Electric catfish with unusual swelling

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DemiGorgon

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 31, 2016
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I have maintained a 65-gallon planted tank for my 15 year-old electric catfish for 6 months now, where she lives alone except for snails and other random swimming invertebrates. I feed sinking carnivore pellets, as that is what her previous keeper fed. Previously, she had been kept in a bare-bottom tank with a few aquatic ferns.

For the last two months or so, I have been noticing that her body, from the adipose fin back, has been looking wider than in front of it, but I attributed that to rebuilding her fat pad; her previous owner had trouble remembering to feed her, and she was way too thin when she came to me.
For about the last month, Sparky's appetite has gone down, and she's been less active, although water quality, at least in terms of nitrogen compounds, has been fine. KH and GH have both been low, as has pH, but I added oyster grit to her filter (tank-side magnetic impeller type), and those parameters all came up to acceptable levels. And the plants all perked up.

I'm down to monthly water changes (50%), but never due to any water quality problems that I am measuring with my dipsticks, but because I notice a dip in appetite and activity level. I'm also backed-off to normal feeding schedule from a fattening-up schedule. Full tummy every 3-4 days is all she seems to want.

Tank gets natural light from French doors about 5 feet away, and 12 hours artificial on a timer.

Yesterday, I happened to get a good look at her for the first time in a few days, and saw that her back end, behind the anal pore where I'm pretty sure there are no organs, just muscle tissue, is super swollen, looking stretched and fluid-filled.
My pics are not great, but they show something of what I'm talking about.

Using API sticks, these are her quality numbers from day before yesterday, before I noticed the problem:
GH 60; KH 80; pH 6.8; NO2/NO3 0; NH3/NH4 0.

The closest thing I could find to what I'm dealing with is bloat, so I started oddball's bloat protocol by doing a 50% water change, adding a little NaCl (less than 1tsp/2gal) and will be picking up some Abx, hopefully with praziquantel, and some Epsom salts this afternoon when I get off work.

Does anyone have experience with this? Good outcome or bad, your experience would be helpful to me.

Sorry this is so long; I tried to follow the help-us-help-you protocol.


View attachment 1212031 View attachment 1212032 View attachment 1212031 View attachment 1212032
 
Thanks. That's a good write-up. No need to apologize for doing the right thing.

The fish is seriously deformed, of course. Has it always had this bent shape? If yes, it may muddle up any diagnosis we come up with. I don't think we know what to expect from a deformed fish.

The body of an electric catfish contains a biobattery that IIRC stretches the whole body length. Something might have gone wrong with that apparatus and caused the muscles to seize and produce such a bent backbone shape.

It is not easy to see clearly but the swelling can be discerned.

Let us know if the fish has had this shape from birth or some such or if it is recent. And we can go from there.

********************************************

Sticks are notoriously unreliable for the fine measurement that our hobby requires. I'd earnestly propose you buy a liquid test kit like this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/162185125960?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true and chuck the sticks.
 
thebiggerthebetter said:
Thanks. That's a good write-up. No need to apologize for doing the right thing.

The fish is seriously deformed, of course. Has it always had this bent shape? If yes, it may muddle up any diagnosis we come up with. I don't think we know what to expect from a deformed fish.

The body of an electric catfish contains a biobattery that IIRC stretches the whole body length. Something might have gone wrong with that apparatus and caused the muscles to seize and produce such a bent backbone shape.

It is not easy to see clearly but the swelling can be discerned.

Let us know if the fish has had this shape from birth or some such or if it is recent. And we can go from there.

********************************************

Sticks are notoriously unreliable for the fine measurement that our hobby requires. I'd earnestly propose you buy a liquid test kit like this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/162185125960?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true and chuck the sticks.
Click to expand...
No, the bend is new. My impression is that the swelling has made the tail too heavy to hold up, but it could be something else, of course.
This is how she looked a few months ago.

IMG_0183.JPG
 
I would suggest increasing your water change schedule. Even in a well planted tank such as yours, I would go at least 25%-50% weekly; with a fish with a high bioload.
 
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DemiGorgon said:
No, the bend is new. My impression is that the swelling has made the tail too heavy to hold up, but it could be something else, of course.
This is how she looked a few months ago.

View attachment 1212041
Click to expand...
The bend is still there, merely less pronounced.

I think it may be finally succumbing to the consequences of the disfigurement, let it be genetic or an injury from long ago.

If it is genetically deformed (mutated), such a hiccup in the genes never occurs alone but there is always a bouquet of problems, including relatively poor health, shortened lifespan, internal organ problems, etc.

Is the fish feeding now as you described - once to a full tummy in 3-4 days?

Since you don't have a liquid test kit, I'd take a sample of your water to a reliable LFS for a test now before your kit arrives.
 
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thebiggerthebetter said:
The bend is still there, merely less pronounced.

I think it may be finally succumbing to the consequences of the disfigurement, let it be genetic or an injury from long ago.

If it is genetically deformed (mutated), such a hiccup in the genes never occurs alone but there is always a bouquet of problems, including relatively poor health, shortened lifespan, internal organ problems, etc.

Is the fish feeding now as you described - once to a full tummy in 3-4 days?

Since you don't have a liquid test kit, I'd take a sample of your water to a reliable LFS for a test now before your kit arrives.
Click to expand...

I guess I see what you mean, but I can't agree with the shortening of the lifespan (she's fifteen). Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take the water to be tested while I wait for my liquid test to come back.
 
Well, FishBase lists max age of 10 years but it is a soft number because there is not enough data http://www.fishbase.se/summary/Malapterurus-electricus.html

If we were to believe this number, your catfish may be simply about to pass away from age.

But I'd think e-cats live much longer than that, perhaps at least a few decades. Not that my guess means much at all, just for the sake of the argument. Then passing at 15 years from "natural" causes is a premature death.

Again, what I am trying to say is that the shortening of lifespan is common in mutants. From my weak knowledge, I can't say that 100% of mutants suffer from this.

Furthermore, we don't know if Sparky (btw cute name) is a mutant or an injury survivor or neither and is just passing away from old age. At least IDK.

One more thought: there are many species in the Malapterus genus now as a result of a relatively recent revision. There used to be just one - electricus.

But if Sparky was a genuine and healthy electricus, at 15 years it surely should have been 3' or larger. Yes, 36"+. Yes, raised in captivity. There are specimen like that, especially well known in Japan and Asia. So another two possibilities are she is a dwarf (mutant kind again) or had been severely stunted, albeit I'd expect it still would have grown to at least 1.5'. Or not an electricus but a different smaller-growing species in the genus.

Sorry, the deeper we dig, the muddier it gets. Too much guess this and guess that...
 
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