# Male Agassizii lower lip inflamed



## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

Hi All,

I have a 29g set up with 1 Male adult Apisto Agassizii, 1 female young adult A Agassizzii and 1 male adult Apistogramma Cacatuoide

Parameters
NH3 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - < 5ppm
pH - 6.8
1-2 dGh
2dKh
Temp around 77 F

This setup was quarantine for these fish, but right now I don't have any other soft water tanks that they can go in. Suffice it to say, I know this is not the final setup for these fish. I've tried my best to set up the tank with dividing lines, lots of caves and no clear lines of sight across the tank. I see the female A Agassizii chase the A Cacatuoide a lot, but the male Agassizii has pretty much minded himself, though he will defend the female if Cacatuoide doesn't back down.

My thoughts are this is battle damage, some sort of lip-locking, but I've never kept lip-locking cichlids, so I'm unsure. I've also never seen them lip-lock, only chasing and rarely a nip or two. Took a few photographs:

His lower lip is swollen and looks like it has a white bump on it. He isn't acting strange yet. Just noticed it and threw him in a breeder net so I could get him out of the fray and take some pics. It doesn't appear to be fuzzy or anything.





How should I treat him? I can take him out for baths in whatever medication he might need, but I'd rather not treat the entire tank.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Sometimes fish extend their lower jaw and it gets "locked"... that's what this looks like to me. I don't see any inflammation, just a jaw extension. I suggest leaving him be, do a few extra water changes to keep conditions prisitine, and these often go back to normal on their own. However, once a fish has done this, it is more likely to happen again but doesn't seem to bother them too much.


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

Excellent, thanks for the response. I'll leave them be and keep a close eye on him.


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

UGH
now it's fuzzy.


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

sorry for the double post
columnaris?


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

triple post, going for a record. sorry.

I have metro+, prazipro, malalchite green and tetra parasite guard. I have epsom salt as well. He's in a 29 gallon with a female apisto agassizii and a male cacatuoide, still..
How should I dose?


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Uhhg... I'm sorry he isn't feeling better. I haven't used it myself, but malachite green is the best option for what you have on hand. The others are primarily effective for parasitic infections, which this isn't. If possible, get API Fungus Cure and/or Furan 2. It's hard for me to guess whether the infection is bacterial or fungal... but Fungus cure is also effective at helping secondary bacterial infections.


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

gave him a salt bath last night and treated the tank with malachite. Drained it this morning and ran some carbon and started maracyn and maracyn-2 treatment. Gave all 3 salt baths.


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

finished the maracyn treatment, everyone was fine.Then the bump reappeared and today it is fuzzy again. Everyone else seems okay. I think I'll quarantine the infected fish and treat with furan-2, watching the others to see if anything develops. True fungus isn't really contagious is it?


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

So I did two days of furan-2 in a 10g hospital by himself. The first day and the fluffy stuff went away, but last night his lip had a giant bump on it that wasn't fluffy, but then it fell or tore off, revealing a red spot, assuming that's an open sore from where it fell off. I did a pretty big WC (maybe 2/3) and administered the third day of furan-2. He's clearly not very happy. Still alive this morning, can't tell if one of his fins is clamped or not because he's staying really close to the sides/corner/pvc pipes. I'm running a bubbler and a filter, no carbon, but biological and zeolite, because the BB was probably killed by the furan-2.

What else can I do? I don't want to lose this fish considering all he's been through. I don't know the last time he's eaten, I give him a couple slivers of food every 3 days and then remove them in the morning, not sure if any has been eaten. He's not looking skinny or bloated or sunken. His colors aren't dulled either.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Keep an eye on the water parameters. Furan 2 shouldn't affect your bio but the Maracyn treatment may have. 
If the jaw is still locked and the fish is unable to eat, then you may have to euthanize him unfortunately. 
You could try opening the mouth further in an effort to get the jaw to reset. I don't know if I'd try forcing it closed, perhaps if you don't expect the fish to survive much longer then it's worth a try.


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