Rich L. Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 Hi All, Just Got my first Zebra Acara. Added it to my cichlid tank and its looking great. Noticed it was breathing very heavy, but no other signs of distress (the other fish are all fine). Acara seems to be swimming, feeding, and interacting normally. Watched it closer and I notice that I could see the filament part of the underlying gill protruding past the operculum (gill cover) by about a millimeter or so. Follows the profile of the operculum evenly and is the same on both sides. The filament part looks blue, but not like oxygen depleted, more like iridescent pigment. Is this normal for Zebra Acaras? Is this a symptom of a known parasite or infection? I don't think I've ever had a fish where I could see protruding gill filament. I dosed with Metro and Praziquantel to be safe since the fish was new. 125g, pH 6.8, NH3 -0ppm, NO2-0ppm, NO3 - dosing to 30ppm, Kh, Dh 2 to 3 (Seattle water) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikkiRae Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 How is the fish doing? Do you have a picture? I have never had a Zebra Acara so I will probably less helpful than google but I will try. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 I think @tolstoy21 keeps these so maybe he can chip in I have no experience with zebra acara to say whether this normal or not 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 (edited) On 4/15/2024 at 10:50 PM, Rich L. said: Is this normal for Zebra Acaras? Not in my experience. I haven't seen that in any of my fish. I guess it could be normal, just haven't seen it myself. Attaching pics of my male and female. Edited April 17 by tolstoy21 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich L. Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 Thank you all for your replies. Apologies for my slow reply - been busy couple weeks at work. Here is a gif of the fish. It's difficult to see the extra gill tissue without some motion because it has pigment and blends in. I showed the full video around and most people seem to think its a deformity or injury when the fish was a fry. Chang was very cool about it and offered to exchange it out for another Acara - But I'm thinking I'll keep him at this point. He is the most aggressive cichlid in the tank - so him getting short of breath help even things out. Please let me know what you think of this gill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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