My jurupari is turning red

[DaveB]

I have had my jurupari for almost two years and he really hasn't ever changed. So today I got a little freaked out when I noticed him turning red in spots. It's mostly along the areas where his fins join his body but his head has taken a bit of a magenta tinge to it too.

He seems to be swimming around normally but his tail is scrunched up a bit more than usual (scrunching is not the proper term, I know... the opposite of being fanned way out).

Is this a symptom of disease?

I would hope maybe this is just a good sign that he's coloring up and our other jurupari (introduced about a month ago) is a female, but I'm pretty sure they're both males, plus they never hang out at all. Or maybe he's just thrilled that I took the orange heads out into their own breeder tank. But honestly from the looks of it it looks way more like something bad rather than him just coloring up and being happy.

My girlfriend insists that she can see some sort of velvety sheen on his tail fin but I'm not really sure that's anything other than the light hitting it since it's scrunched up. But it's worth mentioning.

It's tough to get on camera since the flash is washing it out (and he's shy), but here are a few attempted photos. I put the blue background on after a water change to see if it would do anything to bring the color out. (It's more pronounced than the faint red you can barely make out in these pics.)

 

[ShadowStryder]

By my first look it appears that you actually have a Satanoperca Luecosticta (Red Amazona variant).
They will get Red in the Operculum region and in the fins and caudal. Also lips will appear to be pinkish.

 

[japes]

As ShadowStryder has said, thats a Satanoperca leucosticta, and the the correct term for the caudal fin is 'clamped' or 'clamping'.

Personally, I can't tell from the photos. If he's currently eating, I'd keep a close eye on his behaviour, colouration and appetite, that's about the only advice I can give at this stage, let us know how he (or she?) goes.

 

[DaveB]

Do Leucosticta change in color at a certain point in their lifespan?

This is the first time it has ever occurred to me to question the LFS's labeling (even though they have been wrong on several other fish) and the more I look the more it seems that leucosticta it is. They're tough to tell apart from the profiles I've seen but the lips seem a bit different from the jurupari photos I'm looking at now.

Anyway, he has been a rock through several major issues with the tanks and moves, so it's odd that I'm only now seeing a change, which is why I ask... is it just an age thing?

What about this newer guy? He came from a different store and someone who really seemed to know her stuff... also leucosticta? Or jurupari? What are the ways to tell the two apart?

 

[japes]

That's a Jurupari.

Leucosticta and Jurupari have different facial patterns, Leucostictas patterns are all dots, where the Juruparis have dots as well as dark lines running from their mouth up to their eyes.

 

[DaveB]

I'm worried that he's got some sort of disease. Fin rot or something. He's clamping almost all the time and his side fins look like they're in tatters. There's actually a hole in the left one. I haven't seen him get hassled by any fish in there. He's by far the biggest guy in the tank and noone else is aggressive. I'm not finding much of anything about disease in geophagus/satanoperca online other than that they get HITH sometimes... could he have some sort of parasite or something?

 

[japes]

Look into treating with Melafix, Pimafix, and salt perhaps.

 

[straitjacketstar]

Looks like the "velvety" parts of the fins or the white tips - as they appear to me in the photo - is dead tissue.
The red at the base of the fins is also a pretty good bet that something is wrong, as it looks more like irritation than the fish's own coloration.
I would isolate the fish and treat with salt. Keep water clean and very well aerated.
If it's going downhill fast I would treat with Maracyn II.

 

[ShadowStryder]

Leucostictas are quite often shipped in as Juraparis and many times the appear to have lines on the face but as they mature the irridecent spotting takes over the facial pattern.

What are yours house with. Satanopercas are not aggro and can be bullied easily. Mine are quite healthy and eating very well but their tails do on occasion appear to be clamped.
If the fins or caudal appear to be disintegrating or being eaten away from the edge towards the body, then start treating for fin/tail rot. There are many medications out there to treat with. Otherwise I would keep an eye on them as long as they are eating well I would not treat.
Satanoperca as Geophagus in general like clean water, well filtered water.

 

[DaveB]

He's in with tetras, barbs, two gouramis, the other jurupari, 5 clown loaches, 3 rainbows, 2 plecos, and my baby Aro (for now). The only fish that might pick on him is my male krib, which has been ornery since his wife died. But he's usually on the other side of the tank. The water is always of the highest quality and I just did a change yesterday. Salt content is low, I suppose, since I ran out, but I haven't been dosing salt since I salt bombed it to deal with ich at the end of march anyway. I can start using salt again.

I believe I do have some maracyn II laying around. I guess I'll put the redheads back (they ate their babies again, making them 0 for 4 in their breeding attempts) and drop him into the 10g tank. My only concern is that the sponge filter in there isn't adequate filtration.

I've been so preoccupied with watching to see if the baby Aro ate that I haven't noticed whether he's eating or not. He's not doing as much eartheating as usual, though, now that I think of it. Usually he goes nuts after the water changes and uproots all the little plants. So far the terrain is still perfectly flat and undisturbed.

Edit: I just dropped in some krill pellets and he got a few. So that's good.