What the heck is going on with my bichirs?

[invaderwithkey]

Hey everyone. I came home to a dead Polypterus retropinnis the other night, so thinking it was just a freak accident, I changed the water and went on my way.

The next morning, I wake up to see multiple bichirs covered in what looks like bites marks from a pleco, trying to suck the slime coat off. I move my plec and even my Synodontis brichardii, just in case. I dose the tank with Melafix and Pemafix. The next morning, I had one dead P. senegalus that had the worst "bite" which covered his face. Now, the ones that are affected are getting worse and it looks like other fish are clamping up and getting affected by it, too. The datnoid has turned black and is hiding, the Geophagus are not active and clamping a bit and the silver dollars are shoaling tightly. It's weird, I have never seen my fish act nervous like this... it's almost like my tank is empty.

Anyway, I wanted to know if you all had any ideas... I have some pics of the sores. I did the best I could. The ones I have the best pics of aren't even the worst of them. Any advice is appreciated, as I don't want to lose fish out of my prize tank.

Thanks in advance.

The bright white patch on the last pic is one of those patches.

PS: It's a 125gl. I can get my water tested tmw, don't have a kit now.

 

[joel.uejio]

Could it be columnaris or some other bacterial infection? You've already dosed some meds, so maybe do so image searches to try to identify the problem so you can treat specifically. Definitely check and post your water params as soon as you can.

Good luck!

 

[invaderwithkey]

Ok, thought I didn't have a test kit, but I actually found one. Awesome. The readings are as follows:

Ammonia: 0ppm
pH: 7.5
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 40ppm (pretty high, but probably bc dead fish, uneaten food from last night, and overstocked atm)

I can do another water change tmw, to lower the nitrates. Any other ideas?

PS: Why is it that every time I think about thinning out my stock, this kind of stuff happens??

 

[joel.uejio]

Yea, 40 is high for nitrates, but I wouldn't think it would cause a major problem. Hopefully the meds and water changes will help out your situation...

 

[invaderwithkey]

Changed the water this morning, Nitrates at 10ppm.

Just added Metranidazole.

Just a waiting game now...

 

[spwd]

40 is not that high for nitrates and i dont think it would cause this,you sure its not just bites showing from the plec since you took it out?

Good luck


steve

 

[invaderwithkey]

This is not a nitrate problem, I just wanted to bring them down before adding meds.

Definitely not from a pleco. Looking at the fish and coming back an hour later, you can see that their sores have gotten bigger, even when the pleco was taken out days ago. It acts like a fast moving bacterial problem, like columnaris. We can only wait and see.

 

[spwd]

Thats what i meant,its not caused by nitrates,ive just lost 6 polys to some kind of external parasite ,it looked like fine hairs on the fish,not like yours.

Good luck .

Steve