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It's Hard To Be A Guy


biodives
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When I picked up a pair of Apistogramma macmasteri I was very pleased that they started cavorting soon after entering the tank and in about 2 weeks I had the female parade around the tank with a clutch of fry. However, a few days after the mating the male, who had been eating very well, stopped eating. He would still bite at the food but then spit it out. At first I wasn't too worried but then he developed white/translucent stringy feces and a week later he passed away.

I just had a second mating with a new male. Like the first time I did not observe the mating itself but the female turned yellow and I can clearly see the eggs which are deposited on a vertical well-protected piece of driftwood rather than in a cave. There also seem to be a lot more eggs than the number of free swimming fry from the first spawn. However, the male again stopped eating and this morning I found him dead. I should note that there is a second female who has taken occupancy of a coconut cave and she has also turned yellow. It will take a few days to find out but the male may have had his hands full with two back-to-back spawnings.

I have not observed any clear aggression between the male and females so unless the mating itself is highly aggressive I can't see aggression being the culprit. Yesterday I shot some video of him looking pretty, nice round (but not too round) belly, normal colours and showing off his raised fins. Apart from the disinterest in food everything looked excellent. This time I actually cut him open to see if there were worms or other indications of disease but it all looked nice pink and clean. If there was any parasite it was too small to see even with a magnifying glass.

So question is; what caused this and how common is it for Apistogramma males to die shortly after mating. I don't think it is normal and I would like to prevent it from happening again. Of course it may take a long time before I can find a new male given the dearth of dwarf cichlids for sale in Edmonton. It is actually more likely that my half inch fry from the first spawn will end up providing the next male.

Edited by biodives
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Wasting disease, sunken belly, etc. usually characterized by the fish trying to swallow some food and ends up spitting it out only to go hungry - looks like a sore throat. Apistogrammas are nutorious for this one.

This kind of thing is most often caused by a couple or three opportunistic protozoa. These would be Protozoa which are around most of the time and feed on most any decaying protein. Problems happen when the fish are stressed, poor water conditions or just dont find food they are wanting. For some reason the throat becomes a bit inflamed through nonuse and the inflammation allows bacteria to work on the sore area.

Thus the fish picks up the food, rolls it into the back of the mouth but cant make it go down and then spits it back out.

As part of my wild apisto quarantine I dose Flubendazole. It does not have to be eaten by the fish to be active on the parasitic Protozoa.

It will also help a fish recover from the sore throat and allows swallowing again.

Raise the quality of the water and add some food the fish will chase, things will improve over 3 to 5 days.

Since starting this my Apistogramma are bulletproof.

Jay

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Thanks Jay,

Where do you get your flubendazole. I can find it online in the States but haven't seen it here in stores.

I hope to get wild apistos and other cichlids in the future and will try out your routine.

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