Sick Delhezi

[Jimmyk]

I have 6 delhezis (about 5 inches in length), and I have had them since July. Two of them suddenly became ill on October 14 and one of them passed away yesterday (October 23). I still have not found the cause. All I remember was that I did a 25% water change on October 10 and fed them some tilapia on October 12, which I only feed once every one or two weeks. The first symptoms were heavy breathing, lethargy and no interest in food. On October 16, I noticed one of the two sick bichirs had a cloudy eye. They stopped eating but never looked thinner. Normally, they look slimmer when I skip feeding. The two then showed signs of redness on skin and fins, suggesting bacterial infection and septicemia. Then, on October 20, I noticed dropsy. At first I thought it was flukes, so I treated the tank with Prazipro already on October 14 when the first unusual behavior appeared, because I remembered seeing some flashing or twitching earlier that week. I waited a few days and their condition remained the same so I ruled out flukes because usually Prazipro works in less than 48 hours. However, I did continue with the Prazipro treatment and did a second round of treatment. I have pool filter sand as substrate. It's not super fine and all the grains are of different sizes. I suspect sand impaction. What do you guys think? I had given them a big meal of tilapia and a few small pieces of food were left in the tank and I did not remove them right away, thinking they would eventually eat it. Could some larger grain of sand be mixed in and stuck on the uneaten food and so when they went to eat it, they ate some sand along with the food? I'm considering changing my sand to another brand of pool filter sand that is finer and more even in size. The 25% water change I did was with vitamin C (which I had used two three times before to remove chlorine and chloramine) and a heavy metal remover. Could chlorine and chloramine have caused this if the vitamin C was not effective in removing them? I checked the water before the water change and it was 0 for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The reading for the nitrate was strange I thought, so I used two different tests to verify. The tank is 125 gallons but only filled with 40 gallons of water and it was set up since June this year with sand and filter from my 40 gallon cycled tank. I do have a lot of Jungle Val and floating plants in there, so maybe it's possible that nitrate is 0? The 4 healthy bichirs seem to be doing just fine. I'm really confused. I really appreciate any insight. Thank you.

 

[Rougarou]

Interesting case. The one thing that isn't clear in your post is your feeding routine. Are you feeding them every one to two weeks, or are you feeding tilapia in a rotation with other things every one to two weeks? What else are you feeding them? It's possible that those two fish may have been being out competed for food by more aggressive eaters in the tank. Malnutrition leaves them open to other diseases. Just a thought.

 

[Jimmyk]

Interesting case. The one thing that isn't clear in your post is your feeding routine. Are you feeding them every one to two weeks, or are you feeding tilapia in a rotation with other things every one to two weeks? What else are you feeding them? It's possible that those two fish may have been being out competed for food by more aggressive eaters in the tank. Malnutrition leaves them open to other diseases. Just a thought.

Thank you for replying to this thread. I determined that it was bloat. Both fish that were sick have passed unfortunately. After epsom salt baths, both fish pooped something dark green. I found a thread where someone’s bichir that had bloat also pooped something green. It was really sad! I think what happened was I probably over fed the tilapia that day and they got bloat but I didn’t realize that it was bloat until it was too late. I also was feeding them various pellets almost everyday. I think now I understand why I have read people suggesting feeding bichirs every other day.

 

[Rougarou]

Sorry for your loss. Feeding every day is too much, IMO. I would recommend feeding every other day, no more than they will eat in a few minutes. Keep in mind that fish in the wild don't eat every day. Also try to feed them a varied diet. I like to feed mine a weekly rotation of cut fish, earthworms, and bloodworms, with occasional treat of a few chunks of beef heart thrown in about once a month. I like to throw in some live ghost shrimp every once in a while, just to give them something to hunt down. Avoid live fish(guppies, Rosies), unless you're willing to raise them yourself in sanitary conditions. Store bought feeders are typically disease ridden garbage. And also in my opinion, and please don't take this as a criticism, but even in a large tank, 6 young carnivorous fish are difficult to feed as a group. There is always going to be natural competition for food whereby the more aggressive members of the group will outcompete the more passive members of the group. I've learned over the years, that Bichir's and Ropefish do best in families of 2 to 4. Anymore than that, and you're almost forced to over feed on a consistent basis, which isn't good on many levels. On another note, you're fishes poop generally should be cylindrical, and olive/greenish in color. You can generally use the amount of poop you vacuum up during cleanings as a barometer for your fishes digestive health.

 

[Jimmyk]

After much research, I determined that the cause of the death for the two Bichirs is chlorine poisoning. Hopefully, this is helpful for someone else. I now mix my own water conditioner and use 5 times the normal dosage to treat my water.

 

[Rougarou]

After much research, I determined that the cause of the death for the two Bichirs is chlorine poisoning. Hopefully, this is helpful for someone else. I now mix my own water conditioner and use 5 times the normal dosage to treat my water.

Interesting. What led you to this conclusion?

 

[Jimmyk]

1. The two sick bichirs became sick right after the water change. They showed symptoms of chlorine poisoning.
2. It was the time of the year that cities could up the chlorine they pump into water without notice.