I was wondering if anyone has had a bichir die from abnormal swimming before death? I have had a few bichirs die from the following symtoms: spiral swimming, difficultly in swimming balance, and a tendency to flip when placed right side up. It looks as if the fish are starved of oxygen, but there are no obstacles to the water surface. I feed my bichirs mostly silversides, raw shrimp pieces, and occasional tilapia fillets. I have seen water snakes die from spasms due to excessive thiaminase in there diet. Does anyone know if silversides have high thiaminase? Anyway, i would like to prevent more deaths if possible.
Bichir diet?
- Thread starter Jackskeletonzero
- Start date
i have had that happened several times, and in my case they could last from days to almost two weeks like this. in the end i wasn't able to save any of them. and mine didn't bloat up at all. it seemed to come on out of the blue. i don't really know whats the cause.
It's funny you mention that. I lost two of my senegals exactly as you described half a year ago like that. Both, at the same time, looked as if they couldn't breath and bellied up at the bottom. The spiralled around for a while and whenever I tried to right them they just flipped. Horrible hours spent trying to pass water over their gills and then air and so forth. It happened in the span of 3-4 hours or so.
They both died and reacted like that within minutes of one another and I think it was something I fed them. They were given scallop and none of the other fish ate any of it. I guess they had some sort of adverse reaction to it.
They both died and reacted like that within minutes of one another and I think it was something I fed them. They were given scallop and none of the other fish ate any of it. I guess they had some sort of adverse reaction to it.
Thanks for all the replies guys, it seems that this process occurs at least occasionally leading to death. I will start adding a vitamin supplement with all B vitamins to food. Although this may not help, I need to start somewhere. Also feeding fish that are similar to the native fish where bichirs are native may help. Tilapia and many of our native sunfishes may be better than silversides as food.