help my palmas is sick

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K

klipsch

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2006
100
0
0
Philippines
hi guys,

i need help my palmas polli is sick. i dont know whats wrong with him, but he swims like his drunk and has no sense of direction at all. he will sometime go upside down and have a hard time recovering.

he looks like he is having a hard time swimming, so lately ive been seeing him floating around.

what do you think is wrong with him? is he sick or dying?
 
Sounds like it is having swim bladder issues, which is common for polypterids. (Polypterids have a modified swim bladder that is used for surface respiration.) It can recover, stay the same, or starve to death. I've had an endlicheri that swims in circles for years. I've also had bichirs that only float at the top and eventually starve.
 
hope he recovers. one of my dels swims in circles too sometimes and i think its gonna be circles for the rest of his life since he's been like that for as long as i can remember.. but he is eating and is actually rather fat. it probably depends on your bichir's ability to heal itself, if ever.hope he makes it, buddy.
 
thanks guys, men i hope he will recover soon.

problem he is just 4in and still thin since i got him just a month ago, he is one of my favorites he also eats like a pig for about 2 weeks before this bladder problem.

i havent see him eat recently, i tried everything from MP, guppies, FBW, pellets etc.

@spoof

good thing your del is still eating and fat! thanks, i really hope he makes it. he might not be that expensive but im really attached to this bichir

ill try elbeatch's suggestion and hand feed him since he doesnt resist when i get him with my hand
 
hey guys,

what do you think is the fastest way to threat sa swim bladder problem? will salt do the trick..

should i isolate him w/ my other bichirs? currently he is in my 80g bichir tank with 4 other bichirs and tiny guppies for food.
 
Try tranferring your bichir to low level water. Abt less than double the height of the fish. This lessens the water pressure. It worked for aros, not sure for bichirs ;)
 
i already transferred him to a 20g hospital tank. i also put some salt. hope this will work...
 
I'm sorry to hear about the little guy. I don't know if it's available in your area, but I have used a product by 'Tank Buddies' called Fungus Cure successfully. The Tank Buddies is a line of effervescent tablets sort of like Alka-Seltzer in a variety of medications. I treated two of my mother's Tiger Barbs and they showed improvement within a day. I asked her not to feed them for two days, then went back over to check on them. They were doing well by that point so I let her feed them a very small amount. After the suggested treatment duration they suffered no ill effects. In fact my wife and I have them now as Mom gave up her aquarium.

The medication itself was a combination of a fungicide coupled with a mild antibiotic to combat any secondary infections. As swim bladder issues can commonly be caused by a bacterial infection the antibiotic was probably efficacious here. You might try a broad spectrum antibiotic if the Tank Buddies product isn't available. Good luck, and I hope he recovers!
 
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