Some one help please. I have a Senegal bichir and hes about 5 and a half inches but recently I noticed this weird dust looking stuff on his head and his color has gotten a lot darker than normal. Is this normal or a parasite?
Weird stuff on bichir head
- Thread starter Jacob._.merc
- Start date
If it's some sort of slime coat problem then it could be seriously bad. Other than that I don't really know, sorry. Many types of infections and diseases can be treated with aquarium salt, so that's where I'd start.
Wish I could be of more help. Hopefully someone here will know what's going on.
Wish I could be of more help. Hopefully someone here will know what's going on.
Yes definitely if the Pleco is not properly fed then it is quite likely to start sucking on other fishes slime coat, ganoid scaled fish like Bichirs in particular as their slime coat is thicker and more nutritious than on many other fish. A lot of people here will tell you to never even house Plecos together with such fish because of this, as a compromised slime coat usually equals a dead Bichir.
Your tank also seems to be free of both plants and algae, which means that your pleco is not only lacking protein but is also seriously hungry otherwise. Most common species of Pleco have high metabolism and grow quite fast in the right conditions, and will need a much more varied diet than thin sheets of green algae.
I've never seen what this looks like in person, so I can't say for sure, but now that you mention the Pleco I would move the bichir to a seperate tank and treat with salt right away, then hope for the best I guess.
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are you talking about the white coloration on the nose? If so it looks like when mine runs into the glass. As far as darker coloration it is probably the substrate my sen got real dark when it was on black substrate
Look closely it almost looks like the slime coat has become loose or shredded.
I wasn't sure if he was talking about that or the white spot on the nose. Sometimes when badly stressed bichirs can shed their slime coats, usually with clean water and food they heal. It doesn't look like a pleco did it though those are usually round white patches
What is your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates?
Agreed it looks like slime coat.
Pleco issues that I've seen show rounded areas... his looks like stress of some sort. There's been no major changes?
Agreed it looks like slime coat.
Pleco issues that I've seen show rounded areas... his looks like stress of some sort. There's been no major changes?
Do some water changes and add a slightly larger dose of slime coat+ looks like some stress or pleco scale munching. I would separate them if possible for safety and ease of observation.