Please HELP!!

[moeligerent]

Hey there guys.

First off let me say I've had my Sen for over a year and never had any problems, that is until yesterday. I can't really describe it but I'll do my best.

I noticed my SENEGAL swimming very oddly. Its almost as if he doesn't have movement in his tail.It actually kind of looks like he has a broken lower back/tail. In the pictures its hard to tell. but it's almost like the lower 1/3 of his body is paralyzed! He swims around but it looks as if he's struggling a bit. He also is VERY lazy now. He kind of just lays there, which he never did before. Which leads to believe he's hurt/in pain. I've also noticed a little bump on the upper right side of his body, which is in the area the is in question. I don't know whats wrong, someone, anyone with ideas comments please help!

I don't think he was attacked but here's a list of his tank mates, all of which are smaller then him. 75G

1 Ornate
1 Bala
8 Apple Snails
1 CAE
1 Plec
1 Albino Shark
1 Fire Eel
1 Syn. Cat

The Ornate bichir is fine by the way, I just thought you'd like a look at her.

 

[Bennlfer]

Are there any spaces which he could have wedged himself in and hurt his back trying to get out?

Also the CAE and Pleco are not good choices with bichirs as they like to suck on their scales, causes damage.

 

[moeligerent]

Nope. All caves and hiding spots are easily accesible and can be exited with little trouble. I don't think that's it, but I guess it's possible. Anyone else??

 

[spwd]

What kind of plec is it and has the sen got any marks on it like the plec has been sucking on it,first thing i would do is get rid of the plec,but the sen may have been trying to get away from the plec and broke something?


Steve

 

[moeligerent]

I guess that the plec could of done something like that, but I watch my tank A LOT and have never seen anything of that nature. I'm trading in my Plec. Just to be on the safe side but what about the SEN?! What do I do? If he's in pain and I don't know what's wrong, how can I help him? I'd hate to do it but if he does have a broken back should I euthanize??!? Anybody have any more Ideas?!...

 

[spwd]

I used to have a 7" endli which one day i found upside down and bent like a banana and it couldnt really swim properly and i never saw it eat and it wasnt growing but it still always attacked the other smaller polys if they came too close to it and after a while it straightened out and started to eat all different types of food it wouldnt eat before and started to grow quite alot so you never know,yours may get better too.
I didnt like seeing it like that but as it always attacked the others i thought i cant kill it as its still acting normal in some repects if you know what i mean.

Steve

 

[moeligerent]

Yeah, I see what u mean. He still eats just fine and hangs out with the ornate like he always did, just as I said I can see he's in pain and there's times when I worry about him getting to the top of the tank for air. I lowered the water level to help him out, but that's all I can really do at this point.

 

[evabug1]

Does he like to hang around filter intakes or the heater? Mine likes to sit in between the glass and the heater or filter intake and float there. Maybe yours did the same but had to struggle to get through? Just a thought.

 

[moeligerent]

No, he normally hangs out in the corners of the tank, down on the sand in the denseslh planted areas or at the top where I have a bunch of Free floating fauna. Sometimes he goes into the caves I made for him, but that's actually kinda rare.

As far as the wedging himself in the filter intake, it's not likely. There's not enough space for him to get through there, Even if he tried to force himself through the space he wouldn't make it, but I guess he could of tried it. As for the heater I use an external 300w hydor (which is awesome) so he couldn't of Got hurt himself there.

Well thanks again guys for all the responses. I really appreciate the help and input. I just don't like having to see him like this. I really hope he turns around. Also his bump is getting bigger. It's not bloat, but could he maybe of ingested something and can't pass it?I have a sand Bottom so even then I wouldn't of known what he could of ate to cause this . I'm truly baffled.

 

[evabug1]

It is a possibility that he ate something he couldn't pass. How long has this bump been around? Is there any redness to the bump? Any apple snails or tank mates missing? Have the snails had any babies?