L. curviceps disease

[Piabinha@aol.com]

i hope you can help me with this problem.  i have had for months now a sick
Laetacara curviceps male.  i bought it for my female who's very mature and
ready for spawning.  but the day it arrived, the male has had some kind of
parasite.  it does not show good color, but a dark, dull gray.  it's belly is
a little concave.  its eyes are a little opaque.  and it shows no interest in
mating.

other than that, it acts and feeds perfectly normal.  today i got fed up with
it and set up a hospital tank with a tank i found in the garbage this week.  i
filled it halfway with a mixture of water from my fish tanks and fresh tap
water.  i placed my sick fish in it and poured a small amount of non-iodized
(kosher) salt.  i will feed it tomorrow morning.

so far he seems to be doing ok.  do you think this salt treatment can rid it
of whatever parasite it has?  i'm afraid of using medication since i can't
tell if it has a bacterial (gram negative or positive), protozoan, or other
multicellular parasite.  fish disease treatises and instructions are so
confusing. 

any help appreciated.

tsuh yang chen, nyc


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