Need advice ASAP

[geo242]

I have had these two severum for about 7 years and the person who had them before me had them for a few years, so I estimate that they are both around 10 years old. I have never had any major issues before now. I have a tank with only slate in it and it was arranged very well before these pictures were taken.

Here is what happened: I came home last night to find that one of the severum had jammed himself sideways between two pieces of slate. He couldn't move at all. So I carefully took all the slate apart, being careful not to crush him. He then swam away normally.

However, ever since this happened, he has been different. He has multiple spots where scales are missing. The other severum picks on him almost constantly, and neither severum are eating normally. I have been keeping the light off in the tank which seems to keep them a little more calm.

I am very worried I am going to loose this fish. I really want to avoid it if possible. Should I set up a quarantine? What should I do?

Thanks!

 

[DeFeKt]

ok, i've had similar but in different fish.
It seems to me that whats happened is one is slightly injured and it's immune system has been let down becaue of this.consequently the fish will be more prone to disease and it wouldn't suprise me if you had an outbreak of ich or some sort of skin infection due to it. Someone might be able to help with treatment for this better then me, but I use the age old Salt and heat cure, as salt is a mild antibiotic for minor skin abrasions, and heat helps kill the nasties in the water.

Now, I've noticed that other fish can sense that an immunal guard has been let down, and they take advantage of it, especially when disease is slowing the other down, so what you might want to do is seperate the two somehow until a full recovery is evident.

btw, Other things that might help people to help you would be,
how long ago did the fish get stuck, tank water parametres, feeding habits, filtration, etc etc.

Hope this helps mate, and all the best with these great looking fish..

Matty

 

[geo242]

Thanks for the advice. I will throw in some aquarium salt immediately.

As suggested, here are more details:

- The fish got stuck on Saturday night (3/4/06). He wasn't stuck when I left around 5pm and he was stuck when I got home around 1am.

- My ph is right about 7.0. I am out of the other test kits to test the rest of the details.

- I feed the fish about once a day.

- I have a reef-ready 72g bowfront oceanic tank. So, it has a tank below for filtration where I have a lot of those funny looking plastic balls. I got this tank because I eventually plan to switch to salt water.

- My most recent water change was about two weeks ago, and I changed about 15%.

- The other fish in the tank are 3 smaller (<4") african cichlids and 1 giant danio (~3").

- I had no recent deaths, nor have I ever had any major illnesses.

If there is any more info that would help, just ask.

Thanks!

 

[Devilishturtles]

Very beautiful fish! Keeping good water quality throughout treatment will help keep your fish healthy. It helps boost the immune system, and keeps secondary infections at bay (which can easily get into the sores on your fish).

If you have a QT tank, that would be best IMO....but with the size of that fish it seems out of the question. How large are they, anyways?

So, with that said, I would change some water every few days, about 30% or so. You can also pick up Melafix, which is a medication that will drastically help your fish heal it's open wounds more quickly.

If the other severum is still picking, I would definitley try and seperate them, because things will not heal this way. If it is possible, you can try and find a sheet of acrylic and make a tank divider(which would be very hard given your tank is bowfront), or QT the fish if your QT tank is large enough.

 

[geo242]

Thanks for both of you replies. I was getting ready to set my old 55g up as a QT, but to my surprise, the fish in question seems to be back on top of his game today. He is being his old aggressive self. He is doing the bullying and not being bullied.

I still plan on watching him closely and changing the water more frequently.

And by the way, the severum are both between 7-8" from mouth to the end of their tails. I have seen pictures of severum this big, but still haven't seen any this big elsewhere in person.

Thanks again.

 

[Devilishturtles]

His agressiveness is a good sign indeed. Keep an eye out for any other issues, and it should heal itself over time, given that you keep up on water changes and such.

Good luck.