Is methylene blue harmful to A. cacatuoides fry ?

[mccidlee]

Those A. cacatuoides fry just start to free swim yesterday.. However, today I found the male A. cacatuoides has a skin wound, probably the male scratched himself against rocks while he tried to chase the other female, not the mother, in the tank, also, I found he sometimes scratches himself against rocks intentionally, maybe because of itching? or some other causes?

I was hoping that I could get some advice on this. Is it just a wound? or something worse? can I use methylene blue in the tank containing those fry? Is methylene blue harmful to A. cacatuoides fry ? what else I can do?

Thanks..

Ming

 

[Randall]

Medicating a tank with fry

Dear Ming,

It may not be a good idea to medicate a tank with newly free-swimming fry in it. If need be, it might be better to remove your male to separate quarters and medicate him separately.

"Flashing," or rubbing up against hard objects, is consistant with an external parasite infection. If your male has a flesh wound, it could be a mechanical injury or it could also be something else, like Costia, the treatment for which is a formaldehyde bath. If it were my fish, I'd remove him until I had a better handle on what's going on.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[mccidlee]

Thanks, Randall..

The male seems doing OK today, I actually removed the other female.
I read some messages in the Forum, someone pointed out external parasite is not a big deal, isn't it? If so, I would rather keep the male in the tank with his family, since I want to see their behavior, that is kind of fun seeing both male and female attending fry..

Here come some photos showing detail of male's skin wound, could you please look at and tell me if it is external parasite? a photo of female with fry also posted..

I will change water more often..

Thanks,

Ming

 

[mccidlee]

Thanks, Randall..

The male seems doing OK today, I actually removed the other female.
I read some messages in the Forum, someone pointed out external parasite is not a big deal, isn't it? If so, I would rather keep the male in the tank with his family, since I want to see their behavior, that is kind of fun seeing both male and female attending fry..

Here come some photos showing detail of male's skin wound, could you please look at and tell me if it is external parasite? a photo of female with fry also posted..

I will change water more often..

Thanks,

Ming

 

[Randall]

Apistogramma cacatuoides wound

Dear Ming,

That doesn't look like a mechanical injury to me. It almost looks like something is encapsulated. We will try to get a disease expert to look at your photos. In the interim, please change water frequently and keep a close eye on your fish.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[faewyn]

Ming, Young Male looks absolutely gorgeous!!