My Apistogramma acting strangely

[Jervis]

Something worrying to report:

1) The ever aggressive male went into hiding this morning... spotted it hiding deep inside the rock work... looking all black

2) The ever shy female appears more often in the open water... doesn't look "orange" to me but she seems to be a bit bloated these days.



There's no change in the water parameters and I expect the tank to be rather stable by now.

What's happening?

[leeruisheng]

How does the bloating looks like?
Normal bloating could be eating alot or could be dropsy (abdominal scale can be seen protruding alittle).

I can highly suspect it's internal bacteria.

On a positive note, the female could be filled with eggs.

[Jervis]

I am actually worried about the male... still hiding when I left office today

[Toshika]

the male sounds sick to me...i do agree with leeruisheng, that it could be internal bacteria...my caca had the same problem too before it died in 1 week.fins are not torn but body was quite skinny especially at the stomach area.

[genes]

Take a picture of the male if possible. Maybe you can try ADA rio base conditioner. I have heard of it curing sickly fishes. How it does, i'm not sure.

Try to find out the problem early, because some diseases in their early symptoms can be cured.

[benetay]

How to see if it's dropsy: Look from the top, if the fish's scales are pointing 45 degrees outwards, it is dropsy. A normal fish's scales are tightly fitted onto the body. In very bad case, it looks like a pine cone. Normally at this stage(pine cone) it's the last stage & nothing can be done especially apisto.

Internal bacteria is the number one killer in apisto. Their habit of 'eat-spit' filters bacteria into the gills & slowly manifest the apisto's internal system. In early cases, yellow powder might help & it works.

From the picture it's too difficult to diagnose if it has dropsy or not. Just watch it's feeding habit. Did you feed the apisto before taking that picture? There is a bloodworm lying nearby & it could have eaten it's fill resulting in the bloated stomach. From the angle at which the body arch, the scales look alright.

Your male on the other hand might be beaten into submission, common once in a while when the female becomes 'the boss'

Good water is for apisto to breed but take care of left over food. Bacteria colonise uneaten food & if by any chance being consume later on can result in internal bacteria(parasite)

A general test of pure water is the amount of minerals it has inside. A highly concentration of minerals can be from dosing of fertiliser which make measurement un-accurate. For those who keeps in non-planted tank can make this measurement quite accurately. The higher the conductivity the more minerals it has which can be related to 'un-pure' water. These are my own theory So please don't come after me. Measurement is done by conductivity meter.

Update us again on the progress of your male/female. Try not to stress them too much. If all else fails, remove the male or female depending which is easier to relocate. Apisto can grow & breed in harmony in small tanks(1ft) but they thrive in larger tanks.

Additional stress(staring at them,using torch to shine at night) might not help. To prevent yourself from looking, cover the tank up. Apisto can be very sensitive once stress which lower their immune system.

Let us know again.

Cheers!