Sick Fire Eel !!!SOS!!!

menegsp

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 17, 2017
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Hello everyone,

The last 4 months I purchased my 2 new fish,( 1 fire eel and 1 black ghost knife fish) in my fresh water tank. Let me say that those fish are the only ones on my fully cycled tank at the moment and I have plans to move them to a lot bigger tank in the coming months. The measurements of water in my tank are ph 7.5, nitrite=0, ammonia=0, temperature 26c.

Now let me talk about my fire eels problem. While the knife fish eats everything (krill, bloodwarms, freezed shrimps) my fire eel after loads of tries of different frozen shrimps we managed to actually find the ones he likes…he was never the easiest to eat and the last month the strange acting started…the last 3 weeks he stopped eating. He started to swim in weird manner doing circles around himself in order to swim…then he would stay upside down in the bottom of the tank. The second week you could see him try to swim again but whenever he tried, it was like his body was moving properly but his head was like hanging and was dragged along( he could not keep his body in a straight line….) this week he is floating on the top of the tank and this seems to happen because his belly seems to have gathered some air preventing him to be able to swim to the bottom of the tank. I should say that the last 5 days I cured the tank with API General Cure powder & API Furan 2 powder & I have also moved him on 30 litre shrimp tank that I also have in order to be more calm in case the knife fish wanted to bother him…I have also seen some small white spots like 3 to 5 on him but cannot understand if he was bitten by the BG while he was in the first tank or it is something else…
I will provide you with some pictures of him…hope someone of you can understand what is happening and help me..


Thank you all for your time trying to understand my problem and hope to see your answers...

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menegsp

Feeder Fish
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Nov 17, 2017
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I was told that it could be a swim bladder.. has anyone managed to treat this? and how?
 

kno4te

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Could be a swim bladder issue. My suggestion would be to lower the water as much as possible till it’s a bit above the fish. Try and get a pvc pipe clear....and see if the fish will go in it and turn itself right side up. Try kanaplex and epsom salt 1Tbsp per 5 gallon.

The white areas atleast on the photo could heater burn. Make sure there’s a guard on the heater.

Sometimes this could be injury related and maybe from hitting the glass or lid.

What’s ur nitrate level by the way?

Best of luck.
 
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menegsp

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 17, 2017
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Could be a swim bladder issue. My suggestion would be to lower the water as much as possible till it’s a bit above the fish. Try and get a pvc pipe clear....and see if the fish will go in it and turn itself right side up. Try kanaplex and epsom salt 1Tbsp per 5 gallon.

The white areas atleast on the photo could heater burn. Make sure there’s a guard on the heater.

Sometimes this could be injury related and maybe from hitting the glass or lid.

What’s ur nitrate level by the way?

Best of luck.
Nitrate = 0
 

Drstrangelove

Potamotrygon
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Oct 21, 2012
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Nitrate = 0
If you have zero nitrates, your tanks sounds uncycled. I suppose if your fish are really small and you have plants (or are doing huge water changes) it could be very low, but that tank looks really small.

Still, it's better to be sure. How are you testing the water? Are you using liquid tests or test strips? Are they expired? Are you following the instructions exactly? What size are your fish in the tank?
 
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Fish Tank Travis

Potamotrygon
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Feb 28, 2016
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The white marks look like scrapes to me, but my heaters are in my sump so I’m not really sure what heater burn looks like.

I would try pure epsom salt, at 1tbsp per five gallons. If you’re feeding all shrimp, it could very easily be constipated, and the symptoms seem to match that as well.
 

thefredpit

Goliath Tigerfish
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+1 on the epsom salt and lowering water level also don't try to feed him till it is all worked out. The white spots look like scrapes from a sharp decoration. I've seen scrapes like that when using a pvc pipe without removing burrs
 

Just Toby

Fire Eel
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Apr 22, 2010
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The top pic has an unprotected heater in it, that needs covering.

The only swim bladder cures I have used are aquarium salt and before a large temperature drop which could be stressful to the fish but a large water change and cold water too up may help.
 

menegsp

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 17, 2017
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If you have zero nitrates, your tanks sounds uncycled. I suppose if your fish are really small and you have plants (or are doing huge water changes) it could be very low, but that tank looks really small.

Still, it's better to be sure. How are you testing the water? Are you using liquid tests or test strips? Are they expired? Are you following the instructions exactly? What size are your fish in the tank?
sorry my nitrates are at 0.25. I use liquid tests and i do change 40% of the water 2 times every week.
 

menegsp

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 17, 2017
6
0
1
37
If you have zero nitrates, your tanks sounds uncycled. I suppose if your fish are really small and you have plants (or are doing huge water changes) it could be very low, but that tank looks really small.

Still, it's better to be sure. How are you testing the water? Are you using liquid tests or test strips? Are they expired? Are you following the instructions exactly? What size are your fish in the tank?
let me asnwer all your questions... the is not new is 6 years old.. it has around 15 anubias, a bunch of Ceratophyllum demersum, Cryptocoryne Wenditi and Limnophila Sessiliflora. i use liquid tests from API and yes all the instructions are followed...:) my BG is around 8cm and the fire eel 16cm. As an update from last night is that i took my fire eel to a vet last night and he also suggested that my eel has a swim blatter problem. He pinched his belly with a special needle and the fish returned back to its normal size....in 2 seconds he removed 5ml of air from its belly....that happend yesterday...tonight i will try feed him with a very small and narrow syringe of course without the needle some boiled pees....i will try put the food directly at his belly...as he won't eat the pees on his own..
 
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