help with sick bichir

[pyrate]

sup all,

i have a 7 or 8 year old 16" polypterus in a 200g tank all to himself and he has always been healthy and happy but recently in the last 4 days he has been keeping his tail twisted to one side and slightly curled and held up, even when swimming or sleeping/resting.

what is wrong with him and steps i can take to help him? is this blot or back end bloat? does my fish just have to fart?

i do a 1/4 water change once a month and just did that a week ago. i usually feed him shrimp or fresh caught tuna chunks every week or 2. mostly chunks of frozen tuna steaks this past winter so im picking up fresh shrimp today in case thats it.

nothing else seems wrong with him and he is still active and friendly but it looks scary bad. his front half looks normal but his back half is horizontal and twisted in a sideways "S" shape and i know hes uncomfortable at the least.

please any help or advice is really appreciated.

 

[beblondie]

any redness around the vent area?

 

[pyrate]

no redness or discoloration anywhere that ive noticed.
i checked with my local shop this evening and on their advice tested the nitrate level at 50mg/l so my next move is to do several large water changes and add epsom salt and softener as i do so.

any help or advice is really appreciated
heres a pic from just now:

 

[zerojquan85]

could be the diet u give him... not enough proteins???? It could be with age.. fish just change...

looks like a big guy.. so maybe overtime.. its like that..

 

[pyrate]

his diet is raw shrimp and tuna steak and this happened within a 2-4 day period.

nitrate levels were 50 mg/l+ so a 75% water change was done and i added epsom salts as well as softener. ill post any results but please let me know if anyone has seen or heard of anything like this before or any help at all

 

[madscientist]

looks like possibly genetics or injury. any signs of difficulties in swimming? try to feed a more varied diet that inclues some calcium

 

[pyrate]

swimming looks ok, undulates through the tail straight and normal, though he hasnt been swimming as much.

also today his slime coat looks like it is beginning to slough off starting at the tail.

ill buy some hikari predator food today and try feeding him that. fingers crossed, i know this may take a few days or more for him to recover from, i just hope i figure it out before its too late.

 

[madscientist]

can you try touching the affected area? Is there tenderness? Do you see any bruises/injury at the tail? Is there swelling at the affected area? Have you introduced any new plant/fish/stuff/food/live feeder or have you introduced foreign water? If you have a dechlorinator with a slime coat function, please dose accordingly. try not to add softener as he's already used to your previous water parameters. What's your ammonia nitrite nitrate currently? Have you tested your water source for change in pH/kH? What is his respiratory rate? How is his appetite? What is the color, shape and texture of the feaces? What medications do you have in stock?

I cant diagnose just with a picture. Why not try taking multiple views?

 

[pyrate]

thanks for the reply madscientist.

sorry, im a novice fishkeeper but ill try my best to provide the answers. i inherited the tank and fish a few years ago all set up. from what i was told it is a biologically active tank. he's all alone in there, no plants or other fish, and i do infrequest %25 water changes and feed him 2 shrimp or pieces of red tuna steak every 2 weeks.

i dont see any redness or swelling, and he will let me touch his tail/back end a bit. nothing seems odd other than when he is at rest it curls and rises, like its floating on its side a bit. if he has gas trapped in his back end how can i get it out?

when i talked with my local aquarium shop they said nitrites are unlikely but to test for nitrates which i did and they were high so i did a %75 water change and retested 24 hours later now nitrate levels are nil. i checked ph and temperaure against what they should be set at and they are same as they always were.

ill take more pics or maybe some quick video tonight.

 

[madscientist]

no worries, we are all novices, Only a fish knows how to keep a fish best, I hate live fish shops for some do not really know what they are talking about, they are just out to make money for some. That's the case for my country for a few, a least.

What do you mean by biologically active? All tanks are biologically active unless someone manage to sterilise everything in their tank including the fish and water. What filter and media are you using? Does it have any tank mate? Does it's tail sink to 1 side or does it's tail float?

Improper nutrition rarely cause acute body deformities. For the case of poor water conditions, since your water conditions came out the same as before, it is unlikely to be the cause of this acute deformity.

Gas in body usually tend to make the affected body float a little, making it difficult for the fish to move or balance gracefully. They are a few ways that you can try to get the gas out. You can try to gently and slowly massage the affected area by gently pressing and stroking to one side where the nearest exit is available. Be sure to be gentle and slow. Another method is to gut-load cooked and peeled garden pea into shirmp or fish, then feed it to your fish. The last-resort method is to extract the gas by slowly puncturing the exit with a needle and slowly extract it using a syringe. This is to be done only by a medical professional and under light anaestesia.

Alternatively, the fish may be drugged with Diamox, acetazolamide, a type of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. It is a prescription drug often used for treating glaucoma, hydrocephaly, epilepsy, congestive heart failure, and altitude sickness in humans so you have to get it from your Vet or perhaps your family doctor. Unfortunately, Veterinarians are often unfamiliar with Diamox, it's very much a people medication and unless you find a Vet that works with fish regularly. This usually works with seahorses. Application to fish is rare as fish don't usually suffer from GBD.

I do suggest the first 2 methods, provided that you are sure it is due to the trapping of gas in the body cavity.

It is rather difficult to determine swelling in bichir by touching as they have quite a tough scale. I suggest you place it in General Aid solution (Acriflavine) or 'yellow powder' (10% of Sodium Nifurstyrenate) for a day or 2. Always isolate medications from the filter (do not place medication into the main tank) and always supply fish with air while being medicated. In the meantime, you can try feeding pea to the fish.