The Puffer Forum

Ok, I thought it was just an accidental one time thing, but my bichir just started looping around in a circle to bite the €%#@ out of his own tail. He has never done this before, now he mutilating himself.
No signs of illness with him or the other 2 fish. He is not under-fed.
Ph: 6.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0 (Planted with frequent water changes)
He eats earthworms, silver sides, shrimp, squid, bloodworms, Omega cichlid pelets, the latter 2 being leftovers of his roommate.
Tankmates: Female blue acara, atabapo pleco

Only change within the last week is he started getting earthworms for some meals.

Is there some disease that would make him bite himself?
His tail looks like caca. It's like he is trying to consume it.

Ok, I removed him and have him in a bucket right now to take a better look at him. I also put some pimafix, melafix, and a bit of epson salt in the bucket water. I'm noticing some inflation of some sort by his vent. Like it's bulging, but it's not hard. I don't know if he's been pooping or not. He is trembling at his lower end, I imagine his self inflicted bite would is hurting, or it's something else, and that is causing him to bite himself.
I added epson salt incase he is constipated.

Awwww... poor fella!

sevenyearnight wrote:Ok, I removed him and have him in a bucket right now to take a better look at him. I also put some pimafix, melafix, and a bit of epson salt in the bucket water. I'm noticing some inflation of some sort by his vent. Like it's bulging, but it's not hard. I don't know if he's been pooping or not. He is trembling at his lower end, I imagine his self inflicted bite would is hurting, or it's something else, and that is causing him to bite himself.
I added epson salt incase he is constipated.

Sounds like a good treatment. If he is eating at his tail and the bulging going on, could be constipated. Btw, did alittle research on him and ph should be 6.5-7.5.

Yeah, that's why I'm trying to get the ph raised, thank you for the suggestions on that!

I'm going to repeat this treatment each day for about a half hour, hopefully it will help.
The lump or swelling is on the right side, in between the last two fins, before his anus, but not right next to it, about <1 cm before it.

Instead of taking him out everyday, I'm going to set up a hospital tank for him, that way I can see if he is pooping or not.

sevenyearnight wrote:Instead of taking him out everyday, I'm going to set up a hospital tank for him, that way I can see if he is pooping or not.

If you want it done right then it would be wise if you have the room.

Set up a hospital tank last night for him, panicked at this morning at the ammonia levels, thought I didn't clean the fake plants well enough. Did a water change, pulled out the plants, cleaned the plants, tested the water, still the same.
I forgot that my #$&@ tap water has ammonia it already!
Arrg.. so I just stressed Mortimer out for no reason.

He's not happy about being in the hospital tank, but he had at least stopped biting his tail. It's not bleeding anymore, so he's either too disoriented being in a different tank with no substrate, or the medicine in the water is making him at last comfortable enough for him not to try to bite at his owie.
My husband and I spent hours trying to find info online, it seems to be constipation/impacted food or a small rock. He's been constipated before, finally pooped after refusing to eat for 2 weeks. This just doesn't seem the same.
However, the person online said that their bichir never passed whatever was lodged and died.

Keep up with the Epsom salt.

Yep. My frontosa stopped eating for about a week and a half last year so I treated him with epsom salt and he finally started eating but started out eating slow and only small pieces of krill but no pellets or larger pieces of krill until acouple of weeks later. Now he eats his pellets and krill normally now .

The thing that is different, is he didn't stop eating, appetite is the same. Just the bulge, and the biting the tail. He curves around to bite his tail on the side that has the bulge, so it must be bothering him.
I haven't fed him since he's been in the infirmary, what if it's not constipation? What else could it be?

Could be some sort of bacterial infection that could be causing the bulge. So your treatment that you are giving him should do it.

I tried to feed him tonight, but he didn't want anything. He is really hating being in there.

Mortimer ate a red worm yesterday morning, first day since being in the hospital tank, he has pooed today, so it's not constipation or food impacted. Still has the bulge, he's been holding his pectoral fins to his body often, and it would appear that he is still biting his tail. I'm going to abandon the melafix/pimafix since this seems too much for that to cover.
I'll do a huge water change and start treating him with an antibiotic, or something, any suggestions?