Loaches Online Forum

I hope not, but being paranoid I'm checking the hillstreams here quite carefully.

A problem noticed yesterday: one of the Vantanmenia's (aka my SpA, aka something-similar-to-disparis) has a very red anal opening. Bright red color, like arterial blood.

Normally, one would suspect internal parasites, but the fish has been treated with levaimisole, and also quarantied for two months now...any nematode-type parasite would have killed it already. just to be on the safe side I did an extra levimisole round on them. New infection is not likely, I'm keeping this tank separate; the fish also had 5 day rounds of Maracyn+Maracyn2. No other red marks on the body.

The fish in question is a fairly large one, either seriously obese or gravid; the behavior is normal (appetite, no hiding, full-scale chasing with other fish). Sorry, no photo, it does not show its underside often/long enough for a shot.

Any ideas on what may cause this and what if anything I should do?

Did anyone ever see red anus caused by anything other than parasite? (Spawning? --- I'm not fully sure what some of their chasing is about).

Not meaning to be funny, but maybe he just had a good bowel movement .

Hi Mike,

I have observed a similar redness with our cheni. Usually we have found fry in the tank a couple of weeks later :-) I hope that you find the same thing.

Good luck.

Now that WOULD be cool.

Thanks!

That would be COOL....probably not the case.

OK, I'm not putting Prep H into the tank just yet.

Just in cae, no gravel sucs for two weeks. If I may ask: do disparis eat their young? It seems that in Emma's tank someone did a very efficient job of killing off all the babies outside of the filter.. and I've never seen SpA's digging. And is there a way to sex disparis better than rely on "big/fat-->female", "big/fit-->male"?
(I'm assuming that these are like disparis, which is by itself questionable...)

I have never seen disparis or chenis eat their young.
As far as sexing disparis, I can't think of any other way than body shape and size. Its not an exact science, unfortunately.

Jim Powers wrote:I have never seen disparis or chenis eat their young.

Yeah, SpA too seem to be kind of shy when I'm looking at them too closely.

Got you, thanks.