Interesting find: Hemidoras morrisi

[SourAngelfish]

The gills look bad. I've never heard or experienced gill damage by tank mates, unless by a candiru or other parasitic fish that suck blood similarly.

Since other fish have been and are ok, this crudely rules out ammonia damage, etc., so I tend to think this is a bacterial or parasitic illness and requires serious troubleshooting to arrive at a guess where it might have come from, or maybe was it latent or dormant and if it was, why it awakened, why the immune system that had kept it in check now failed, etc.

Of course, if this is a fluke, a rare occasion, you might never know.

If really motivated, you can take take it to a pathology lab or look at swabs and scrapes under a microscope yourself, if you know what you'll be looking at.

Thank you,

yes I am a bit perplexed and very worried. The other fish seem fine but I am very concerned something could happen.
I do not own any microscope equipment and am unsure how to prepare/send to a pathology lab, but am considering looking into it when I’m home from work this evening.

 

[SourAngelfish]

Are batrochoglanis aggressive with other catfish? I had completely forgotten that I had added two to this tank at such a small size. I have just come across the second one and it appears perfectly healthy, how strange..

 

[kno4te]

Are batrochoglanis aggressive with other catfish? I had completely forgotten that I had added two to this tank at such a small size. I have just come across the second one and it appears perfectly healthy, how strange..

Mine was when it comes to hiding spots. Now it’s all settled.

 

[SourAngelfish]

hmmm I likely made the mistake of not having enough hiding spots. I added all 4 of these catfish when small. there are 3 main "hides" in the tank but these 3 catfish involved in the scuffle all frequented a pile of terracotta pots. It seems the batrochoglanis leftover has scoped out the pots as its own territory and went on to kill the hemidoras and other batro. My fault for not being attentive.

I am hoping this was the issue however, it would be a shame if I lose this other batro and am stuck wondering who the true culprit is. I just do not think an auchenoglanis would be this territorial. And there is no way the other catfish is completely unscathed if there were any other culprit..

 

[Fishman Dave]

A loss of gill rakers is not from catfish fighting or a girraffe cat. More likely a form of mite or parasite the fish came with. Hopefully not able to pass on. But that would be my guess but of course unfortunately it is a guess.
If I thought you were just using formaldehyde then it could have been loss due to burns but think that is off the table now.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Fish can't damage each other's gills by physical fighting because the gills are protected by a hard bony cover. I don't understand why you continue entertaining this thought but maybe I am missing or need to learn something?

Fighting leads to stress, which weakens immune system, which then allows for bacterial and parasitic infestations to take root - that route I see. But I don't see any evidence of significant fighting on the dead fish. A few rips in the fins don't count.

 

[SourAngelfish]

Makes sense, I am mostly just trying to find an answer for two identical deaths. Do I need to wait for another catfish to drop or should I medicate with some sort of bacterial medication?

Every fish in this tank has been through 2 rounds of praziquantel and 14 days of formaldehyde.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

This is a judgment call. If I decided to treat and not wait for more deaths, I'd read up on what kinds of parasites damage gills typically (in the way you found the gills damaged on your fish) and treat against that, if there is a reasonable consensus out there on this. After that, I'd treat with a wide spectrum gram-positive antibiotic, and finally with a wide spectrum gram-negative antibiotic.

This sequence is a guess and can be readily performed in a different order.

IMHumbO all of this must be contingent on the troubleshooting NOT finding any other problem in the tank - mainly that the water is good, stable, right and hospitable to the fish.

The guesswork and acting on guesses is always tough, so I understand this firsthand.

 

[SourAngelfish]

This is a judgment call. If I decided to treat and not wait for more deaths, I'd read up on what kinds of parasites damage gills typically (in the way you found the gills damaged on your fish) and treat against that, if there is a reasonable consensus out there on this. After that, I'd treat with a wide spectrum gram-positive antibiotic, and finally with a wide spectrum gram-negative antibiotic.

This sequence is a guess and can be readily performed in a different order.

IMHumbO all of this must be contingent on the troubleshooting NOT finding any other problem in the tank - mainly that the water is good, stable, right and hospitable to the fish.

The guesswork and acting on guesses is always tough, so I understand this firsthand.

I’ve done some reading, it looks like many strains of flavobacteria attack the gills in this manner and the infection is often onset in fish exposed to parasites/stress in a secondary infection. It can cause the gills to become frayed and damaged as I saw in my fish.

Looks like kanamycin is the most common treatment for this. So I will begin that now to cover my ground.

 

[celebrist]

Good luck and I hope you get it resolved quickly