[tarralb]

I have a Synodontis eupterus that is around 5 inches and the poor thing gets beat up by my cichlids and never has beautiful fins like he should, be it's never TOO bad. I just moved 4 hours away and had all my fish in a big rubbermaid thing with some rocks and they all did fine but I noticed my syno got the **** beat out of him. They must have all tried eating him cuz he barely has any back or top fins and white patches ALL over him, mainly his face which looks like where they bit him. I am treating the tank with melafix. He isn't acting like he is dying but also isn't being himself. Any other things I should get to treat him with? Any advice?

 

[Guest]

Salt, heat, and lots of water changes should help.

Where he is injured is/was there any redness?

~Ed

 

[tarralb]

I don't see any redness, it's all just white on his face and the tips of where his fins were. Do I need aquarium salt or can I use reg salt? I have morton salt at home, sea salt, and kosher salt. Also, how much per gallon?

 

[hollyfish2000]

Sounds to me like he's needs a new home. I wouldn't want to live with roommates who are trying to eat me . . .

 

[cichlidaholic]

That's very unusual for the cichlids to be after the syno like that. Do you have any hiding places for him in the main tank?

You want to make sure he doesn't have a bacterial infection from the wounds. Are the white areas cottony or fuzzy in appearance?

I would use Melafix rather than salt. He sounds like he's in pretty bad shape. Should he worsen, or should the areas appear cottony, you may need to switch to antibiotics.

Daily water changes will help, as well.

I would find him a new home, too...

 

[tarralb]

I have a ton of rocks in the tank. He doesnt seem bad in there, but it was that trip that did it. He went from looking fine to looking horrible. I don't know if they just picked on him cuz they were all in that container and there were a ton of them in such a small space or what...I just did about a 35% water change and added some more melafix.

 

[hollyfish2000]

Your original post said he got beat-up before the move and that his fins never developed the way eupterus usually does. So based on that, it didn't sound like an ideal situation for him . . .