WAL emergancy, Please read.

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C

cigar larry

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 11, 2006
248
0
0
california,usa
My lungfish seems to be dieing. He's not strong enough to go up for air. If I lift him up he'll take a gulp of air. I put him in a 20 gal tank with water drained down to where it just covers him. I fed a bunch of small feeders to the 110 gal tank a couple days ago. I have a small bicher, small tiger cat, 2 small scombs, a 10" jar, and the lung fish. I loaded up with feeders so they all could get some. I think the lungfish may have over eaten. He usually goes for pellets. He hasn't eaten for a couple days. I put a little tetecycaline in the lowered down tank. Maybe he got a parasite. I don't know. I can't lift him to breath for too long. All he has to do now is lift his head. How long does it take for a WAL to drown?
PLEASE I NEED REPLIES.

Thanks, Cigar Larry
 
He died. Thanks for the reply I appreciate it. I retuned to the store last night about 10pm. He looked done for. This morning I bagged him up. I felt bad. Then I went out and bought a used 470gal tank. I'll pick it up tomorrow. Check out the projects forum, got pics. Thanks again
 
dogofwar;2043567; said:
I'd lower the water level to about 4", add some salt and maybe melafix...and hope for the best.
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melafix is generally not a good idea with air-breathing fishes, especially lungfishes.

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sorry to hear about your lungfish, i hope you're able to try another one in the future. one thing to keep in mind is that lungfishes should generally not be treated with broad-spectrum meds (like tetracycline, etc). they will usually bounce back on their own. the concentrated amount in that little of water may have contributed to the fish's death, but that's hard to say.

i have never seen a lungfish overeat, but if it did, it would likely work it out on its own if it were going to recover. general treatments for lungfishes should be limited to warmer water temp, salt, and water changes (with the last one being the most effective). good luck with your new big tank!--
--solomon
 
dogofwar;2051155; said:
Why is melafix bad for lungs?

I've used it on my 2 foot African a couple of times to help with nicks and scrapes...
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they are better off healing on their own (which they are very well capable of doing) or just being treated with more frequent, larger water changes until things clear up.

melafix seems to have strange side-effects on air breathing fishes; this could have to do with it being somewhat oil-based and coating the surface of the water and perhaps other surfaces in the fishes, but that is merely speculation. what i do know is that several other well-experienced fish keepers (at least when it comes to primitives) have had similar reactions with lungfishes, gars, and sometimes bichirs. it's best just not to risk it, especially when these fishes all recover well on their own with minimal treatment.

in general, it's best to treat most sickly (or even minor to moderate injuries) of primitive fishes with increased frequency and volume of water changes first...leaving meds more as a last resort. one could do a lot worse than melafix, since broad spectrum antibios are usually an absolute last resort as they often risk killing the fish. hope that helps explain a bit--
--solomon

PS-- believe it or not, with moderate to serious injuries, you can gob neosporin on a lungfish wound to help healing...like i said, it may not really be necessary, but i have seen this help in several cases.
 
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