Australoheros sp. oblongum

T

toddnbecka

Members
Lost the breeding pair and 3 tankfuls of nearly year-old growouts last year. No clue what happened, started as an outbreak of Ich in several tanks at the same time. I tried salt/heat, and the oblongums deteriorated very quickly. Some had filmy eyes, looked like they were blind, some had "melting" fins, and in a week or less after I noticed the Ich they were dead.
At that point I still had one tankful that wasn't affected, but it hit there a couple days later. Nothing new in any of the tanks, and nothing was used that could have cross-contaminated either. I tried Quick Cure on the last tank, same results as the salt/heat.
Somehow 5 juvies managed to survive, and I still have those, but I haven't set up a spawning tank for a pair yet.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
They're breeding just not in a tank where they can raise babies...

Bill (forget his user name) from Virginia I think has some little ones (or did)...

Matt

hollyfish2000 said:
Matt (dog of war) has the six I got before ToddnBecca's catastrophe. Not sure if they are breeding, though
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rich_one

rich_one

Members
Very cool fish... I've always thought about trying some of these, but went with the red ceibals...

-Rich
 
lonlangione

lonlangione

Members
Matt,

I probably already know the answer, but if you were to part with a pair please let me know. I have been after this fish for 5+ years now. I have 20 empty 30 gallon tanks, 3 - empty 40 gallons and 2 - empty 75 gallons right now so I could get them set up for breeding in a short time.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
The plot thickens

toddnbecka said:
Lost the breeding pair and 3 tankfuls of nearly year-old growouts last year. No clue what happened, started as an outbreak of Ich in several tanks at the same time. I tried salt/heat, and the oblongums deteriorated very quickly. Some had filmy eyes, looked like they were blind, some had "melting" fins, and in a week or less after I noticed the Ich they were dead.
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Don't feel so bad now because that pretty much exactly describes what happened to the ones I got from you as well minus the Ich. Wicked symptoms that didn't respond to any treatment of what I would best describe as a very "aggressive" fungus. Ultimately knocked off all the ones I got from you as well as a few I got from Jesse to restore the school midway through a months-long losing battle - I could beat it back I just couldn't get it out of the tank. One survivor out of a dozen - still has a big notch in his dorsal to show for it - don't really know what to do with him.

The only good thing about it was that it didn't effect any other species or migrate to any other tanks. Only serious infestation or die-ff I've had in three years to go along with a few small cases of operator error (snuffed 3 baby Enantiopus by changing too much water too fast, cooked a spawning group of S. kronei while overseas when a heater failed, lost 4 young discus I'd raised from quarter-sized and a Geo recently by feeding them bad/old blackworms). Anyway, if anyone ever comes up with a likely pathogen to explain the A.oblongum thing - stunning species by the way - please let me know as it's not an experience I care to reprise.
 
Spine

Spine

Members
It's good to see Lonny back on the forum. I lost the ones I got from Todd in the blizzard last year(no power for a week) If anyone has some after Lonny gets his, I could use a pair
 
T

toddnbecka

Members
Avatar said:
Don't feel so bad now because that pretty much exactly describes what happened to the ones I got from you as well minus the Ich. Wicked symptoms that didn't respond to any treatment of what I would best describe as a very "aggressive" fungus. Ultimately knocked off all the ones I got from you as well as a few I got from Jesse to restore the school midway through a months-long losing battle - I could beat it back I just couldn't get it out of the tank. One survivor out of a dozen - still has a big notch in his dorsal to show for it - don't really know what to do with him.

The only good thing about it was that it didn't effect any other species or migrate to any other tanks. Only serious infestation or die-ff I've had in three years to go along with a few small cases of operator error (snuffed 3 baby Enantiopus by changing too much water too fast, cooked a spawning group of S. kronei while overseas when a heater failed, lost 4 young discus I'd raised from quarter-sized and a Geo recently by feeding them bad/old blackworms). Anyway, if anyone ever comes up with a likely pathogen to explain the A.oblongum thing - stunning species by the way - please let me know as it's not an experience I care to reprise.
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The most puzzling things to me are where did it come from, and why 5 of them didn't seem to get it while all the others died from it so quickly after it appeared. It didn't strike them all at once, some seemed to resist it for a few days while others in the same tank were dying, then it would get a hold on them and they'd follow.
Aside from the oblongums I lost 3 of 4 L-204's (probably to the salt rather than Ich) and a handful of BN. I had cutteri with tiny fry in one of the tanks, didn't lose a single wee one that I could tell, while the oblongums deteriorated and died in the same tank all around them. The breeding pair was in the 125 with the L-204's, and the rest were housed in 4 other tanks.
Never heard of anything like it before, and certainly hope I never do again. I had probably moved along a half dozen or more groups of juvies before the plague struck. I know at least 2 people who had received them earlier had spawned them successfully, and didn't hear of any dieoffs among those.
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Luck of the draw

Sh*t happens - the thing Hans had to go through sort of put it all in perspective. The only thing different is that I'm no longer of a mind that it was because of some failing on my part - just one of those things. End of story.
 
lonlangione

lonlangione

Members
There is a fish disease that is sometimes refered to as super ick. It starts out as white spots and then quickly starts to "connect the dots". I have never encountered it but I have heard of people affected by it. Some say it originated in the Asian fish farms. It is certainly lethal and at the same time it doesn't seem to be real contagious. Like it isn't a water bourne disease and fish get it by contact. It usually occurs in tanks with large numbers of fish, like grow outs. To me it seems like a fungal type of disease. That is why when you increase the temperature it goes nuts.
 
Decker504

Decker504

Members
I keep Red Ceibals, but I saw oblongum on AquaBid this week.

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Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
The sale on aquabid closed but the sellers name is tiedyeman. You may want to contact him and see if he has more.

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MonteSS

MonteSS

Members
Sorry to hear about the Oblongums Todd.

A few years ago when my 6 oblongums were growing out they got ick. I raised the temp and added ick medicine. The ick cleared and they got a very aggresive fin rot. IIRC I treated with Melafix and the dead fin pieces fell off and they all healed and did fine. Never saw it again.

My female passes a while ago of unknow causes. Male was bummed for a long time. Now he is about 6" and is a grumpy old man. He runs the 75g SA tank. Never violent, but struts his stuff and always reminds others who is boss.

I think these fish are very inbred too.

Mine came from Chang in Texas.

...Bill
 
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MonteSS

MonteSS

Members
My fishs' parents

Male3c.jpg


Female.jpg


....Bill
 
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