Senegal bichir, hemorrhagic septicemia?

[pussinshoes]

Hello, until a few hours ago, I had an albino senegal bichir, which I had for just over 2 days.

It died.

I should have examined it more carefully before I bought it. Anyway, I suspect it had a disease called hemorrhagic septicemia.

It was very lethargic, not eating. I assumed it had something to do with getting used to the new tank, but the symptoms suggested otherwise.

It had red streaks on its tail, bloatedness, a red belly and head, and swollen eyes.

So based on this I suspect I picked up a diseased fish from the lfs.

Can anyone confirm if its really hemorrhagic septicemia?

If so, what should I do about the fish tank?

[talldutchie]

I saw this on yahoo as well.

As I said there... did you cycle it? Was it heated and filtered? How big was it/

[pussinshoes]

Yes cycled for 2 weeks. 55gallon tank, filtered, no heater because I'm in the tropics. Ammonia tested to be between 0-0.25ppm, can't see for sure. I use api test kit, liquid was yellow. The fish was about 2 inches. There were a few shrimp and guppies in there before it, about 5 of each, and all are doing ok. There are also a few plants.

The thing is, if it was poor water quality, I could monitor the condition and maybe leave it to cycle longer.

If its a disease I would need to clean out the whole tank and re-cycle...

[talldutchie]

I'm curious how you cycled a tank in 2 weeks.

Wherabouts are you?

[pussinshoes]

I just left it there for 2 weeks. At first I added bacteria and natural earth and the guppies and shrimp a couple of days after that. Singapore. Here's some pics maybe it'll help.

http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/...psc571fa41.jpg
http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/...ps622c86d6.jpg
http://i1309.photobucket.com/albums/...psfc2c95c9.jpg

[pussinshoes]

Singapore. I added the bacterial supplement to the filter and natural earth, then added the guppies and shrimp a couple of days later. The guppies and shrimp did totally ok, no deaths, at least none that I noticed. I didnt test the water but after 2 weeks I assumed things were ok and added the bichir. I should have tested the water first, but even now that I test the water im not seeing any toxic levels of ammonia. I posted some pics, coming up after mod approval.

[~firefly~]

Just letting a tank sit for two weeks is not cycling it. If you had ammonia present it was not cycled.

Can I suggest you read up on the "cycling without fish" sticky before you try to buy fish again? Link is here.

[pussinshoes]

I dont intend to add any fish for a while. One casaulty is more than enough. Going to monitor the levels closely first.

[talldutchie]

Hmm, singapore tends to have decent tapwater and some good aquarium shops.

I still bet on bad cycling. If you add just a few small things it will start the cycle, if you then add a massive fish you're asking for trouble.

[pussinshoes]

Well I wouldnt consider the addition of a 2 inch fish to a 55 gallon a huge addition. Bad water quality is possible. Maybe the guppies and shrimp survived because they are more hardy. But I still think it was diseased in some way. Ive never seen a fish turn red and bloated before this.