Taeniatus Dehane arrived

[Tom2100]

Hi

My Taeniatus Dehane pair arrived today. They are small so will need to been grown on before any spawning will be possible.

I just wanted to check about the females behaviour. She has eaten and looks very well but keeps flicking and shaking her body now and then, especially around the gill/head area. Might it be worth treating the tank for parasites? If so what treatment brand should I go for as I live in the UK. The male is not displaying this behaviour so I don't think it is due to the water parameters. Temp. 78F, pH 7.2, GH 180 KH 100. I don't like to use chemicals so I'm hoping this behaviour is just the female aclimatising to her new tank conditions.

I am going to bring down the hardness and TDS using RO water in the coming weeks.

Thanks

Tom

 

[Randall]

Shaking Pelvicachromis taeniatus

Hello Tom,

Your female's behavior could be something; but, then again, it could be nothing. Your hunch that she may be acclimating to her new surroundings sounds reasonable to me, but please keep a close watch just in case there is a parasite.

I've experienced success with proprietary medications containing formaldahyde.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[Tom2100]

Many thanks Randall for your reply. I just wanted to let you know that I held my nerve and thankfully my Dehane pair have settled in well and the female has stopped her worrying moves. She is feeding and behaving normally :biggrin:

Regards

Tom

 

[depthc]

Thats good tom glad to see they settled down. Still keep an eye on both in the next few weeks. Ive had rams live for a few months and all of a sudden show symptoms of internal parasites. So its to my understanding that internal parasites can lay low for a period of time.

Andrew

 

[Tom2100]

Thanks Andrew.

These fish were quite thin when I received them so I did consider parasites but at the moment their faeces is looking normal and regular and they have plumped up well on a mixture of brineshrimp, daphnia and bloodworm. I do know what you mean regarding dormant parasites as I have lost quite a few apistos in the past due to this. I had a great cacutoides pair some years back which spawned after 3 weeks of having them and then two weeks later the male died after what I suspect was internal parasites. I suppose because of the small size of these fish, if parasites do take hold we fishkeepers don't have long to react.

Regards

Tom