Red Sore on Endlicheri, any input is appreciated

[Kenta]

Hey, I just noticed a red sore on the bottom of my endis lower jaw.
Any ideas as to what it is? Its cause? And how to fix it?

The only thing i can think of thats different is i switched substrate from onyx sand to tahitian moon sand 1 week ago. A week ago i also added a bunch of ceramic rings.

 

[sephir420]

cant say for sure bacause i cant see the pic verry well but i had 2 d. compresiceps get some red stuff on there mouth and it spred all over it within a couple of days they where dead. i thik it was a bacterial infection but cant say for sure. dose it look like scrapes or just discoleration?

 

[M|L]

your tahitian (or is it haitian) moon sand is very abrasive, it's it is silica based. bottom dwellers like your bichir gets irritated and may cause infections. from the looks of it, you'll need a new substrate and treat your bichir with anti-bacterial medication.

 

[redtailfool]

your tahitian (or is it haitian) moon sand is very abrasive, it's it is silica based. bottom dwellers like your bichir gets irritated and may cause infections. from the looks of it, you'll need a new substrate and treat your bichir with anti-bacterial medication.

agreed. Rays can stand silica based sand either. Try getting estes sand. Its much smoother than the sand youre using.

 

[M|L]

You mispelled "can't"...


and I agree with redtailfool, I've used estes reef sand numerous times (have some in my tank right now) with bottom dwellers (including stingrays) with no problems.

 

[Kenta]

Damn it! I just bought that stuff too... Is this estes reef sand jet black?

But wouldn't its whole bottom be covered in sores?

 

[redtailfool]

Damn it! I just bought that stuff too... Is this estes reef sand jet black?

But wouldn't its whole bottom be covered in sores?

yes.. estes sand is jet black. Could be that the jaw always hits the sand first. Or look around maybe its another thing. Its just a guess.

 

[M|L]

estes reef sand comes in different colors, black, white, green, blue, and I believe red.

Silica based sand creates microscopic wounds, some may heal while some gets infected.... perhaps it's lower jaw is particularly sensitive? either way, I'd get rid of the sand and apply the medication recomended above (most broad spectrum bacterial medication should work). Make sure the medication is safe for sensitive fish.

 

[Kenta]

I'm not going to medicate right yet.

I'll do a water change, get the water nice and clean and then wait it out. If it gets better then i'll leave it (maybe it'll happen again, in that case i'll change the sand) If it doesn't, i'll move it into a 55g hospital and treat with something.

I've used silica sand on with my bichirs before though. I used white silica sand for a long time and had no problems there. Although tahitian moon (yes its tahitian) sand does seem to be a little more sharp.

 

[rayman45]

im with ming