Syno Eupterus - white patch

[stonecoloured]

Good Morning All,

This is my 1st post here. A couple of days ago I got a selection of fully grown Syno's from another fish keeper. These are my 1st Synos, although I have read up on them and have several close friends who keep them. One of the Syno Eupterus had a white patch of skin damage, mainly on the body and just below its dorsal fin, that I assumed was a scar or recent damage due to the decor in the tank.

The patch of damage has no fungus and at that point had no redness. Over the last few days the patch now has a slight redness at the edges. It also has what looks to be a raised plate of skin in the centre. I've tried taking pictures, but they are very blurry. The fish is also breathing heavily. Due to thinking this was a scrape I have started treating with half does Melefix, although I'm now not sure if this is "just" skin damage. I know it’s a vague description but wondered if anyone could help. I've not previously seen Syno with skin damage before and as such don’t know if what I am looking at is "normal/right".

All of the other fish seem fine.

Many thanks

Stonecoloured.

[Richard B]

Hi there & welcome to the site

Sometimes it's really difficult to describe something in words that someone else interprets correctly & visualises exactly what was intended - that's why photos are so beneficial.

What you describe doesn't sound totally typical - it could well be a scrape where a bacterial infection has started to set-in.

Skin damage to synos can look variable dependant up on the cause: white solid patches, scratch lines etc. Synos are generally very tough compared to a lot of other cat species so when things go bad they need careful attention. As always, top quality water is paramount.

I am presuming the fish you got all went into a mature set-up? I wonder if there has been an overload on the filtration system if the bioload suddenly had a massive increase? Have you got any readings for pH, nitrate, nitrite & ammonia?

if you cant get a decent photo, there is no improvement, & are really worried, drop me a PM & i'll see if i can pop over if you want as i'm only 35 mins away

[stonecoloured]

The picture can be found here - http://www.zeromonkeys.com/images/fish/ ... roblem.jpg

Please excuse my shovel nose catfish trying to get in on the act!

I finally got a better picture, although it does bring out the redness due to the flash on the camera. I hope this helps with the diagnosis.

Also the tank has been set up for approx 5 years, PH is 7.5, Ammonia is 0 and nitrates and nitrites are low.

Many thanks for the help

Stonecoloured

[Silurus]

I would like to help, but the server where you are hosting the picture seems reluctant to transmit any data (the picture loaded at about 50 bytes/sec and then the connection was dropped after 20 kilobytes of data was loaded, and I am using the high-speed connection on the university network). Can you host the picture somewhere else to make it more accessible?

[Richard B]

strangely on my rubbish system i saw the pic straight away! This does not look like physical injury as the patch is on the body & adipose. There does look to be some infection & needs attention with a proprietary treatment

[Birger]

I would isolate straight away and make sure water conditions are pristine...I think it should heal but watch closely for expansion of the white patch as this could turn into or be a version of a problem which seems to affect eupterus more than others.
What is the ph of the tanks water?

Birger

[stonecoloured]

Good afternoon all,

Not sure why you can’t see the picture Silurus, hopefully you can see this one :


The PH is 7.5-8 and the water tests seem fine – although I’ll make sure it continues to stay fine.

Richard B you mentioned an infection and treatment, I am currently treating with Melafix, is there a general med you would suggest for “infections”? Or should I keep the water perfect and hope for the best?

Birger you mentioned this might be a problem that effects eupterus, please can you elaborate?

Many thanks
Stonecoloured

[Richard B]

I think any stanard anti-bacterial treatment would suffice, melafix included. I really like this product but it seems "milder" than some others which is good in some respects.

What Birger is referring to is something as yet not completely identified where synos, particulalrly eupterus have thir lateral line go white or have large patches of the body go white or both! it has been mentioned many times in these forums by many people but no way to stop or correct it is actually known

[jippo]

One of my S. nigriventris had exact same looking white patch in his stomach while ago. I treat him with Waterlife's Myxazin and after few days it was almost gone. Now it looks normal and healthy again.

[Birger]

I am quite sure what yours has is just damage from being moved and the ensuing quarrels that go along...but go through this post http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... hp?t=20518 and some of the links within and you should get the picture of what I was talking about, as Richard mentioned there is still a lot to be learned about this and what triggers it.

Birger

[stonecoloured]

Thank you for your help guys

I have isolated him in a spare tank and am medding him with Melefix.

I'll have a look through the links and see if I can gleam a bit more info. I've got to say they are lovely fish with real characters... I'm glad I took the Syno step!

Stonecoloured

[Birger]

the only other thing is when you do put this fish back into the main tank make sure you do some rearranging to give it a chance so the same damage does not occur again and try to have enough or more than enough is better when it comes to caves or structures to hang out in, these fish definitely appreciate a good hidey hole.

I've got to say they are lovely fish with real characters... I'm glad I took the Syno step!

They have character for sure but that is also what gets them into trouble as there are times some syno's can get down right belligerent...but I love them nonetheless.

Birger

[andywoolloo]

good luck with your syno. he is beautiful! How many total did you get? I have 5 together.

His wound looks reddish raw in some spots. Poor guy. That guy behind him in the picture looks a little scary, is he mean?

