Inward gill cover on P. armatulus?

[Kostas]

Hello,

What causes this?


(Not my picture nor fish, http://www.aquariumlife.net/profiles/do ... 100009.asp)

I got 3 P. armatulus today and though I thought I made sure none had that, one of them has one of his gill covers like that. Is this going to fix as it grows up as long as I provide good water conditions and food? It's pretty undernourishmed and thin but eager to eat in my tank. It's the most outgoing of all and not afraid of me, so I think I do want to keep it. Any info on how to help it fix and get normal looking, I would most appreciate it!! It's only 5cm including the tail, still quite tiny

Thank you very much in advance!

-Konstantinos

[Kostas]

Here are a few photos of the one with the strange gill cover area:

[Jools]

This is caused by extreme malnutrition.

Jools

[Kostas]

Thank you very much Jools! Can it fix now with proper nutrition? Its very eager to eat and should get up to proper weight soon

[Jools]

It will over time, yes. The first think should be a full belly. I would use frozen bloodworm daily for a couple of weeks.

Jools

[Kostas]

Ah, thats awesome to hear!!! You made my day! It gorged itself on a carnivorous sinking pellet as big as its head last night, just a few minutes after i released it into the aquarium. It also tried to eat a snail but couldn't dislodge it from the shell. I will do as you say, i am currently out of bloodworms but will get tomorrow and start!

[Kostas]

The Platydoras have eaten well and gained some size and mass already. This particular Platydoras is especially voracious eater, not afraid of anything when it comes to food. The gill plate is a little better but not anywhere close to normal shape yet. Its still too early probably but i hope it fixes as it grows bigger. Its now around 6cm.

I saw its belly today and its huge from overeating(the other Platydoras don't overeat as much, though they are still quite good at stealing food from the cichlids and plucking snails out of their shells all day and night) but it also has some noticeable bumps like it has eaten snails with their shell(i don't have any gravel or anything else it could shallow). Is this normal? Will it be able to breakdown the shell and pass it? I hear catfish regurgitate any large objects they ate that they cants digest/pass through. Anything i can do?
Its healthy otherwise and i am not sure when this happened

Thank you very much in advance!

[Kostas]

Well, I have been following them and more of them have those bumps and sometimes distended belly. In some, this has come and gone. My biggest one is totally normal looking and behaving now. The rest behave fine and breath normally but I think they sometimes sit with no real purpose which is semi-normal. I don't really think that they are eating shells. Could the bumps be the result of myxosporidiasis(myxosporosis)? Has anyone encountered that? Do they heal on their own? They seem pretty healthy, eat a lot and chase each other as normal.
My biggest one had a surface bump on his belly which then bursted open and healed perfectly within a week. It has had no bumps since 1-2 weeks now. This was different in looks from the bumps of the others, appearing closer to the skin surface I think. I initially thought a cichlid bit it, and maybe it did and the cyst bursted, but this does not seem to be the cause, but maybe it helped(?). The cichlids don't annoy the Platydoras at all, only rarely may push them away or bite without causing damage, to drive them away.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.
The deformity is getting a little better btw but nowhere close to disappearing yet. From what I read, certain myxosporidiasis can manifest as deformities or emaciation, and these were all extremely thin and most have a slight deformity of gill covers, with one of them relatively severe to only one gill cover and a bit on the face/stripe. Could be pure deficiency and they are getting more normal. Can myxosporidiasis be won by the immune system and the fish heal all by themselves?

Thank you very much in advance

[Kostas]

Just to update on the Platydoras, they look pretty normal now with the exception of the one with the deformed head(its the one of mine that i have posted pictures of. It needs a good look to spot the head deformity and its even better looking now. The gill deformities are mostly not noticeable now). It has grown to look much more normal but its not fully normal looking yet and probably never will. But still, it looks good/ok and gets better with size. That goes to show what improper nutrition and parasites can do to a fry....
There are some protozoans out there that when they infect young fish, they cause one sided deformities, sometimes fixable, but other times not so

So feed your fry good food and have excellent hygiene for them to grow to be beautiful adults