What's wrong with this Apisto?

[mudboots]

Hey all,

I posted this on a thread at aquaticplantcentral.com in the Fish For Planted Aquariums forum and was referred here. To keep from re-typing the original post and the subsequent replies I am providing a link to the post:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fish-planted-aquarium/68950-what-s-wrong-apisto.html

I'll mention that this fish died this afternoon, but I'd still like to have a good idea of what went wrong for the future. This is my first time visiting this site, so any direction to previous threads would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Darren

 

[jose_vogel]

I think he probably caught a bacterial disease.

 

[mudboots]

Thanks for the quick reply. These are wild-caught Apisto's, so I have been weary about their health. I really do not want to have to medicate the tank, but I'll be watching the others very carefully.

 

[bigbird]

hi, it does also look bacterial to me. Intestinal worms would be my guess with the bloating and scale. Be wary of bloodworm feeding to some apistos as they cannot digest them too quick. Did you quarantine your new arrivals before placing them in the new tank ? Are your other fish fine as well now ?

Cheers jk

 

[mudboots]

hi, it does also look bacterial to me. Intestinal worms would be my guess with the bloating and scale. Be wary of bloodworm feeding to some apistos as they cannot digest them too quick. Did you quarantine your new arrivals before placing them in the new tank ? Are your other fish fine as well now ?

The fish were in quarantine for approximately 6 weeks. All seem happy presently. Regarding bloodworms, I have to admit that this makes up about 35 percent of their diet, with brine shrimp at another 35, flakes at 25 percent, and "other" at 5 percent (occassional shrimp pellets, cichlid pellets et cetera).

Thanks for the bloodworm tip. I'll feed less at feeding time (give the rest to my newts) and make up the difference with flakes (oddly, the Tetra brand Color-Enhancing flake is their favorite of at least a dozen foods I've tried, but I try to primarily stick with frozen foods).

For what it's worth, I cannot stand mysis shrimp or shrimp pellets (lots of mess IMHO), and it makes me laugh on the rare occasion that I drop an algae wafer in there. The Apistos act like they are starving-bristlenose-plecos, and even "challenge" my male bristle for the wafers. I guess they need a little more fiber in the diet!!!

 

[bigbird]

Hi also a tip with frozen foods. Never just let it defrost in a glass and then pour it into the tank. You must also wash the frozen foods off all possible contaminates, as you do not know what water they used for freezing. My tip, use tank water to defrost frozen foods, then rinse and use net to place items in tank. I agree mysis shrimp are a little messy. Also a tip for the pleco, use peas or zuchinni for food for them. cheers jk