is the case it slowly dissapears after the injection situations in about 3 weeks

andrew

 

[tjudy]

I was at a LFS store the other day (not a good one... I was getting a feeder mouse) and noticed a tank with about 12 texas cichlids that all had this problem, ranging from a few dark spots to the side of the face being totally black. The fish did not look good at all. Seeing all the fish with the problem makes me think 'infectious disease'. I had a book (that I cannot seem to find... grr) by a German who is running a large wholesale operation now. I forget his name. It is a pretty good book. I remember tha the book covered this malady as being bacterial.. but I cannot remember the specifics. (THat is why I like actually HAVING the book.. no need to remember.)

 

[tjudy]

The book is by Basleer...