Are prominant red gills normal in African lungfish?

[Michibi]

Hello all! About 2 months ago I noticed that my uni's 11" African lungfish recently began showing his gills and they seemed to grow a bit longer and redder. Could this be bacterial gill disease? I checked the ammonia and its "safe" so I didn't think it was ammonia poisoning. I gave him a weeks treatment of Tetracyline but it didn't really do anything. He's been acting ok and eating fine but I do notice when he "breathes" underwater he bobs his head up and down as if he's maybe passing water through his gills? He never used to do that, so I'm a little concerned. I researched and haven't found anything or any pictures that look the way he does. I'm guessing he is ok since he acts fine (maybe a bit less active than usual. He used to come up to me when I came into the lab but he doesn't anymore. :"( ), but I want him to be as comfortable as possible.

Any advice knowledge about what might be going on?

I'll add the parameters when I return to work, but I keep the water as clean as I can by removing old food (red worms and algae wafers) and his poop. I do a 30-35% water change once a week. He's got a heater, air stone and filter.

One of the gills on the left is so tiny compared to the other side which I thought was interesting. There is a gif of his "breathing" sorry its kinda badly made lol.

 

[TheLastKon]

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...rieni-vs-nigerian-annectens-annectens.437449/

Looks like some of the lungfish in that thread. Doesn’t look concerning but I don’t know the Fish. I would keep monitoring and hopefully someone with more experience will chime in. Maybe contact one of the guys in the thread above and see if they think anything is wrong.

 

[Michibi]

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...rieni-vs-nigerian-annectens-annectens.437449/

Looks like some of the lungfish in that thread. Doesn’t look concerning but I don’t know the Fish. I would keep monitoring and hopefully someone with more experience will chime in. Maybe contact one of the guys in the thread above and see if they think anything is wrong.

Thanks so much for the response and personal opinion! I'll see if they will know then.

 

[Michibi]

King-eL I saw your post on your Nigerian lungfish and I noticed my guy looks really similar in the gills. If you don't mind me asking, do you think they are the same species and would you say the gills on mine are unhealthy? (I noticed in the past 6 months they have been slowly growing. They never used to be this long and colorful. I honestly don't know what kind of lungfish he is either since he came from a student I rarely see)

 

[Michibi]

UPDATE: Took some white material (food?) out of his gill with a pipette and checked it under the microscope and saw he has chilodonella (or tetrahymena, but it looks more like chilo)!! LOTS of it especially in the sand. It makes sense now as to why he's been struggling to breathe more and has red gills. He's also been flipping himself upside down nearly 100% of the time that he tries to get air. He struggled so much that he broke his tail, so I think that made things worse. His tail healed up within a week and he is ok but I'm still very worried and have provided him many stones for him to lay/lean on to get upright.

I started giving him coppersafe 13 days ago since we didn't have much on hand with 50% water changes every 3 days with re-dosing. I lurked around the forums and realized how unsafe that is for a scaleless fish, so I gave him half a tablespoon of salt in his 20 gal (with only half filled with water). I saw that raising the temp is recommended, but I don't have the right kind of heater since mine stops at a fixed temp.

I read Tetra Parasite Guard might be ok to give a scaleless fish??...but I want to know you all's opinion first. All I can think of that's not going to be harsh on him is salt and the parasite guard. We have Prazi Pro too, but I don't think it will help with the protozoans..I'm not positive though.

I'll also mention he has rotifers all in the tank too but since they aren't parasites I'm not sure it's a really big deal for him.

Parameters:
GH:0
KH:40
pH: 7.0
NO2: 0
NO3: 50
Ammonia is safe

 

[SfirtenK]

Good luck on curing your fish. Are you sure lungs have no scales? I thought they did have scales. Also i think your fish will not grow well if kept in a small thank. I know this because at the pet store i bought mine they had 3 each in a 20 gallon tank. They still have 2 and they barely grew while mine that i jeep in a 55 doubled its size in just 6 months.

 

[Michibi]

Good luck on curing your fish. Are you sure lungs have no scales? I thought they did have scales. Also i think your fish will not grow well if kept in a small thank. I know this because at the pet store i bought mine they had 3 each in a 20 gallon tank. They still have 2 and they barely grew while mine that i jeep in a 55 doubled its size in just 6 months.

Thank you! I really want to put him in a 100 gallon tank but there is no room in our lab Maybe once he gets healthy again I can convince my boss to find a spot for him. Also, about the scale thing, I thought the same! But my boss said something about them being scaleless but heck if I know haha. He feels just like a slippery eel so I guess he’s close enough to being scaleless but not actually I just want to be on the safe side with the meds ‘cause he is my fish son.

 

[Michibi]

Lil update for anyone having similar problems. I dosed him the Parasite Guard for 2 weeks and it didn't do anything tbh. I'm kinda dumb, I don't think it really affects protozoans in the first place oops. BUT I caved and just personally bought him a adjustable heater last week and cranked the temp to 90F and wow..every time I look under the microscope I don't see any chilo! I've literally only found one out of the 4 to 5 times I've suctioned out some water today, so I'm super glad. He's being more responsive to my finger on the glass too which makes me happy. He mostly doesn't want to eat his shrimp/pleco wafers but he like to take reptomin floating sticks when i push it in his mouth. (is that ok for him to eat since its turtle food?? he loves it)

There is still one problem though that I really hope someone can help me with. The past 2-3 months he can't balance himself when he swims up for air! He always tends to flip himself to one side or completely upside down. I've helped him a few times and when he was in my hand I could feel him trying hard to flip himself while I had him gently grasped. So strange. Does anyone have a clue what this is about?? Maybe neurological problems?

 

[TheLastKon]

Bladder problem perphaps? Maybe some salt will help heal it overtime. Goodluck!