Help with diagnosis and treatment?

[psandstr]

Hi,

My A. baenshi (Inka) is not eating. He has got his fins clamped, not all the time but quite often, and he does kind of "yawn".
The first thing I noticed was that he does not defend his territory (With two females and one with newly hatched fry) or at least he is not very agressive when doing so (he ussually is).

I can`t se anything on his skin, yet.
There are several about one month old fryes in the tank and they seem just fine.

Please advice

Best regards/ Per

 

[petesfish]

Another sick apisto that "yawns"

I also have a female apistograma trifaciata that appears sick and "yawns" every few seconds or so. She is hiding more than normal and opens and closes her mouth like a yawn or stretch (not like she is gasping for air) very often. She appears to be eating live baby brine shrimp but passes on frozen adult brine shrimp and grindal worms. I have made two 25% water changes in a row but little to no change. I think it might be some kind of parasite but hoping someone might be able to guess what type so I can treat with the correct chemical(s).

Pete

 

[fishgeek]

coughing or backflushing the gills can be see when foreign material or parasites irritate the gill tissue

otherwise it may just be a way to move more water over the gill in a motionless fish

andrew

 

[Galactic Doug]

I think it might be some kind of parasite but hoping someone might be able to guess what type so I can treat with the correct chemical(s).

Pete

Gill Flukes might be seen hanging there tails out the back/underside of the gills, by using a magnifying lens and having the fish in question up close with a net or container, (I use one of those types they catch fish in LFS with). If flukes, the treatment would be antibacterial widespectrum type should help if thats really the cause. Just follow the manufacturers directions on treatment. It is hard to tell without seeing whether there is any infestation of worms or flagellates present. It also could be water conditions, (ammonia in the water) check all params before any treatment to make sure you have good water quality all around including lacking of oxygen (heavily planted tanks can sometimes have less oxygen than what is needed) Most likely you'll need to pull the infected fish to another tank and look under the gill covers with a maginfying glass. then treat seperately for flukes or other as needed. Do you have some closeup photo's? Post them here of the gill area if you can and maybe someone else has some thoughts on it.

A great book for all diseases is called "Manual of Fish Health" by Chris Andrews, Adrian Exell, and Neville Carrington, It just about covers everything you are likely to find in Fresh/saltwater and ponds also.
By Firefly books.
GD

 

[blueblue]

Hi Per. As you mentioned, there is a female inka with newly hatched fry... she must be very fierce and will attack the male inka. I suspect that the male inka got sick owing to the attack and it's better for you to separate them...

Hi,

My A. baenshi (Inka) is not eating. He has got his fins clamped, not all the time but quite often, and he does kind of "yawn".
The first thing I noticed was that he does not defend his territory (With two females and one with newly hatched fry) or at least he is not very agressive when doing so (he ussually is).

I can`t se anything on his skin, yet.
There are several about one month old fryes in the tank and they seem just fine.

Please advice

Best regards/ Per

 

[petesfish]

Female a. trifaciata looking better!

Thanks for everyone's input.
My water quality checked out fine and I tried to look at gill area under magnifying glass (not easy!). I did not see anything but from the input I got I decided it might be gill flukes. I did another 25% water change and treated with PraziPro (praziquantal). It took about two days but now the female is out, eating more aggressively and does not seem to be "yawning" anymore. If it was flukes it may explain why I have had two batches of eggs hatch but the wigglers all died within a few days. If I have better fry survival I will post that as well. I don't think it is very often people are able "cure" fish once they get sick. I know I don't often have much success. Prevention is usually the key.

Pete

 

[psandstr]

Hello again,

The Inka male past away this weekend:frown: .

I moved him to a small (20litres) tank and treated him with a "broad spectrum" medicin called esha 2000 and it was supposed to cure gill flukes amongst other things but his problems increased and eventually he died.

The question now is: Do I need to medicate the other fishes allthough they don`t show any symptoms?

By the way, the whole clutch with fryes died only a few days old.

Best regards/ Per