I've had my Lima shovel nose for about six months now. He is right at 12" and Def one of my favorite fish in the tank but after he eats (around 30 mins prior) he starts jerking around and spits out a slime substance. Sometimes only once or several small ones. Sometimes he eats it again and then spits it back out a few mins later. He has done this since day one and seems to be in great health. I feed him krill, silversides, beef heart, squid and any other frozen fish I find at my LFS. Water perimeters are excellent. Is this normal for these fish? Has anyone ever run into this ?
Anyone have experience with Lima shovel nose?
- Thread starter umbeeguy
- Start date
Mine "sheds its skin" and eats it or other fish try to eat it. This usually only occurs when I am doing water changes and cleaning the tank. It is a sign of something it doesn't like in the water, I think I read that somewhere.
If this is not slime shedding, then I struggle to imagine what this may be. Any chance of photos? I am afraid I've never encountered this symptom. Have you seen a coat shedding?
Squid has a transparent body part, looks like a clear plastic wrap. Could it be it?
A total shot in the dark: intestinal parasites. I'd treat with praziquantel and metronidazole (can be combined and given through food) to see if this combo has any effect, unless better guesses are arrived at.
Squid has a transparent body part, looks like a clear plastic wrap. Could it be it?
A total shot in the dark: intestinal parasites. I'd treat with praziquantel and metronidazole (can be combined and given through food) to see if this combo has any effect, unless better guesses are arrived at.
Mine sheds a slime coat about once a week as well, normally after eating.
It is also a bit of a fussy eater.
It is also a bit of a fussy eater.
The OP insists it is not a slime coat shed and the OP says they know what slime coat shed looks like...
... but I wanted to be sure.
... but I wanted to be sure.
I'll try to get a pic. It seems more often when he eats silversides. It's like he is throwing up the slime coat after they are digested. It's a clear milky film and like I mentioned before he sometimes eats it again lol. I'll try and get a pic but he seems to be in great health otherwise.
If he eats his slime coat, which is quite normal, and shortly after you feed him and he throws up pieces of the just eaten slime coat, then there is much less of a mystery although I don't quite know why he would do that. At least, I'd not worry about it.
How positive are you that its something he's spitting up. I have a lima and he sheds his slime coat every month or so. He shakes his head violently and opens his mouth while doing this. It could be easy to assume that the slime coat is coming from the stomach. If it is 100% coming from the stomach then as one already said it could potentialy be some type of internal parasite. If your hesitant to dump meds in the tank you could try soaking some food in Epsom salt if it doesn't eats pellets you could try a bath in epsom salt.