Please Look! Tyre-track Eel With White Patches

[Nixynoonoo]

I have recently purchased an 8-12" tyre-track eel to add to my cat-tank.

I am now extremely concerned as it looks like I am dealing with a bacterial infection and there is bu**er-all information on the web offering advice on how to treat this problem.


The eel or 'Fluffy' (yes really, my boyfriend is stupid!) is showing some small whitening patches on its nose, tail and flanks. This does not appear to be fungal, and after reading several of nmonks posts I am beginning to think this is a bacterial infection. The skin is becoming almost translucent in and around these patches and the eel occasionally seems to 'pant' a bit. It has been this way for over a week now and I think the problem was there when I bought him/her.

My water perameters are as follows:


temp 26C
PH 8 (can't do anything about this I'm afraid, sad.gif )
GH 19dh
KH 8dh
nitrates and nitrites less than 0.3 mg/l
co2- concentration 2.4 mg/l

my tank is 105 litres 36"x12"x15" and contains

2 x pictus 4"-5"
1 x asian bumblecatfish 6"-7"
1 x synodontis erupterus 3"
2 x pangasius 3"-4"

and the tyre-track who is about 8-12"

There doesn't appear to be much aggressiveness amongst these fish.

Reduced: 75% of original size [ 640 x 480 ] - Click to view full image

substrate is 100% black sand now (changed after advice on this site from a 50-50 sand/gravel mix)
normally planted but have been removed for treatment.
Tank is fairly bare at the moment with only plastic plants and bogwood for shelter as I am worried it will rub itself and do more damage.

I live in the UK as as such I am unable to obtain any myacyn (or if it is available I don't know where to get it).

I have been treating the whole tank with half-doses of protozin as my fish are scale-less and doing a 10% water change every day/other day.

I have also kept the light off most of the time so as not to induce more stress.

Initially I did add tonic salt but I have not put any in since my last waterchange so the levels will be very low now.

The eel is eating earthworms but I am unsure as to how many to feed and at what frequency. It has managed 3 x 2-3" earthworms per feed every other day at the moment is this sufficient?


Could anyone please re-assure me that I am doing the right thing here? Should I be using Myxazin instead? salt?

I am desperate to know what I can do to help Fluffy recover as it doesn't look like it is too late yet.

please, please, please post your suggestions/info

Thanks good.gif
Sorry thought I'd just chuck me syno in as he was sooooo keen to be photographed!

 

[nmonks]

OK. This isn't good. If you're lucky, it's fungus or finrot, both of which can be treated relatively easily. I happen to like the eSHa 2000 potion that does both at once, but it probably doesn't matter which one you use. Buy and dose the tank. Be sure and remove carbon from the aquarium filter.

It is indeed true that some catfish react badly to copper-based medications, but doing half-doses isn't helpful in my opinion, especially not when you have a critical case as you do here. I have Synodontis and Panaque in a tank that has been treated with eSHa 2000 and never had problems. Treat the tank, maximise oxygenation of the water, and the perform big water changes AFTER the treatment is done.

You might also consider saltwater dips. Basically you make up some saltwater by adding 35 grammes of salt to a litre of aquarium water (uniodised cooking salt will do) and dip the fish for a few minutes at a time. This dehydrates external bacterial and fungal cells, killing them. Together with treating the tank, this is a good one-two approach for knocking out external infections. There's an art to dipping fish though: you want to dip long enough to kill the pathogens, but not too long or the fish will die. A lot depends on the fish and its physiology. I'd expect a 15 cm spiny eel would be fine for 5 minutes or more. Usually, you leave as long as possible, but pulling the fish out before if rolls over. You can read about saltwater dips (or freshwater dips for marine fish) elsewhere on the net or in any good fish health book.

Hardness and pH don't matter with spiny eels so don't worry about them. Good water quality is MUCH more important.

You seem to have nitrItes in the tank. That isn't good.

Is the sand soft? That's the critical thing, not so much the size of the grains. Sharp sand would be worse than smooth gravel.

It's good he's eating.

Good luck!

Cheers, Neale