Sick Leopoldi

[Pesch]

Hello

My little fella did not eat for the first time last night and I noticed just now that he has some white patches of peeled skin off his underbelly. Most of them are located towards the back of him but there are lots of little white marks all over. His pattern side looks normal and dark black. I've been away for 5 weeks with work and left my gilffriend in charge of feeding and water changes. I noticed he'd got thin recently as he's normally so fat and hungry! pelvic bones are slightly exposed now which is very worring with him not eating today. He's about 8 inches and just under a year old. when startled he just swam around erratacly bumping into things. I've done a 50% water change now and changed both cannister filters to help freshen things up. I don't use salt and all parameteres are good however the nirtate was high when I returned home. I have some melafix which I'm considdering using as he has clear soars on his underside.

Please can someone shed some light on what is causing his lose of skin, erratic behavoir and lack of appretite. He's currently sitting and not moving. His breathing should not be described as fast but he's is breathing deeply.

Please help..

 

[ShadowStryder]

Sounds to me like your water quality might have went south when you were away.
I would do smaller water changes each day.
When you say you cleaned both canister to freshen things up, does that mean you
completely rinsed your Bio Media out. If so you possibly washed away BB in the process,
possibly adding to the problem. Did you use dechlorinated water or tank water to rinse
the media out. Hopefully not straight out of the tap from a city water source.

Do you have pics of the white patches, almost sound bacterial.

 

[Pesch]

Hi there and thanks for helping out! I only rinsed one of 5 trays of bio media and changed a few sponges. Filters didn't seem that dirty. I can't get an pics at the moment as he's on the sand and not up the glass and I don't think he's going to be going for a swim for a while as he's now quite motionless. Might up the temp and add some melafix for the sores and hope the newly replenished water will give him a pick up. His eyes are a little clowdy and he doesn't seem to be that interested in me when I go and say hello... The patches are like little white sores ranging from pin sized near the front to 10pence coin sized on his rear fins (feet). He was swimming almost out of the tank the other night sticking his head right out of the water but I couldn't see anything that wrong. I'm afraid that I may lose him! What do you think?

 

[ShadowStryder]

While you were away did your girlfriend clean and turn over the sand substrate,
If not this could have led to a bacterial infection from waste and food settling in
to the substrate and going bad.
Are they actually sores or more fungal like?
There are much more knowledgeable people on here, hopefully they will chime in.
Raised temp and Salt are definitely an option that won't hurt.

 

[Pesch]

She wouldn't have turned over the sand as I hardy do this as there is so much flow in there it always stays very clean, but the idea of fungal could be a possibility. Just dropped a prawn onto his head but no reaction. I'm hoping he's fat enough to last a week giving me time to get the water right and correct the skin problem. I'm going to add marine salt Now. It's a 200g tank so i'm thinking about a cup full! I'm also going to start the melafix treatment and monitor the sores closely.

Thanks for all your input.

Pesch

 

[Pesch]

I've just ordered a new 15w UV lamp for my v2 which will arrive on saturday. This should zap out all the bacteria.

 

[FishDog]

I hate to jump the gun but without pics and what you described, it sounds bacterial. The first thing I would do is remove all the sand from the tank. If it is bacterial, that is where it will live as well as on your ray. There are lots of threads on hear where people had bacterial problems. Most people including myself went bare bottom and treated with Binox, higher temps, and salt. Bare bottom will also let you observe the rays belly. The UV light is good but it will not kill the bacteria in the sand and on the ray.

 

[Pesch]

Ok thanks for the input. He's never been a burier in the sand just likes playing with it and slapping around in it when he's hungry and looking at you. I'll remove the sand now! How much marine salt would you reccomend I use for 200g and what's binox and where do I get it from? Many thanks, Pesch

 

[Nic]

Ok thanks for the input. He's never been a burier in the sand just likes playing with it and slapping around in it when he's hungry and looking at you. I'll remove the sand now! How much marine salt would you reccomend I use for 200g and what's binox and where do I get it from? Many thanks, Pesch

you dont use marine salt.... buy kosher salt... 3# per 100 gallons... and i would do about 6 50% waterchanges in a row to flush the tank...

 

[Pesch]

This morning he's swimming around a little more than yesterday. I have now noticed some damaged disk right by his tail. I have also noticed when I flicked the lights that he has some red in one of his eyes. Please can someone explain this to me. Temp is up at 86, i've dosed with salt and have added a second dose of melafix. If he keeps improving i'm hoping he should start to feed in the next day or so. Thats the key as far as I can see. Should I keep trying him with prawns his main diet or try him on earthworms? Thanks in advance and keep the advice coming please.