Bumblebee Catfish Attacked

[QuotheRaven]

Earlier today I moved my Bumblebee catfish from a 32 to 75 gallon tank now about 4 hours later he has a white fleshy thing on his back much like a fungus and some scrapes across either side of his body... I suspect they are bites from my Synodontis Eupterus in a battle for territory. I went to put him back into the 32 gallon but thought being put back into a slightly different water type would stress it out to much however I did net him with ease to try and get a good look and he swam rather strong to get out....

What does everyone think? Is there a big risk of a death OR in a way more importantly a disease (The tank has my prized fish in it and it would be a disaster for a disease to happen

My immediate thought was stress and get him outta there, then with some thought I was thinking maybe it looked worse than it was and it was the initial fight as they are both largish catfish who want teritory and I should wait it out to see how he is in the morning

 

[WILDER]

Is the white flesh fluffy looking.
Did you see them fight.
Any broken skin or red sores on the fish.
Did you climatise him to the right temp in the tank.

 

[QuotheRaven]

I couldn't aclimatise but the temp is only a degree or two at most off... It was kind of fluffy but I cannot see how less than 3 hours ago he had no fluffy growth then the fleshy/white stuff is there there doesn't appear to be any broken skin or sores but more like when the slim coat is "sucked" off a tad which may of happened and no I didn't see the fight as the eupterus hangs around in a long log piece of bogwood which is impossible to see into when down

 

[WILDER]

Wondering if its columnaris as that goes along the back and comes down the sides to form a saddle shape.
Columnaris can strike by high or low temp, bad water quality, stress, and over crowding of a tank.
[URL="http/article.discusnews.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml"]http/article.discusnews.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml[/URL]

 

[QuotheRaven]

The reason i don't think it is a disease is because firstly it was healthy and fine in the 32 and how different the markings are....It's almost as if when you fall and scratch your knee up and scrapes the skin...I will keep a close look to see if it is a disease but hypothetically if the wounds were from bites would you think it may stop due to the aggressiveness I feel is teratorial or should I move it to the 32

 

[WILDER]

I would add some melafix for now and see if they are fighting.

 

[QuotheRaven]

Im not sure if Melafix is ok with scaleless fish such as the bumblebee and I don't have any and it's a public holiday in Victoria tommorow

 

[WILDER]

Austrialia may son wants to live there after uni.
Best to go in with half the dose with scaless fish, though its more the parasite meds with scaless fish.
I think I would remove him back to the other tank while he's not well.
Is there any fish in the other tank as you don't want to be spreading desease, if so leave him where he is for now, if you have seen no fighting.

 

[QuotheRaven]

I will look for fighting, if I see the eupterus merely chasing him away from his "home" then I might leave it but if he is chasing him around I will put him in the 32 as the fish in the 32 are (not in a cruel way) but are more "expendable" because my 75 has a large severum and other catfish

 

[WILDER]

Ok bless him I understand.
Fungus can grow on dead tissue, do you have any pimafix, as you can use pimafix and melafix together.

 

[QuotheRaven]

Sadly no, I haven't had any medications on hand for sometime having had no diseases and short shelf life, I will try and get some just for safety reasons

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Just keep a close eye on him.
Good luck, keep us all updated on his progress.

 

[QuotheRaven]

Will do thanks heaps for your help Wilder

 

[QuotheRaven]

I was playing my guitar near my tank today and looked over having not seen my Bumblebee catfish since the night I posted this and there he was resting near a cave...most of the wounds look fine except on the top of his back he has a graze like a scratched skin..it's about 2-3 inch scrape but he fought well when I netted him to check the injury so it seems to be that my eupterus fought against him when first in due to teratory

 

[WILDER]

Have you added the melafix yet.