AlyeskaGirl

Hi all,

My LFS got some Bristlenose Catfish in a few weeks ago but they all have died except for one that I brought home yesterday to try and save. He is about 2" long. I am convinced he has ICH so I am taking the proper procedures for that by raising the temp and added a dose of ParaGuard lastnight and another one this morning. Added half the dose of aquarium salt but he was having convulsions lastnight and it was like he was hickuping too. Does ICH make fish have convulsions or seizures? He would get stiff and he would make a C figure with his body. Poor little guy. I haven't scene him do any convulsions this morning. So I am hoping that is a good sign and that he made it to another day. Oh, he also has a pinkish bump on his nose not sure what that is. Heater burn maybe?

Shawnie

oh no!! poor thing...

ich per say wont do that usually ..but who knows what was wrong with the others ...he probably is effected by the meds and salt tho..plecs dont do well with either...usually unless the ich is severe, raising temps is good enough...watch out for the cycle as meds will kill it sometimes....goodluck !

Butterfly

Raising the temps to 82f, frequent substrate vacuums and water changes, adding a bubble stone will help raise the oxygen content of the water also. Continue this for 14 days will see your BN right as rain. They just don't do well with most meds or salt. A reaction to the meds or the salt could possible have caused the convulsions if he is weak.
keep us posted on how your baby is doing.
Carol

AlyeskaGirl

Thank you!

Should I do a partial water change then?

Shawnie

if it were me, id do a big water change 50% at least to get the salt out..and maybe run a clean carbon for a few days to get the meds out

Butterfly

a water change never hurts It will help remove some of the meds and salt. With the water being warmer it holds less oxygen so daily/every other day water changes are very important to keep the oxygen content up. The substrate vacuums will remove dead ICH cysts.
Carol

CHoffman

Aww..poor sweet baby!!..I really hope he pulls through..you've gotten the best advice though..Just keep his water super clean and give him lots of TLC...Keep us posted.

AlyeskaGirl

I know I hope he makes it. He's so cute. I really wanted a BN for my 55-gal and got so excited when my lfs got some in. They said they had better luck with them when they were bigger. Oh, this is the 2nd BN that I am tryin to save out of the batch. The last one died after I did a water change last Tuesday evening. Had him only for 3 days.

I even have a nice piece of bogwood on the way when I snatched up the first BN that looked the best out of the 3 remaining last Saturday. So I am hoping I will have better luck with this one and he will be able to enjoy his bogwood. Otherwise I will just have to put away until lfs get more in down the road.

AlyeskaGirl

Just an update, he's doin good. Breathing is stable now. Haven't seen him hickup or have any convulsions/seizures. Doesn't move, still in same spot as he was this morning. Got my fingers crossed for the little guy. I really hope he makes it.

agabr123

i'm glad he's doing better good luck!

AlyeskaGirl

His poo is white. Parasite?

agabr123

is it stringy at all? what are you feeding?

AlyeskaGirl

It's a long piece that is white and one end has some dark specks on it. It doesn't appear to look stringy. He hasn't been eatting. He has been at the lfs for about two weeks and I doubt during that time he hasn't eatten. Do you or anybody recommend any food that he might be interested in? I do have a bottle of Garlic Guard.

agabr123

poor guy

i'd feed him frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, lots of fresh veggies like cucumber or zucchini that have been blanched, and soak all of it in garlic guard and vitachem if you have it

AlyeskaGirl

yeah, I have a bottle of vitachem too. Thanks agabr123.....I'll drop a small piece of cucumber in there tonight after blanching and soaking. He's really quiet during the day so not even sure if he is moving around a bit during the night.

Butterfly

Lots of veggies would tempt him and be good for him. I would go easy on the high protein foods for a bit though. they tend to be constipating. Unless trying to condition them for breeding BNs need 90% vegetable matter/10% protein. When breeding 80%veg and 20% protein for a short period of time is good.
Glad he's still with us
Carol

AlyeskaGirl

Thanks Carol!

cerianthus

Yes, fish can go long time w/o eating. Unless lfs provided whatever pleco needed (special care when just arrived), it may not have eaten that much for 2 weeks at lfs..thus white/specks stringy poos, perhaps.
Although have tried cucumber/zucchini, I found most newly arrived plecos (including Zebra, Mango, Royal, etc) relished Romaine Lettuce as their preferred choice (Changed every day at night until grazing on its own on wafers/veggie flakes or algae). Should soak leaf in cold water before using).
It is bit messy (floating bits of leaves which can be netted out) but ensured me that they are at least eating something. Just stick it into gravel and you will see bunch of holes on the leaf next morning. Once I noticed that stomach is getting fuller, I tried different veggie matters. Well, this was way before garlic idea or vitamins were avail.

Hope all goes well!

AlyeskaGirl

Thank you for your ideas, I really appreciate it.

AlyeskaGirl

Well, I figued I'd post a pic so you all can put a face to the patient, lol

Isn't he a cutie!! Active today! Not sure what that pink thing is on his nose, thought it is just an injury. Burn from heater maybe? He had it when I brought him home.

Butterfly

What a cutie! Keep up the good work
Carol

hkirchen

You could name him Rudolph! I think he is adorable!

AlyeskaGirl

cerianthus

Just keep close eye on the injured nose!

AlyeskaGirl

Well, the patient is still with us. Thought he was dead this mornin but he wasn't....phew! Still not eatting anything. Should I be worried? His injury on his nose is healing nicely.

AlyeskaGirl

He died......

dee34

thats a pitty , chin up !

CHoffman

AWWW..I'm soooo sorry..You did the best you could for him..At least he was in a nice healthy tank and being taken care of instead of at the LFS for his last days. I'm so sorry. I was really pulling for him..

hkirchen

I am so sorry! I had two of them that lasted two weeks for me from the LFS. They stopped eating, and nothing I could do helped. Once they cannot be tempted to eat, I worried. You did the best you could, and he probably had something already when you got him.

cerianthus

I can not believe the difficulties with pleco.
As I happenned to swing by this lfs near me today, they had about 35-40 of albinos at $11 along with other Fancys. They were about 2" and check their bellie, seemed pretty full for pleco. Asked if they feed Romaine at night, and sure enough, they feed Roamine on all plecos until stablized or eating other prep foods at the store. When I saw albinos, i thought about your pleco and hoping it would pulled thru.
Sorry about what happened AG. I was hoping but what can you do. You tried your best for the pleco.
It must be the extra trip/hours to get to your locations.

Wish you better luck next time..