wild pelvicachromis in bad shape

[anakonda]

I received 5pcs. wild P. subocellatus. They have thin bellies, curved inside. They are very shy, not eating, at least i have not seen them eating. Colors are a bit darkened and all yellows and reds are pretty much gone.. There's even a little whitish areas of a scale or three in their heads

I've had them for two days. I was thinking adding more cover and some other fishes to get them a bit more active.

What about medication? I find it hard to believe they are that thin because of lack of food.

Has anybody routine in conditioning these kind of fishes? What parasites could typically occur in fishes like mine? Would a shot in the dark with Flubenol or Hexa-ex help..?

Thanks

 

[Mike Wise]

They sound like wild caught fish to me. These fish probably haven't eaten in over a week or two & are suffering from gill erosion and skin abrasion from being shipped 'tight'. If so, the best thing you can do for them right now is to provide them with a quiet quarantine tank with clean, soft, slightly acid water, some live foods and some time to recouperate from their travels. Under no circumstances should other fish be placed with them. Why add to their stress level?

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis subocellatus

Hello Anakonda,

I concur with Mike 100%. Some good feeding in quarantine is appropriate here. If you are worried about disease, some salt and/or Melafix might be a good idea as well.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[anakonda]

Thanks for the advice. One thing i forgot to say is that i saw these fishes already 4 weeks ago on the wholesalers list. Bad luck with national holiday and couldn't get them then. So they have been with the wholesaler 1month plus, apparently for 1 month getting not better... Rough shipping is less scary than that..

 

[fishgeek]

both medications you mention would be appropriate for different internal parasites
if the fish are not eating then i find that a worse prognostic indicator

as the others have said i think stress + overcrowding of shipping is what allows these problems to get out hand
wild fish are unlikely to suffer ill health with such relatively harmless parasites, though once their space is limited and reinfection rapidly occurs and the fish are weakened then progressive deterioation begins

flubenol will treat internal worms
hex will do the protozoans

check the feaces if you want a definitive diagnosis
perhaps some of the europeans can give an experienced view on flubenol as i have heard (only) good things about it and never been able to source it myself and use levamisol for these case's

andrew