New senegal, possible fungal infection?

[Rhykiru]

I got a senegal! I've wanted a bichir for at least 8 years and I finally got one. There is a small, flat white spot that developed on it a few days after I brought it home, and I'm not sure what it is. Might be some type of fungal infection.. might be just a missing scale healing? I've looked through the health issues sticky but no description seems to match exactly what I'm seeing.

Here's the best picture I could get. It's hard to focus on the white spot because of the contrast.

It's currently in a 5.5g quarantine tank with BDBS, driftwood, and fake plants. I'm using a sponge filter with 30% wc every 2-3 days to remove visible waste (they sure poop a lot haha). Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate ~10. Temp is about 80. Diet is mainly hikari carnivore sinking pellets, occasionally freeze dried shrimp, and sometimes blue dream shrimp culls.

The employee wasn't very graceful when catching it, so it might have gotten a scrape that led to something worse because of stress in a new environment. I just can't tell what it is (if anything) and the best way to treat it. Any help would be great, thanks!

 

[Mighty Wizard]

Unfortunately I can't tell you exactly what it is, but it probably isn't a wound or a missing scale. A wound would likely be darker in shade, and their special shells interlock and would be unlikely to detach unless it was a serious wound.

It is possible that its slime coat got compromised when handled by the idiot store employee, if it is some sort of slime coat infection then he is probably beyond saving. Infection resulting from a compromised slime coat is a lot more likely to happen on land, so if the rough handling happened out of water then that could be an indicator.

Some other form of fungal/bacterial/parasitic infection is entirely possible as well, but there are literally thousands of different afflictions that pop up in the hobby, and while many of them don't hurt Polypterids others are unique to them and therefore can be very hard to treat effectively. Better pictures would help, and if you could look real close and describe whether it looks superficial or like the scales themselves are turning white. I remember seeing pictures of and reading about somebodies Ropefish who had something similar growing on its face, although it had grown to cover most of its face and mouth and was clearly superficial. Apparently this was some sort of Polypterid specific disease and can be carried by ropes which are wild caught. I'm not sure whether Bichirs are affected, but probably yes. Although I suppose it would be very unlikely to happen unless your Bichir has been in direct contact with a relatively fresh caught Ropefish.

The only treatment I can think of is aquarium salt, it will kill a lot of different infections.

 

[thefredpit]

when my bichirs get spooked and run into things that part can turn white but recovers within a week. Is there a pleco in the tank they can suck on the slime coats

 

[kno4te]

Just watch for now. Don't look like any active infection. Update the thread as needed. Aquarium salt as mentioned already is a good start.

 

[Rhykiru]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll add some aquarium salt to the tank. No pleco in the tank, only the sen. The area doesn't seem to be getting worse which is a good sign, and I'm glad that it's eating normally. Here is a picture at a slightly different angle. It's almost constantly moving when out in the open and hiding when resting so it's hard to get a good pic.

Visually, it looks superficial. The spot is too opaque for me to tell if there are scales underneath. It looks fairly flat but it isn't 100% flush with the body. It doesn't stick out like a big bump though, and there are no fuzzy growths coming out of it.

 

[jaws7777]

Looks like a wound to me. Can add salt and keep the water extra clean as a precaution. I use 1 tbls per 10 gal and replace the salt removed from wcs. Some recommend 1tbls per 5 gal. Add the salt slowly through out the day

 

[Rhykiru]

I'm hoping it's only a wound and nothing worse! I ended up dosing 1/2 tablespoon yesterday and now I wait.