• Hello guest! Are you an Apistogramma enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Apisto enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your fish and tanks and have a great time with other Apisto enthusiasts. Sign up today!

Black head

Happyfins

Member
Messages
93
Location
Sydney
I am concerned about this occurring in a few of my panduro. Previously read it could be a stroke but it seems to be affecting one after the other and they eventually perish. They can't all be stroking out. I have previously on one occasion observed a half black head in an agasizzi female. With half sided symptoms I am more inclined to think of a stroke causing it. This would to me appear to be more husbandry or infection related. Any ideas?
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
"Affecting one after the other" sounds like a slow-growing internal infection, probably bacterial but maybe viral or sporozoan. Loss of pigment control happens when the nerves are infected.
 

Happyfins

Member
Messages
93
Location
Sydney
Thanks, Gerald.The lack of replies makes me think this is not common and I am now leaning toward something genetic. Other apistos in the tank are not affected and while it has been affecting one after the after it doesn't affect all panduros. Perhaps an inherited brain aneurysm?
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
Without a veterinary exam we can only guess. But if it was an aneurysm or stroke, I'd think at least some of them would die quickly. Has this been a slow progression with all the fish that have been affected like this in your tank so far? Is there any info in the veterinary literature or zoo & aquarium journals about strokes in fish? I haven't heard of any.
 

ktorg

New Member
Messages
3
Any update on what has happened to the spreading blackness?
I don't think that it is a stroke or a genetic weakness.
I have a 55gal planted community tank with a pair of angels, cardinal and emperor tetras and some A. mcmasteri "red-neck". Several months ago I noticed a weird black spot appear on the side of the larger angelfish's head. I didn't think much of it since then, but it has since grown. (The other angel is black so I can't tell if it is affected too.) Now more recently it seems to have spread to the male A. mcmasteri. The beautiful red coloration around his head is turning black and slowly spreading. So far it only seems to affect the head region and only the cichlids in the tank. Nothing has died yet and all fish seem to be active and healthy, they are just turning black. It must be some kind of virus or bacteria that is infecting them.
Happyfins, I wonder if we have the same thing going on?
 

Happyfins

Member
Messages
93
Location
Sydney
All mine with the black heads died. This is some months ago now. The next generation is happy. I sometimes wonder whether overfeeding with grindals causes some issues. Now doing it max 2x weekly.
 

Dnygyrrl

New Member
Messages
1
What you are describing sounds like HTH, or hold in the head. Its caused by poor water conditions. I have has a hard time keeping Rams because of this.
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
More info on black blotch "disease." There are many possible causes; some infectious, some not: https://vtichthyology.blogspot.com/...CLE2gHpaxuHccn-bUwSbQMW8hPUiOWDehaKs313-loRo8

"Hole in the head" can also have multiple causes. In Rams and Apistos, Mycobacterium infection is a common cause of open sores on the head and jaw deterioration that might be confused with the "classic" type of hole-in-the head (often seen on oscars and other cichlids) often attributed to poor water quality and/or poor diet.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
17,915
Messages
116,201
Members
13,027
Latest member
tonc61

Latest profile posts

Josh wrote on anewbie's profile.
Testing
EDO
Longtime fish enthusiast for over 70years......keen on Apistos now. How do I post videos?
Looking for some help with fighting electric blue rams :(
Partial updated Peruvian list have more than this. Please PM FOR ANY QUESTIONS so hard to post with all the ads poping up every 2 seconds….
Top