Hello, I recently ordered an ornate bichir online (young, about 4.5 inches) and upon recieving him I found a small bulge in his side. The bulge is pretty localized, coming off of his lower-left side. He was acclimated to my tank yesterday and the following pictures were taken minutes ago when my actinics came on.
The bichir is very active and curious, exploring his surroundings up and down and he'll also take food (I just threw some pellets in to see if he would eat.) However, his swimming is more wobbily than I'm used to seeing (I've owned a senegal in a seperate tank for almost 5 years.)
I'm going to observe him for a few days to see if the bulge goes away (perhaps being a food baby.) I have yet to see him defecate though, which worries me a little as I've been observing for a long time.
In the case that it could be an internal parasite, I would like to know some options of various meds that would treat any number of internal parasites.
I'll throw in tank specs for giggles, but they're not really relevent since he had the bulge before I acquired him:
-55gal (been cycling for almost 2 months, the bichir is the first fish)
-ammonia 0
-nitrite 0
-nitrate 0
-pH 8.2 (crushed coral substrate, its going to be a african cichlid tank. I know that is higher than ideal but bichirs are highly adaptable and I've kept my previous bichir in a similiar setup. I've found stable, clean conditions to be more important than exact pH)
Thanks
The bichir is very active and curious, exploring his surroundings up and down and he'll also take food (I just threw some pellets in to see if he would eat.) However, his swimming is more wobbily than I'm used to seeing (I've owned a senegal in a seperate tank for almost 5 years.)
I'm going to observe him for a few days to see if the bulge goes away (perhaps being a food baby.) I have yet to see him defecate though, which worries me a little as I've been observing for a long time.
In the case that it could be an internal parasite, I would like to know some options of various meds that would treat any number of internal parasites.
I'll throw in tank specs for giggles, but they're not really relevent since he had the bulge before I acquired him:
-55gal (been cycling for almost 2 months, the bichir is the first fish)
-ammonia 0
-nitrite 0
-nitrate 0
-pH 8.2 (crushed coral substrate, its going to be a african cichlid tank. I know that is higher than ideal but bichirs are highly adaptable and I've kept my previous bichir in a similiar setup. I've found stable, clean conditions to be more important than exact pH)
Thanks
