bichir unable to surface?

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S

Scout

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 27, 2011
24
0
0
Austin TX
hi guys,

this evening after cleaning my bichir tank i happened to look over and see my 10" albino senegal struggling to get to the surface. his right pectoral fin was not working and he was trying but failing to get higher than halfway up to the surface. i netted him and put him in a bucket where he is covered by water but able to gulp air. occasionally he will swim around, then flip over on his back. i can set him sternal and he will stay like that for a while. he is not floating. i added some salt to the bucket. all my other bichirs seem fine and water parameters are normal, this is an established tank and this guy has been part of it for at least a year and a half. his right pectoral is still not working, and he has been in the bucket for over two hours now. he does not seem to have any visible injuries. any suggestions?

thanks so much!
 
Oh wow.. Any tank mates that could have rammed him? They're tough so I doubt a good smack would show much but in the right spot might do that.. Or he could have tried jumping and messed himself up bashing against the lid.. If you could put a colonized sponge filter or something in there to prevent ammonia spikes itll help. Another possibility is a swollen swim bladder does he seem bloated or any localized bloating

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If you could get some pics it might help figuring this out
 
I don't know how, but I overlooked that haha I think some pics would be awesome towards solving this problem and for some proof lol. You don't see a sen especially albino that size very often.
 
hey guys,

unfortunately he was dead the next am. everyone else is still fine. i will get pictures of him when i get home later on, i put him out on the porch to dry, going to do something with his bones maybe. we bought him large and fat and he stayed that way, he had been traded in to one of the lfs before we purchased him. we feed frozen tilapia.

thanks
 
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