Mystus Gulio In Trouble!!!!!!!!

[Shovelnose]

I collected a couple of M.Gulio a few years ago very close to Madras. I am left with one right now. Collected as a juvenile he is currently around 4.5 TL now.

My S.Euptera has inflicted some extremely nasty wounds on him very recently. They never liked each other. My concern is the wound is quite deep. Pictures are attached below. Coincidentally, the other Gulio I had was also wounded by the same Euptera in almost the same place. He lasted around a week after he was isolated.

I have isolated the Gulio I currently have. Wondering what treatment is recommended.

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3582/dsc00024x.jpg

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/6215/dsc00027h.jpg

[Richard B]

it doesn't seem as bad as it could be, that is, i've seen recoveries from worse situations. Top quality water is a must & a treatment with some standard anti-bacterial product - i am unsure what is available to you. As it's isolated it's a good start, subdued lighting & anything else to minimise stress will help.

[Shovelnose]

Ah ok.Thanks for the info Richard. I have never seen a fish injured this badly. Thats why I kinda panicked.

He s going through water changes everyday now. Adrian has recommended Melafix to me. Im sure I have seen it in a few LFS here. Going to pick that up later in the day. I tried feeding him very little but he sort of sniffed at the food and thats it. Going to try again in a few days.

There is no lighting. I have kept it as dark as possible. There is plenty of aeration in there. He s not swimming too much. Just sort of sitting down.

[Richard B]

Melafix is very good for this sort of thing. You sound like you are doing everything spot on. Good water is far more important than feeding, so no need to worry about the fish not eating for a week or so if necessary, & of coure any uneaten food not removed deteriorates the water quality

keep us posted with progress

[Shovelnose]

Done thing Richard. I drop in a few pieces of Tetra Bits about half an hour before the water changes. So any uneaten food is siphoned out almost immediately. As soon as I see any improvement Il post a few pics.

Progress will be slow Im guessing. The thing is I have never had to treat my fish before. My first Ich breakout (since I have been in the hobby) was about 4 months ago and I resorted to frequent water changes and higher temperatures.
So basically, when it comes to treating fish Im quite 'duh'.

[Shovelnose]

Just a small update. I did buy Melafix but didn get to use it as I had to attend a family emergency. He didn get any attention for 4 days. I came back expecting him to be on his back a week ago. Quite surprisingly, he seems to have recovered a little bit. Swimming around a lot and trying to jump out.

http://img257.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=dsc00049r.jpg

He s getting water changes twice a day now and very little food is dropped prior to the water change as usual. He did eat his pellets today. I was wondering if I should still treat him with Melafix or continue with what I am doing currently.

Very importantly, does he look recovered to any of you or are my eyes acting up????

[andywoolloo]

It looks vastly improved to me. No more red raw meaty looking as in the first picture, looks to be almost all healed over. looks similar to a heater burn. did the syno just keep biting him there? did you get to witness any of that?

[Richard B]

The melafix might not be needed but equally wouldn't hurt - looks like good improvement so far - well done: good husbandry evident.

[Shovelnose]

Andy :

Yup. I did see the Syno bite. He s probably the most aggresive guy in the tank. Doesn like the M.Gulio or the P.Siamensis. These 3 keep chasing each other away most of the time even if they are nowhere near each other's territories.


Richard :

Thanks man. I dono bout the good husbandry part though. I spend most of my time with my Erethistidae only tank (though my parents believe there is nothing in the tank). Only the sick get equal attention.

I will see if there is any significant improvement in the next few days. Else I will gladly shift to Melafix. Hopefully I will be able to shift him back to the main tank in a coupla weeks.

[Richard B]

If you re-introduce it to the main tank you might wanna remove all the inhabitants for a brief period & rearrange all the decor, including some additional caves. So new territories can be established rather than introducing a "new" fish into other fishes confirmed territory.

Intelligent layout could give each fish maximum territory (in the space available) - some caves could be big enough for the mystus but too small for the others - have a think about it

[Shovelnose]

Hello Richard,

Your suggestions about transferring did make a lotta sense but the number of inhabitants in the communitty tank are too much to remove.

It contains a 12 " Leiarius Marmoratus and an 8" TSN for starters. And then there s the Rita Chrysea and quite a few others. Sadly, its not a tank based on habitat. I kept adding oddballs (imports like the L.Marmoratus are quite rare down here) whenever I spotted them at an LFS. So Im looking to add more caves and other hideable structures at the moment and then reintroduce the M.Gulio into the tank.