Growth on side of A. eremnopyge

[tjnelson44]

My male eremnopyge has what looks like an odd growth on his side. The growth in is about half way down his body. It is about a quarter of an inch long and about a sixteenth of an inch wide. It has a pinkish orange colour to it. It is raised, I can see a slight silloutte when I view the fish head on. It looks like it has some sort of texture to it. It does not look completely smooth. When I first saw it, I thought it was a mechanical injury. Now I think it may be something else. It has not improved or gotten worse in the two weeks that I have been watching it. If it is a disease, it does not seem very contagious since the the female and the fry in the tank look fine. I have doubled up on waterchanges but have not added any medication. The pH is 6.5, TDS 70, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate 5 ppm. He is still active and eating well. I even saw him courting the female this morning. His belly does look a little thin though and he does do something very strange sometimes. He appears to have spasms. Sometimes he starts jerking rapidly. His body bends from side to side. I am stumped. I do not know what it could be. Any ideas on what it could be and possible courses of action would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Trevor

 

[Randall]

Apistogramma growth

Hello Trevor,

This is a tuffy.

As you write, sometimes a mechanical injury can result in a swollen ulceration. Over time, however, the swelling goes down as the mechanical injury heals.

Is your fish wild? I ask because your fish may possess an encysted nematode. This could also explain the growth-like appearance of the afflicted area, but this is speculation on my part. Please conduct a forum search using the keyword "nematode." This topic has come up several times before.

Sorry not to be of more help; perhaps others here will chime in.

Good luck!

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[fishgeek]

boy , randall stumed me then , i was thinking what is this tuffy i ahve never heard of them?!

i was thinking more along the lines of external parasitism, leech/lice other crustacean parasitism
and that the spasm maybe an itch irritation like reaction to the attachment of this parasite

is very hard to say without seeing , any chance you can photograph
or perhaps search for things like argulus and other external parasite

sometimes just removeing these is enough

so a raised linear pinkish/orage swelling
possibilities i can think of
reaction to lernea or argulus, niether of these is the colour you describe though can cause reaction
leech's usually obvious and dark coloured
myxozoan parasite(intracellular parasites- as randall as mentioned)
papilloma and other tumours

i probably would net and try to lift away with a moistedn cotton swab, or tweezers if appropriate then apply wide spectrum antibacterial/antifungal if pulls of to stop secondary ifection

andrew

 

[tjnelson44]

Thanks for the quick replies. The fish is wild caught. I have had it since this summer. I think the best thing to do right now is to get a very good look at the effected area. I will place the fish in a specimen container and see if I can determine something with a 10x hand lense. Hopefully, this will reveal something. If not, there is the possibility of putting the fish under a dissecting scope but I am trying to hold off on this since it will be very stressful. As for the photo of the fish, I will try to get one but it may take a day or two since I do not have a digital camera. I will have to get a hold one of my friends. Thanks to the rain today, I don't have to work so I will head home and try to figure something out.
Thank,
Trevor

 

[tjnelson44]

Strange things....... I put the fish in a specimen container and got a close look. It was something wedged under the scales. I placed the fish on a wet paper towel and was able to slightly lift up the scales. I took a sewing needle and was able to use the dull end to gently remove the "stuff" from under the scale. I would have used something a bit softer like a cotton swab but it was a tight fit. The substance that I removed was a pinkish orange goo. I look at it with a hand lense but it still looked like goo. I didn't know if the goo was a reaction to some sort of parasite had worked its way under the scales or if it was bacterial. I then put a drop of hydrogen peroxide on the wound for five seconds then gave the fish an hour long strong salt bath. I added some melafix to his tank when I put him back. The area looks a lot better now. I just hope it stays that way. The wound crossed the the lateral line of the fish. I wonder if this could have something to do with the spasms?
Trevor

 

[fishgeek]

did he recover trevor?

andrew

 

[tjnelson44]

No, he did not recover. The fish spent his last couple of days just laying on his side looking worse and worse. I finally put him down. As for the treatment, things just went down hill afterwards. I am still stumped about it though since the tank has the female and a bunch of fry that are doing great. Thank for the advice Andrew and Randall.
Trevor

 

[fishgeek]

that is unfortunate
hope the fry do well and perhaps you find a suitable replacement from them or their sales

 

[Randall]

Fish loses

Hello Trevor,

So sorry to learn of your poor fish. Despite our very best efforts, sometimes we experience loses and are powerless to do anything about it. Surely you get the apistogramma.com good fishkeeping award.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn