Senegal Possible bloated?

[uwe]

Hello,

first - do not keep ANY fish with bichirs that tend to eat surefaces of anything - in this case especially the slimecoat of a bichir! The slimecoat is the Achilles heel of every bichir!!!
For my opinion bichirs are the fish that can undergo very bad living conditions - the most other fish would make these ugly belly-up swimmings much earlier than the bichirs. But: The slimecoat is ther sensible point!!! Parasites like Macrogyrodactylus polypterii open up the way to secondar infections a bichir would never get in a normal way. This is just one example ...
About the bloating ...
Some specimens of bichirs seem to eat too much - also known from humans
I lost an Senegal this way a year ago, no chance to stop this crazyness. But he did it a way not to be compared with the way done by yours. Ma Ornate is acting more the way than yours and converts mass of food in size. I hope i will get some time to make pics of him and others next time.

Greetings
Uwe

 

[Thalan]

I'm having a similar issue with one of my sens. When the swelling first appeared it was really bad, to the point that blood was leaking between the scales. Since then it has gone down dramatically and moved slightly farther back but is definitely still swollen. I assumed the worst, that he had swallowed a rock and there was nothing I could do. It has actually been almost three months since the swelling appeared and in that time he has been active and shown a healthy appetite. The only symptom other than the swelling itself is that I have seen him throw up a few times, a coughing motion that sprays softened bits of carnivore pellet which he then eats again. Any ideas?

 

[uwe]

Hello,

here i am again ...

I've searched for some older pics to the theme "bloat" to give you the opportunity to check up ...

Here is my ornate:

 

[Thalan]

I wish I could post pics of mine but my cameras busted for now. To contrast yours, the swelling on my sen is much more localized while you ornate just looks really full. Its only on one side and maybe half an inch wide.

 

[Bue]

Hey guys,
I am excited my issue is getting some attention, all the personal bits of bichir info help.

Uwe- first off nice ornate! Looks like he does eat a bunch! I also had no idea that plecos could be that detremental to my bichir's health. I haven't seen it anywhere in the general articles about bichirs, so thanks for the detail..... they seem to get along well, so i just ruled the plec as a similar-sized playmate. Anyone need a 5" pleco lol.

Thalan- your situation sounds a lot like the one with my sen. My sen doesn't look swollen (like when he eats a LOT of food), it looks like he swallowed a marble (but there is NOTHING in my tank like that that he could have swollowed..????...). It is a big ball-shaped mass that started near his head and is now near his belly. I will post another pic when I can. The lump is much more visbale now that it has moved out from behind his pectoral fins.

His behavior is normal, but I don't know about his appetite. Some posts have touched on blockages and say not to feed them until it passes, so I have not fed him since I haven't figured out what is wrong. Since it is moving through his body though and you say your sen eats just fine with his lump, I'll try tonight and see what he does.

As for the "throwing up" thing that you Sen does, mine does it, too. It is mostly when he is in the process of eating. He'll spit the food out and then eat it up again. I think it is because he is trying to "chew" the food, or at least to make it go down a little easier. But I also have florite substrate, so sometimes he spits asll his food out because he got a little piece of substrate in his mouth.

Since the 'swelling', he has been making the same gesture(like he is either throwing up or trying to swallow), but nothing ever comes out.

Does anyone think my bichir would have eaten tiny empty snail shells for any reason? And what's the word on how/when eggs are formed, the sticky doesn't say if females produce eggs w/o a companion. Both theories are far-fetched, I know, but I am out of plausable explanations......

 

[tcarswell]

Mine has this exact same marble bumb currently. He has had them before it seems to happen when I don't cut the portions of tilapia or silversides small enough (He is the smallest bichir in the tank at 9" so I sometimes forget how small he is when feeding. He has come back from this just fine like 4 times so I am not super worried... Maybe just concerned Knock on wood

Best of luck buddy and try not to stess it.

 

[Bue]

Okay, so I came home yesterday to find my bichir PERFECTLY fine: no lump, swelling, or anything abnormal. I think he was just trying to screw with me.....

You guys were right, it was just a bunch of food that he ate that took (as usual) a couple days to go down. I fed him last night and he ate like a pig! I guess I just underestimated the quantity of brine shrimp that are in a frozen cube. I'll pay more attention next time and ty not to freak out over little things.

But I guess it was a good thing I overreacted b/c now I know plecs are bad news. I am giving him away today.

Thalan- I think maybe you bichir did swollow a rock, and maybe it is just chillin in there perfectly harmless now. I am more familliar with livestock, but they seem to do fine when they swallow foriegn objects (Not sharp or chemical, though). A rock might be harmless to his system after the initial irritation. Just a thought.

Thaks Again All!