Baby BBXB ate a bad piece of shrimp....

J

JLee

New Member
Hello everyone,

This is my first post here and I am extremely worried about my new BBXB. I was feeding it shrimp two days ago when I saw a nasty dried up piece of what I expect to be a piece of shrimp from a previous feeding. Anyways, I went to go grab this nasty brown piece from the glass top - lo' and behold it falls in the tank. Before I could even react, my baby aro snatches it up and swallows it.

Since then he has barfed up all the food he has ate and had a thick piece of white feces (first 12 hrs). Next he has stopped eating and sometimes resting at the bottom of the tank with observed white stringy feces hanging from its anus (currently). I also observed slight swelling of the eye.

He is now in a 40G Q-tank and is being treated with 1teaspoon/5gallon of Epsom salt to help clear his intestinal tract. Also dosed the tank at 1.5x strength of Binox (Nitrofurizone). Since he is not eating - I can only hope the medication reaches his intestinal tract.

Any advise to help him pull through this? I'm already praying for him. I feel extremely guilty right now and blame myself for this incident.

Greatly appreciate any help from you veterans!

Best,
J
 
Man that really sucks! I have rays and/or catfish with my aros and they usually clean up the tank, though I have seen some unappetizing old pieces on occasion. I try to fish them out with a net when I see them.

I don't know what else you can do besides frequent water changes and adding a little salt (though I have never tried epsom salt, just aquarium salt). I'll be pulling for him and I will be watching for the advice of the more experienced members. I am sure I will run into this sometime as well.
 
At this point, nothing much can be done unfortunately. Later that evening, I found that he has acquired "popeye" and this morning I found him with protruding scales. All signs of general "dropsy" with internal infection as the main culprit. It is a crying shame that I did not have access Kanamycin on the initial day, which could end up costing me big time. Kanamycin, aka Seachem Kanaplex, is useful in fish who have stopped eating (such as mine) because it can be absorbed by the fish w/o ingestion. The nitrofurizone (Binox), which I had access too is most useful through ingestion - unfortunately provided no help to me. I wish there were fish doctors around my area - been searching high and low. At this point, I am using Epsom salt at .5 tbs / 5 gallon in tandem with Kanamycin, Nitrofurizone, and Metronidozole. I am just really hoping that his kidneys have not completely failed and that the the broad spectrum antibiotics work in time. If his kidneys have failed, all is lost.

For future reference to others, make sure you DO NOT USE regular AQUARIUM salt when you notice signs of "dropsy." The aforementioned symptoms (popeye and bloating) are signs of kidney failure, hence the bloating. Using regular aquarium salt will cause the fish to RETAIN more water, make sure you use EPSOM salt. Epsom will help extract excess fluids from the fish, easing the stress on the kidneys - hopefully buying you some precious time to procure a remedy.

I'm praying for this little guy as I have grown to love his enthusiasm. I am hoping for the best and prepared for the worst.

Wish me luck, please. :(
 
Im not sure why the aro would be sick if the piece of shrimp were dryed up and hardened. Shouldnt have made him sick seeing as how the bacteria count on it would have been very low.
When the shrimp was not dryed up and still had some moisture, the counts would have been much more, and could have harmed him.

When the shrimp first fell on the tank, the bacteria present on it would have doubled within 20 minutes, and would have continued to double again and again after that.

The dryed up/hardened shrimp would have not been an ideal inviroment. At first, it would have been perfect, but when it dryed out, it was not, so the bacteria would have died off... some would have still remained, but most would have died.


I highly doubt it was the food. I think the eating of that shrimp was only a coincidence and has led you to some other conclusion as to what the problem may have been.

I would have never doesed with meds, or moved the Aro not having a full understanding of what the shrimp, in its current state, could have done to the aro.

I would have left him in the main tank.. test the parameters, and do huge water changes daily, then go from there.
 
I have mine eating dried up prawn all the time and no problem with it. I doubt that your water causing all this beside eating just one piece and have the effect so fast. Hope it get better soon.
 
I am also pulling for him and thank you for the advice about using Epsom salts instead of Aquarium salt for fish with dropsy. It sounds like he is in good hands and I am sure you have given him as good a chance as possible for recovery. I wish you both luck.
 
His internal swelling seems to be decreasing - only time will tell. I read many stories about people who thought they cured their fish, just to return in a couple of weeks.

Here is the current concoction of medication being used:
Metronidozole
Seachem Kanaplex
Tetracycline

Temprature: 33-34C


Let me clarify for the previous posters about the "dried up nasty piece of shrimp"
I am NOT talking about Freeze Dried shrimp or krill. I wished you guys did not jump to conclusions so quickly, without first consulting me. What it actually was - I cut up freshly thawed frozen market shrimp for the BBXB but he didn't eat all the pieces that I dropped it. I pulled out the pieces and put it on the glass covering. Forgetting about it, I closed the lid maybe 30 minutes later with the shrimp still stuck on it. During that time the shrimp was able to dry then exposed to humid and moist environment (upon closing the glass covering); perfect for bacteria multiplication and reproduction. During a following feeding, I discovered it stuck on the glass and tried to remove the it from the glass. This was when it fell into the tank and snatched up by the baby aro.
 
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Thank you carcrazy for your kind words of support. I am praying for him as well and just holding on to hope.
 
JLee said:
Thank you carcrazy for your kind words of support. I am praying for him as well and just holding on to hope.
Click to expand...


Is this baby aro. currently eating anything?


If not, I would suggest to add a bit vitamin (liquid format for arowana) everyday.
 
I knew what you meant by dryed up piece of shrimp..

If it were exposed to bacteria,The bacteria on that piece of shrimp would first have to be identified, seeing as how some of those bacteria require salt to mulitiply, treating with salt could be a bad idea.

Stop adding salt, and treat with just the metro or Tetracycline...

My guess is that is was a bacteria called Vibrio parahaemolyticus. All of the symptoms point to the side effects of ingesting this bacteria, as well as the fact that this bacteria is sometimes found on the type of food you were feeding. The fish got a bit of food poisoning, but will most likly make a full recovery.

The temp being raised is not needed, nor is the salt. Just treat with one or two of the above mentioned meds, and he'll be fine.. good luck.
 
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