so i have a tank of bichirs and one of them over the last few weeks has stopped eating completely, starting wasting away, has no energy to speak of... is not bloated, lost alot of color, no signs of fungas or parasites (at least not external)... but the fish is listliss... lifeless can pick it up in hand, its struggling to survive.... gasping constantly... VERY weak... im not sure what to do does anyone have any ideas?
not really sure whats wrong -bichir
- Thread starter oakley1984
- Start date
Please post more details so we can find out what went wrong with your fish. Copy and paste the questions below. Answer after each question.
1. Size of tank? 90gLupin;4854399; said:
2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia? 0ppm
b. Nitrite? 0ppm
c. Nitrate? ~15ppm
d. pH, KH and GH? ph = 7.8 kh = gh =
e. Test kit? nutrafin/API
3. Temperature? 79.1F
4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? FW
5. How long the aquarium has been set up? 10mo
6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?
4 bichirs, 3 senegal (6" albino, 7" (youngest), 13" (approx 6yrs old) 1 ornate 7" all except 1 are approx 1yr old.
2 black ghost knifes 14", 8"( unknown ages bought as adults.)
1 clown knife approx 16"
1 rope fish approx 14"
1 chinese algae eater ~5-6"
7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? all inhabitants were living in 55g (together) before going into 90g. long past quarentine period anyways.
8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? 8 fake plants that are taken out and washed under tap water ~once a month
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? sand (pool filter sand)
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? natural rock and driftwood only.
9. a. Filtration? 2x aquaclear 110's packed top to bottom with biomedia (fluval biomax)
b. Heater? 1x 300w elite heater
10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? 2x 15w t8 15" bulbs @ 980 lumens each lighting schedule is 13 on 11 off with a moonlight (moonlight is proper 465nm light)
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? no exposure to sunlight, ever.
11. a. Water change schedule? daily.
b. Volume of water changed? ~15% (11gallons marked on tank, same everyday)
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? well water
d. Water conditioner used? Prime
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? daily, not really vaccumed but all debris sucked out and then agitated to prevent anerobic conditions.
12. Foods? hikari massivore and market shrimp
How often are they fed? once nightly.
13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms? only the one fish is displaying symptons as previously stated in last post.
b. Appearance of poop? all seen in tank is normal, but i cant decipher which is from which fish.
c. Appearance of gills? its a bichir....
14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? No
b. What meds were used? Nothing yet.
15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.
Oakley, is the fish still trying to live until now? If it's still alive, you need to separate the fish. Keep the hospital tank barebottom with fake plants and/or large PVC pipes for refuge only. It's hard to say what the issue is, bacterial or parasitic. I'm inclined to recommend Jungle Antiparasite Food if the fish can eat but that does not seem an option. Do you have access to Prazipro online? Let's try that approach. 2.5mg per liter dosage. Try adding garlic on the foods as well.
its giving it its best to survive, will setup a hospital tank tonight, and yes i can get prazipro, just put in an order, for it should be here within a week.. hopefully thats quick enough
actually... i soak the shrimp in garlic gaurd before giving to fish... so.. garlic has been tried sorry i didnt mention that
update; the prazipro arrives today, water quality in hosp tank has been kept at pristine quality, the ornate is still rather weak but regaining a Small amount of strength. ive started a regimen of lifting it to the surface approx every 4-6hrs so it can get its gulp of air, seems cooperative with this... and seems to be doing that little bit better each time. Will be adding the prazipro hopefully within the next couple of hours. you had suggested a dosage of 2.5mg/L , however the prazipro ive gotten, is liquid? i dont really know how that dosage applys!
so after 3 days of prazi-pro, its attempting to hobble around the bottom of the tank, Still weak... still not eating... for redosing of prazipro, should i perform a 50% wc first? or just redose. (it fails to clairfy that on the bottle...)