Bichirs Rubbing.

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Illbuyourcatfish

Candiru
MFK Member
Apr 4, 2010
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Witnessed my two smaller bichirs, one ornate and one palmas polli both rub today. Swimming along and then turn sideways and rub on the sand really quick and somewhat violently. Water params are normal, temp is 80, theyre currently housed in a 72 with a handfull of dither fish. No other fish are showing signs of anything. Any ideas as to what could be the issue? If it was one bichir once that wouldnt bother my, but I've seen one do it twice and just saw the other do it for the first time.

Other notes, only live they get are earthworms. The tank is equipped with a UV sterilizer. This perticular tank has been running for 4 months.
 
3 out of 6 bichirs now with this behavior, vigorous scratching on the substrate. I'm at a loss to explain whats causing it. I need to be pointed in the right direction before i can take a stab at treatment.
 
No jungle, trying seachem para guard instead at 1/4 does to start. Since i see no sign of parasites other than the constant scratching, success will be determined if the scratching stops.
 
it looks like tiny white hairs on them! Finally a visual! I read somewhere on here what these are and can be treatable but i forget what was used. Im currently using a half dosing of seachem para guard and we'll take it from there. If anyone knows how to treat these parasites dont be afraid to chime in! If i remember correctly the treatment works in like an hour, med starts with an f?
 
Now that I've determined what they are and that jungle parasite clear can kill them, what do I do about the seachem paraguard that's already in the water? Can it be removed with carbon like mos meds? The bottle doesn't say anything about removing carbon before administering so that's why I ask if carbon can remove it.

Should I wait a few days to see how the seachem affects it before trying to remove it and start using the jungle? Don't want to stress the fish with so many meds, but I want to kill these parasites before they can do any damage.
 
Well its been almost 48 hours since the parasite clear was added and there are no visible worms on my bichirs, also it looks as if every planaria that was living in the substrate was killed, the bottom 6 inches of the glass is lined with dead planaria.
 
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