Hi, I've had my male MacMasteri for about four months. He's been relatively healthy, though about a month ago I noticed he had attached feces one day. I was alarmed but it never recurred. (I had been feeding frozen bloodworms once a week but have stopped now.) Yesterday I noticed that half of his face has darkened. The left side is dark, the right is normal. It looks like he has bilateral coloring. There doesn't seem to be consensus about what is causing it. Some say it is bacterial, other say it may have been caused by an injury. He is eating well and mostly acting normally other than that he seems to be spending a little more time in his cave. Nothing has changed in his tank. I do weekly 20% water changes with RO water. Non of his tank-mates have changed, either. No one is aggressive.
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MacMasteri face half darkened
- Thread starter vie
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Aquaticloch
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- Canada eh
the picture is quite out of focus, do you mind taking a photo in better focus please?
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Hi all,
I've seen it a couple of times, it wasn't good news and in both cases the fish died shortly afterwards. A Dutch vet (a poster on UKAPS) thought it might be evidence of a stroke.
cheers Darrel
I've seen it a couple of times, it wasn't good news and in both cases the fish died shortly afterwards. A Dutch vet (a poster on UKAPS) thought it might be evidence of a stroke.
cheers Darrel
You may be right about the stroke. I noticed he's barely moving the pectoral fin on that side. I would think a stroke would have caused him to deteriorate quickly, though. It's been a few days and he seems to be relatively normal. I'll keep my finders crossed he recovers. He's a very personable fish.
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Hi all,
The second time I was expecting it, so I didn't hold out much hope from the start.
None of my male Apistogramma have ever lasted very long, I've had females that have made four years old, but very few of the males I've had have made three years, and a lot of them were home bred, so I know exactly how old they were.
I assume it is partially as a result of over-feeding and keeping them at the warmer end of their temperature range.
cheers Darrel
It was about a week or ten days. The first time I was just at the stage of thinking that it "wasn't anything to worry about" when "he shuffled off his mortal coil".
The second time I was expecting it, so I didn't hold out much hope from the start.
None of my male Apistogramma have ever lasted very long, I've had females that have made four years old, but very few of the males I've had have made three years, and a lot of them were home bred, so I know exactly how old they were.
I assume it is partially as a result of over-feeding and keeping them at the warmer end of their temperature range.
cheers Darrel
I think you're right. He doesn't look as good this afternoon. His respiration has increased and he's hanging more at the top of the tank. It's interesting you mention trouble keeping apistos. I was under the impression they were pretty hardy fish. I actually re-homed a betta I had in with him a month ago because I was concerned about aggression. Maybe I should just give up on keeping them. It's sad because they are really pretty, personable fish.
Aquaticloch
Active Member
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they can be very hardy, and don't give up i know its awful to have a fish die and many apistogramma can be hardy what are your perameters? trifasciata may be a good fish for you, as well as panduro.
My pH is 7.4, temp is 74, ammonia is 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5. I would rather keep the pH around 7.0. I use Catappa leaves and do 20% weekly water changes with RO water adjusted to 7.0. Not sure of my GH or KH but I can measure it if you like. I would like to keep at least one small cichlid. My tank is 20g
I did have one more thought. I used to keep Discus. One time I introduced a fish that pretty much sickened and killed most of them. (I know, quarantine!) Anyhow, as they were dying they all blackened, similar to what is happening with this MacMasteri. Granted, it's only his face but the coloring is so similar, I wonder if there is a connection. Though I guess the stroke hypothesis makes more sense since his pectoral fin seems to be paralyzed as well.