[stonecoloured]

Good Evening All,

Thank you for the tips about rearranging the décor, I keep Clown loaches who can be very much “this is my log – go away – shove shove” its good to know Synos are the same. I’ve got a local builder who reclaims drainage pipes made out of clay – I’m going to get some more of them next weekend for some of the bigger Synos, that should give them more hiding spaces.

I got 8 Catfish all in all - 1x 7” Mystus bocourti (King Bagrid),1x 10” Syno Notatus (Domino Syno),1 x 10” Syno Pleurops (Bug Eyed Syno), 1 x 10” Schilbe marmoratus . 2 x 8-9” Syno Eupterus (Featherfin Syno) and 1 x 7” Syno Nigrita (False upside down catfish).

Which meant some serious re-arranging of the current and other tanks occupants, but I think I’ve got it balanced over the tanks.

The Lima Shovel Nose catfish is lovely – he’s not scary - he’s just nosey! I’ve got 2 in that tank and the get on fine with everyone, although they do eat small fish. Usually they are elegant and slow moving, unless food is on the table.

I’ve got some Waterlife's Myxazin which I am using on the Eupterus in half dosage, hopefully it will do the trick. He is still very active and seems to be fine, apart from the heavy breathing.

Many thanks,
Stonecoloured.

[Birger]

That is a good acquisition...nice group of syno's
I would be interested to see a picture of the pleurops(if possible)

Birger

[stonecoloured]

Good afternoon Birger,

I'll see if I can get a good picture of him over the next few days, he is one of the more "free" swimming of the Syno's so it shouldn't be too much of a problem
At the moment I am feeding them on a range of foods, mainly flake and pellets, although I do also feed "fish friendly table scraps" - such as chicken, peas and vegatables. Is there anything Syno's specifically like?

Many thanks

Stonecoloured

[andywoolloo]

chicken? how do you prepare it and serve it? do the synos eat it? wow.

The Lima Shovel Nose catfish is lovely – he’s not scary - he’s just nosey! I’ve got 2 in that tank and the get on fine with everyone, although they do eat small fish. Usually they are elegant and slow moving, unless food is on the table.

he is very beautiful. It's nice to know he is nice.

[Birger]

Is there anything Syno's specifically like?

The question is...is there any thing the average synodontis(especially some of these riverine species) does not like once it figures out it is food, of course there are always exceptions that would have more specialized diets in the wild, but generally they are opportunistic feeders and you seem to be already feeding a variety, additionally though any of the usual frozen foods would be relished as well.(I myself am not too keen on feeding chicken as you mentioned or beefheart)

Birger

[andywoolloo]

I was so distracted by the feeding of chicken that I missed his question.

my synos eat any kind of frozen food, and they like sinking shrimp pellets, sinking canivore tabs, sinking pretty much anything really. They just now have been interested in veggies, particularily cooked shelled peas and zuchinni and cuke raw. They also like cooked mussells chopped up and the shrimp you can get on ice at the food store fish counter.

[stonecoloured]

Good Morning All,

I didn’t mean to cause a commotion with the feeding of chicken, been feeding chicken for about 4 years now I also keep loaches and they LOVE the stuff ! Usually just put in a few bones of a roasted chicken for them. I don’t add anything to the chicken when roasting – no herbs, no butter, no nothing. The loaches, bristle noses and tetras strip the bones clean. I’ve learnt only to put strips of meat into the “big tank” (this houses my predatory or big fish) as Mr Shovel nose swallows them whole – and then has to regurgitate them . No damage was done but I won’t be doing it again. I’ve also tried pork and lamb in the “big tank” with some bad results. As they are very fatty it killed my Sengal by bunging them up. I didn’t realise the Synos also ate Zuchinni and Cucumber (same as my loaches), I’ll try that too. I also feed “white fish fillets” to the community tank – you can get them frozen from Tescos, they are cheaper than prawns.

Stonecoloured

[Mayhsg]

HELP,
My Syno looks like it has an infection. He was all ok until I changed the water. I had to remove the fish from the tank and he had to stay in a bucket for a couple of hours until I finished cleaning my tank.When I put him back, he had this huge white patch on this back. I thought the he must have got hurt during the handling. Now it is 1 week and he looks terrible. I've had him for over 5 years and do not want to lose him. What should I do?
Water quality is good. ph-nitrites/ Nitrates, hardness temperature is all normal.
Help Help.

[pleconut]

Hi there i've had some experience with synodontis eupturus multipunctatus and petricolas sometimes moving them from tank to tank and placing in containers while doing so where there other fish in the confines of the container or a heater he may have burned himself on if you could let us know we could establish the history possibility if this is injury and not disease related i definitely agree it's infected whatever the cause keeping it in a clean and stable environment is the best thing you can do for him I had a featherfin who sustained an injury very similar to this from raiding a cichlids nest mine did heal as featherfins do heal quickly. Having said all this my experience with synos is limited especially in regards to hlle which i konw of but not much about it but there are some here who ive read threads on to be more familiar with it and possibly also with treating it @Richard B or @Viktor Jarikov or @Birger as you may have more info or are able to advise if possible please can you fill in gaps i cannot in this bumped topic it would be much appreciated.