I've noticed my uaru have a couple marks on their faces very similar to the issue someone else had here http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?23667-thing-on-the-face-uaru, it looks pretty much exactly the same. a whitish patch with a reddish ring around it, doesn't look alarming like a weird zit or open sore or anything. In their situation it apparently cleared up on its own, so i'm going to step up my wc's to see if it clears up. does anyone know what it is? scrapes that got infected maybe? i'll include pictures later today.
marks on uaru face
- Thread starter jamntoast
- Start date
My nitrates were pretty high, that's embarrassing. I have apparently been going too hard with the food.
I believe most uaru, oscars, and many other (especially the larger) S American cichlids are very prone to disfigurement directly because of nitrate. Their natural waters have basically a 0.00ppm concentration of nitrates, so even a slightly elevated concentration, while not deadly, can manifest as pits and craters caused by normally benign bacteria that are able to become nuisance, because the high nitrate in many aquariums aid in concentrating the bacteria.
The tannins in the natural waters are also excellent bacterial inhibitors, so without them another step in infection control is lost.
The tannins in the natural waters are also excellent bacterial inhibitors, so without them another step in infection control is lost.
interesting. i'll look into adding a bit of peat into my system as well. I've known for a bit this tank was overstocked and its being compounded because the tank sprung a leak and I've had to lower the water level. that combined with the over crowding and also the uaru getting bigger and eating like pigs has obviously taken its toll. they are going to a new tank as soon as possible, actually just waiting on a stand, and with that and more wc's I think it should be okay going forward.
I agree with Duane. I run peat in some of my SA tanks. Get the nitrates down and your problem should clear up.