URGENT HELP

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matejakezman

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 24, 2008
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Singapore
HELP. just saw my endi half floating and half struggling near the water surface.
he couldnt stay straight or swim properly.
for a brief moment, he was upside down and i thought he was gone but he's still fighting to live.

right now, i have isolated him in a pail of low water level aged water.
what should i do next? :nilly:
 
Hello,

some questions to know more about ...

- is the endli a relative new tank mate (since a week or so ...)?
- what had he eaten the last few days?
- any other tank mates?
- water quality? What's about nitrate/nitrit? Last partial water change? Temperature? pH?

All these points MAY help to know about the reason(s) of your endli's miserability ...

Greetings & good luck

Uwe
 
Uwe covered it all...
 
Hello,

i wanna talk about an "interna" that was told me from pet dealers from different regions in Germany ... maybe it will clear up a bit ...

There is a "classic" method to prepare fish when bought by anyone: water in the plastic bag, fish in the plastic bag ... and pure(!!!) oxygene in the plastic bag.
To say that bichirs don't like this "classic" method is a bit underestimated ... that's often a reason for lethality!
When i "rescued" my ornate from a DIY market the dealer (they have completely under-educated dealers) managed this method while i was checking the fish food ... my wife told me later about his method.
After a few days the ornate begins to float - mostly with his tail towards teh surface, unable to dive. He seems to be comletely reddish - not so obviously, more as another fish had feed him and spit out. But this wasn't the fact - the sens couldn't (the ornate was too big) and the snakehead wouldn't spit him out (in this fact as a puzzle).
I contacted some dealers i know very well. I could not talk to an end ... after i had talked about the floating everyone of them talked about those other symptoms and the situation that the bichir seems to be ill after a few days - not sudden!
They also told me that the "classic" oxygene method is one of the most common reasons for lethality in Germnany (the other is Macrogyrodactylus polypterii - but in the US imported bichirs are mostly well-quarantined in Africa ... these for Germany are NOT!).

The oxygene method not only kills bichirs - also snakeheads ... and this method seems to be more deadly for them as for bichirs!

My ornate had luck and survived - i hope (if this would be the reason) your endli will survive too.
If this is the reason - you can do nothing ... it's like aeroembolism, that malicious condition after the lack of pressure equalization when diving.

The reason why bichirs & snakehead are suffering from this is: the breathe atmospherical air! Other fish aren't doing this (except lungs, gars and some macropodes ... but they are very rare in those pet-shops without any knowledge about the animals the do deal with).

I also was stunning about that what was told me - but it was told me several times from several dealers!

Greetings & good luck

Uwe
 
makes perfect sense, Uwe. I had not thought about that possibility.

Was it the case with your Endli, Matejakezman?

( i've had Aro's with this condition, with positive flotability, where they stand tails up and cannot swim down ) Some make it, some, however, don't...

people in Asia ( and knowledgeable ones at that, like Koji ) suggest addition of salt to the water..
 
i had the endi in a tank with 2 other senegals and they are doing fine.
only the endi seems to be suffering though.
i got him from someone else and it has been in my tank for around 2 weeks.
the head is floating but the lower portion of the body seems to be too heavy to float.
right now, i have already isolated him in a seperate place with low water level and added in a bit of aquarium salt.

btw, i'm located in asia too.
 
Does the fish seem stiff? Are there patches of slimecoat missing? Is there blood in the tailfin? Might be septicemia that was brought on through stress or if another fish attacked it's slime coat. Warm temps lots of fresh water and the salt might help overcome this. See Beblondies sticky for a list of meds that might help as well.
 
tezr;2176379; said:
Does the fish seem stiff? Are there patches of slimecoat missing? Is there blood in the tailfin? Might be septicemia that was brought on through stress or if another fish attacked it's slime coat. Warm temps lots of fresh water and the salt might help overcome this. See Beblondies sticky for a list of meds that might help as well.
Click to expand...
yea, the fish seems kinda stiff and dead. and the slime coat seems to be dropping too.

what water temperature should i maintain it at?
 
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