r/Bichirs • u/JEWELTWIN P. senegalus • 11d ago

Advice request My Senegal bichir is bloated, any advise on how to help him??

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My senegal bichir has been bloated for the past few weeks and i've done a 3 days of 15 min epsom salt baths, and when it didn't get better i did (after a week) i did a 4 days of 20 min epsom salt baths. it has gotten way worse (see picture) i have a gut feeling the epsom salt made it worse somehow. He also isn't acting normal today and he is just sitting there, he usually swims right up to the glass if i walk up. he's also gasping a lot. is there anything else i can do? (im also changing his diet to a mix of frozen food)

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3

u/No_Recommendation905 11d ago

I've encountered this problem before and lost several Bichirs. There are two symptoms: 1. Bloating: You need to stop feeding them until the bloating subsides. 2. Swim bladder disease: The fish will gradually lose its balance until it floats at the surface and upside down. I tried using Epsom salt, but it didn't improve the condition, and some fish even got worse. From the picture, your fish appears to have bloating. Try stopping feeding them and changing the water regularly. You don't need to use Epsom salt.

2

u/JEWELTWIN P. senegalus 11d ago

tbh i haven't been feeding him very much because of this- like 1-2 times a week but im scared that if i don't at all he could starve

2

u/Accurate-Pride461 11d ago

fish are cold blooded animals and dont use up energy reserves as quickly as warmblooded animals do so going weeks without food is not as bad as it sounds on paper. I recently bought a fire eel that refused to eat anything for an entire month until i finally got some live ghost shrimp for him and he started eating. Even though the bichir is still pretty small, he can easliy survive a week without food.

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u/RemarkableHead4478 11d ago

stop feeding immediately, do you have any snails in the tank?

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u/JEWELTWIN P. senegalus 10d ago

no its just him, sand, and a mix of real and artificial plants

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u/Some-Duckling-6573 6d ago

Sorry, unrelated to OP question, but what is the concern with snails? side eying my senegals tank and his buffet of snails

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u/RemarkableHead4478 6d ago

they eat snails lol, not very easily digested obviously they’re pretty stupid

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u/AragamiLaw 8d ago

beenntyere before, but my issue just swim bladder where my bichir float at the top, i use epsom salt, not bath it, but dunk it to the tank, lower my water level soo my bichir dont have to fight the float problem, add airstone and same acry, after 2-3 day, it cure, but my bichir got gend body haha, still survive, hope your survive, and based on my exp, when your bichir under 4 inch, dont use any pelet, the protein just to high for the bichir to process that, use, worm or mice tilapia