Spotted Gar Sore Nose

[wkdblu3]

I have a spotted gar pike housed in a 110g tank with a Pangasius sanitwongsei (Thanks CFC) 2 medium plecs and 2 Eels Unknown (Though there are my favourite fish i have) but the gar has made his nose? red raw from rubbing it against the glass in an endless motion.

I have noticed it getting worse over the short time i have had him with no signs of the behaviour ending i am getting quite concerned for him, Does anyone have any advice how to stop him doing this or better still an idea why he is doing this.

I have attached some pics allthough there not great my MacBook Pro is the best camera i have available

Nose1 ?

Tank he is housed in

Many Thanks in advance WkdBlu3

 

[WILDER]

Need to look at your stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph.
It is sore is he flicking and rubbing, add fluff on the nose as well.

 

[wkdblu3]

Need to look at your stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph.
It is sore is he flicking and rubbing, add fluff on the nose as well.

Amonia 0

Nitrite 10 (Slight colour on the test kit)

nitrate 0

PH is 8.2

he doesnt seem to be flicking, he just swims up and down on the end of the tank rubbing his nose against the glass

 

[WILDER]

You have a high nitrite reading immediate water change it could be irratating his nose.
No nothing on the fish you keep but are there noses sensitive.
Was the tank cycled when you added him.

 

[wkdblu3]

It was 50% water from my cichlid tank and 50% declorinated tap water and the filter was established

i will try a 25% water change i was thinking something was irratating him, but he has no obvious sores or marks just the sore nose from rubbing the glass

 

[WILDER]

I was looking for something irratating his nose, I would do the water change.
Has the rubbing broken his skin.

 

[wkdblu3]

I was looking for something irratating his nose, I would do the water change.
Has the rubbing broken his skin.

Yes it does look like he has broken the skin, untill today it just looked like he had a mark on his nose (different coulour to the rest) kind of hard to explain. but today it is a glowing red clearly sore yet he doesnt stop, I am sure its sore from rubbing the glass

 

[WILDER]

Scared of it getting infected the skin is now broken you will need a bacterial med.


I would go with melafix for now.
If there no improvement in three days I would move onto anti internal bacteria med.
http/www.fishjunkies.com/Medications/melafix.php

He's a cute fish bless him, never seen one before.

 

[wkdblu3]

Scared of it getting infected the skin is now broken you will need a bacterial med.


I would go with melafix for now.
If there no improvement in three days I would move onto anti internal bacteria med.

He's a cute fish bless him, never seen one before.

Ok available now i have some Interpet 5 general tonic (for bacteria fungas and parasites),
Waterlife Protozin for bacteria and whitespot (im sure this is not for use on scalleless fish i maybe wrong)
Huey Hung H1 SuperCin for bacteria diseases cloudy eyes rotten fin etc (this is a cream never used before)
and some Huey Hung H3 General bacteria killer (This is a powder never used before)

I have no idea what the active ingrediants are i sell frozen fish food online and they came as stock when i took over.

 

[WILDER]

Huey Hung H1 SuperCin for bacteria diseases cloudy eyes rotten fin etc (this is a cream never used before)
and some Huey Hung H3 General bacteria killer (This is a powder never used before)

Never even heard of them before.
Maybe rub some of the cream on his nose.
or add the tonic for now.

 

[wkdblu3]

Huey Hung H1 SuperCin for bacteria diseases cloudy eyes rotten fin etc (this is a cream never used before)
and some Huey Hung H3 General bacteria killer (This is a powder never used before)

Never even heard of them before.
Maybe rub some of the cream on his nose.
or add the tonic for now.

HEHE this guy has teeth he tears through lance fish like they are wet paper
I will see if i can get the wife to rub it on his nose or maybee tell the kids its a bush tucker trial LMAO
I will mix up some of the general killer it seems the most generic anti bactrial to try and prevent infection i just wish i knew why he was doing it

And thanks a lot for the help you have given me this really is the most freindly tropical fish forums on the net

 

[WILDER]

Ok lol sorry about the cream if the fish has teeth.
Wish i knew the meds done a search but it fetches guns up.
Make sure that bacterial med dosn't wipe the bacteria colony out in your filter so read instructions as it will make matters worse.

 

[wkdblu3]

Ok lol sorry about the cream if the fish has teeth.
Wish i knew the meds done a search but it fetches guns up.
Make sure that bacterial med dosn't wipe the bacteria colony out in your filter so read instructions as it will make matters worse.

Yes good point on the filter i think as i know so little on the meds apart from its damn expensive on ebay and the instructions are mainly in japinese only the dosage is in english i dont want to risk it i will try and source some melafix as people seem to be experianced with it on here and often recommend it from posts i have read.

and yes he is awfully cute

 

[WILDER]

The water change should help.
Good luck bless him he's a little cutie.

 

[CFC]

What is needed is a bigger tank, large fish rubbing their noses on the glass is a sign that they are cramped and require more room. Gars typically need tanks that are at least 30" wide from front to back as their ganoid scales are fairly inflexible which means they need a huge ammount of room just to be able to turn around. Time to check with the bank manager for a loan for that 8x3x3' tank.

I wouldnt bother with any serious medications, a little melafix never hurts but other than that just clean water and a bigger tank is what is needed.