What is wrong with my A. cacatuoides?

[miguelmejia]

What is wrong with my A. cacatuoides? note big Pics

I have a male A. Cacatuoides in a 55 US gallon tank that seems to hide all the time. He has missed feeding time and only really eats frozen brine shrimp and frozen blood worms. All other types of food, Flake, pellet, Freezed dried are ignored. He shares the tank with a female adult Angel, 7 Cories, 7 Flame Tetras (Von Rio) and 9 Cardinals. He has picked a cave made in a Fake Root structure that is near the water line. He has acted this way for over a week and seems easily scared when I observe him.

The tank has no Ammonia or Nitrates, The PH is 6.6. I filter with Peat. I do 25% water changes. The other fish are fine he just seems scared and is losing weight since I got him in Jan. Is he just bored since there are no females or precieved threats in the tank?

Thanks for your help.

Miguel

Here is what he looks like now.

Here is what he looked like in Feb.

 

[Apistomaster]

Hi Miguel,
I associate that look with a wasting disease, possibly a Mycobacterium infection,
incurable in my own experience. Not at all uncommon in Apistogramma that have been subjected to overcrowded conditions and deficient diets.

Don't know if I'm correct about my diagnosis but the other name for this is "consumption" or fish Tuberculosis.

Sorry I can't be more optimistic.

 

[miguelmejia]

Thanks for the response Apistomaster

So should I just euthanize him then? I also noticed that one of my Tetras has a bent spine. If I euthanize would that help prevent the spread of the disease to my other fish?

 

[tjudy]

Wasting disease is a possibility. Since you have also noticed a bent spine in a tetra, nutrition might be a problem. Frozen brine and bloodworm are nutritionally poor compared to live food or even freeze-dried food. If you can hatch baby brine shrimp for them you can pump a lot of nutrition into the fish quickly. Try that and see if he starts to turn around after a wek or so.

 

[miguelmejia]

I'll start hatching BBS today. Thanks Ted. He seems a little more active since I first posted. He spends a little more time swimming around the tank and looks to be searching for food.

 

[miguelmejia]

Its been a couple of days and I can see some improvement in his behavior. He is out in the tank more and is aggressive at feeding time. I used a continuous hatcher and supplement it with NLS small Cichlid pellets. His color on his flanks are darker and he is starting to fill out again. Hopefully he will rebound and become the hidden jewel of my community tank again. I love it when people see my tank and after closer inspection notice the little orange fish. He seems to be the one they remember the most.

Again thanks to Apistomaster and Tom for your opinions and I will keep you updated on his progress.