Bichirs thrashing about a bit

[Jakob]

Could be scratching, beginning stages of Ich. Fish often begin scratching before visual symptoms occurr (white spots). In my experience with bichirs the scratching is more of a thrashing.

Just do a little larger water changes than normally and raise the temperature a couple degrees, to be safe, surely doesn't sound like anything serious.

 

[Ponera]

Okay now another one is doing it too. What ailments might cause violent thrashing in fish? I have dosed with 2 rounds of Neoplex so I'm starting to think it could be gill flukes or some such. They are all eating just fine and other than the trashing are pretty much doing great!

Could it be water that has too much pH? All of my snails (3 nerite, 3 black cone) are out and about so I don't think it's water quality given that they are the first to react in my experience.

 

[jaws7777]

I think you need to get a vid so these guys can help you. Try taking it from a few feet away from the tank, something is better than nothing

 

[swrdply400mrelay]

What are your water parameters?

 

[Ponera]

Water parameters are fine. Little bit higher nitrates than perfect so I added on another small water change per week to solve it.

I added a new bichir about a week before the behaviour started. There is a random feeder minnow that refuses to be eaten for like a month or two. It started scratching. Now the bichirs are scratching too. Since I did a full course of neoplex, and since I got ich from this one store before, I suspect it's ich. So I've raised temps to 32 degrees and salted it over the course of 3 days.

It's strange, this store has very good reviews but the only two times I've gone I've gotten ich from it.

 

[Blkpiranha]

First off you shouldn't treat your fish needlessly with medication unless you know what is wrong as you are most likely doing more harm then good and you are stressing your fish every time you medicate.

Secondly if you bought the fish at the store and it didn't have ick then it wasn't the stores fault but your own from either too fast of an acclimation, too cold of water during a water change or your heater always magically unplugging. LOL You can see ick plain as day if you look at the fish. If you bought the fish knowing it had ick then that would be your own fault for introducing it into your tank and infecting the other fish and your water.

Lastly..Cords don't magically unplug so it something you are doing or not doing which allows the plug not to be secure in the socket. It's not good for the fish to always be subjected to temperature changes when your heater goes off and on. Secure the plug so it doesn't come out and do regular water changes,make sure you have adequate filtration and don't over feed the fish and they will be fine.

Invest in a UV sterilizer and you won't have problems with ick again!

 

[jlnguyen74]

Take a close look at the bichir, and check if there's black worm stuck on the scales. Your fish may look like it was sprayed with pepper. You may need to treat your tank/fish for hook worm. Prazi-pro, or Jungle Parasite Guard will take care of that. You may able to find Jungle Parasite Guard from Walmart.

 

[Ponera]

I did the neoplex because I have one bichir that is always thin and whenever anything happens it gets slime coat infections. So it was precautionary to that, since his slime coat was getting blotchy, and also to rule out bacteria since the behaviour was so strange.

The cysts are just starting to show up. It's really strange. I'll check for the hook worm. Are hook worms impacted by heat/salt treatments?

It is just so bizarre. They are all eating voraciously but just do the scratching/thrashing. No real visible issues other than a few tiny cysts just starting to show up now.

 

[Ponera]

Whatever it is, it seems to be reacting very positively to the heat (32C) and salt (heavy enough I can just barely taste it) as well as the aggressive water changes I did. I only saw one thrashing event today and it was relatively small compared to some of the bigger ones. Also for reference I sit exactly next to the tank for 6-12 hours a day so I see all the movement. ALL OF IT. Well okay just the more extreme **** catches the periphery but there was only one event today.

All are desperate for food and only one plant has died while the snails (well established for over a year, can't be the cause) are all doing great too.

I started it 6 days ago, how long should I carry on with the heat/salt? Should I wait maybe 4 days after I see the last thrashing??

 

[jaws7777]

Why not take a vid of the fish so these guys can properly advise you ?