MY BICHIR IS REALLY HURT! HELP!

[wahbulance]

okay thanks for all the help. i plan on picking up some salt tomorrow after work.
right now he looks terrible. through closer observation, his spines are actually damaged
and split apart...and he just lays there lifeless....hes breathing but he doesn't move much. sigh. ill keep you guys updated still if you guys are still interested. thanks once again.

 

[Cohazard]

Okay, your bichir has hemorrhagic septicemia, a bacterial infection.

No, it does not look like wounds from your bichir thrashing into objects, if it were, you would need a serious tank upgrade and pull out all decor you have.

What happened is that your pleco/CAE was sucking on the slimecoat on the back of the bichir, and it got a bacterial infection from the wounds.

Get rid of the suckermouth, and clean the tank (major gravel vac and water change) and find a medication which treats bacterial infections.

All the major petstores have them. Good luck to you and the del.

 

[tcarswell]

like longimanus suggested definately seperate him, bump up the temperature a bit and add some aquarium salt if you have any on hand. Be sure to keep the water clean while hes healing to help speed recovery and prevent infection. Good luck, and I hope it works out

seconded. Up that temp and make sure he gets plenty of really clean water and privacy. Salt is highly recommended also antibiotics if its feasible.

Best of luck man

 

[wahbulance]

okay so thank you for all the helpful advice. and thank you Cohazard for
specifically pointing out what is wrong with him. that is exactly what happened
with my chinese algae eater. i got rid of him..so now the tank is stress free.
i decided not to quarantine him in a separate tank. my older sister, who also
has a few fish tanks..salt and fresh...told me that quarantining a fish out of
his normal tank stresses him out even more and that i should just keep him
in the tank. i went to petco and got one of those...breeding screens..and i
separated him from the others...and theres also no decor on his side.

i also picked up a bottle of melafix and some aquarium salt. man does that
melafix smell like vicks vapor rub :X this is day one of his treatment...
i hope all goes well for him.

sidenote: the directions on the aquarium salt says to dump in 1/2 a teaspon
for every gallon. THATS ALOT! am i reading it right? does this stuff dissolve fast?

 

[wolfsburgfanatic]

sidenote: the directions on the aquarium salt says to dump in 1/2 a teaspon
for every gallon. THATS ALOT! am i reading it right? does this stuff dissolve fast?

no, it does not dissolve fast, at least not in my experience. you need to mix it in a seperate cup until it dissolves, then add that to the tank

1/2 tsp per gallon is for use as a stress reducer, here's the guideline from API:

To enhance tropical fish disease treatment: Add 1 rounded tablespoonful for every 5 US gallons (19 L) of aquarium water

good luck again and keep us posted

 

[Cohazard]

okay so thank you for all the helpful advice. and thank you Cohazard for
specifically pointing out what is wrong with him. that is exactly what happened
with my chinese algae eater. i got rid of him..so now the tank is stress free.
i decided not to quarantine him in a separate tank. my older sister, who also
has a few fish tanks..salt and fresh...told me that quarantining a fish out of
his normal tank stresses him out even more and that i should just keep him
in the tank. i went to petco and got one of those...breeding screens..and i
separated him from the others...and theres also no decor on his side.

i also picked up a bottle of melafix and some aquarium salt. man does that
melafix smell like vicks vapor rub :X this is day one of his treatment...
i hope all goes well for him.

sidenote: the directions on the aquarium salt says to dump in 1/2 a teaspon
for every gallon. THATS ALOT! am i reading it right? does this stuff dissolve fast?

No problem, but putting it in a breeder net defeats the purpose of keeping it in the same tank for treatment.

Let it loose, and leave it alone, you're making things worse.

Focus on keeping the water clean (feeding less, large weekly water change) and look for meds that treat bacterial infections. Melafix is trash IME.