Bichir sudden death

[batang_mcdo]

I just lost my 16 inch lap 5 days ago. Have not found the cause of his death. But lately its been cold here about 23 deg Celsius room temperature. What temperature cam they handle? When i went down to check my endli now was
Swimming wiered like its also quite weak. Tested 0 ammonia.ph was a bit high at 8.5
Im still suspecting the unusually cold weather? Any inputs?


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[Dr.B]

What are tank mates, what is tank size what are you feeding?

 

[Aw3s0m3]

How big is the tank? Tank mates? How long has the temp been dropped for? My bichirs have been able to handle 78F, I believe around 25C, and they'll even handle extreme drops, around 15C, short term. They are extremely tough.


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[batang_mcdo]

Ive been feeding them frozen market prawn and fteshwater sardines , this has been their diet for more than a year np
Now tankmate is a new guinea tiger and an asian arowana but those 2 dont bother my bichirs.


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[Bichisaur]

Any signs of infection?

 

[Aw3s0m3]

Besides the temp drop, were there any other changes? It could just be one of those random deaths that we'll never know the cause of. Lost a teug randomly that way.


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[batang_mcdo]

Lost my Endli today. last night I saw him swimming upwards. No sign of external infection though.
This is 3rd time i lost a big bichir for unknown reason.
they just suddenly seem to weaken and die.
not much changed in my routine, except maybe i skipped a weekly water change.
I'm gonna change or remove some crushed corals my ph seem to have sky rocketed.

 

[Burbotman]

Sorry to hear. I would be aggressive with the WC and vigilant testing the water for the next while. Ammonia 0, but check your nitrites and nitrates- rule that out

 

[Cohazard]

Sounds like vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency from a poor diet.

Both sardines and prawn contain thiaminase, which is an enzyme that breaks down or renders vitamin b1 useless leading to thiamine deficiency disease: muscle spasms, hemorrhage, loss of equilibrium, etc.

This is why including a quality pellet food is important for predatory fish such as bichirs.

I recommend you switch your fish to tilapia, as it is not known to contain thiaminase.

Also, add pellets to their diet to keep the diet varied.

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