One of my Bichirs developed a swollen belly and has his gills sticking out of his body. They are bright red. Acting really lethargic. I don’t think he has much time left. He’s in a tank with guppies. They have babies and I think he keep eating them. I was thinking that he night have ate too many and they are stuck????? I don’t know. Any ideas?

A swollen belly is usually dropsy, an internal infection which is usually incurable. Look at your bichir from a top view if you can. If the scales around the swollen area are sticking out (it'll have a similar look to that of a pine cone) it's definitely dropsy. Both red gills and dropsy are a sign that your water parameters are really messed up, You might want to seriously rethink your strategy concerning keeping these fish.

I'd concur with tekneb's diagnosis. Unfortunately it does sound like dropsy. If you can upload a pic perhaps we can better diagnose the condition. Bad thing about dropsy is that it is almost always fatal. By the time the symptoms manifest themselves it is most often too late. I wish I had better news for you. Sadly euthanasia is often the only course of action, but only you can decide that...its a difficult decision.

Drospy is a bacterial infection which is usually brought on by poor water quality, but I have seen fish contract the disease when the water was perfect.

Whatever you do you must quarantine the fish as soon as possible. The swollen belly is an indicator that he is suffering from renal failure and is unable to expel excessive fluids.

In a "hospital" tank try treating with chloromycetin or tetracycline at the rate of one 250mg capsule to 25grams of food. Add it to his food so he absorbs it rather than treating the water. You might also add 1tsp of epsom salt to each gallon of water. Do not use aquarium salt as this will cause him to retain fluid. The epsom salt actually will help to draw the excessive fluids out of him. As a last resort, which you are probably at already, treat the water with the antibiotic at a rate of 30-35mg to each gallon.

I sincerely wish you the best. Drospy is a horrible disease and I hate seeing any fish with this condition.

From what I've read about dropsy, since it's pretty much an internal infection, it is very hard, though not impossible, for other fish to catch it. When I first started in the hobby about a decade ago, I had one Mollie that caught and died from dropsy and the rest of the tank lived on for years afterwords. Another possibility is that although I don't know much about bichirs, guppies are a pretty hardy fish, so the bichir might just succumb more easily to stress or poor water quality.

Nice stingray. Big mean Bichir is what im going for. I have two right now. A standard Dinosaur bichir and this spotted bichir (i dont know the actual names for either fish). I really dont care too much about my dino bichir. Those guys are a dime a dozen at fish stores but this spotted guy is hard to find. Im transferring over a 20 gal tank in a few weeks. If this guy dies i hope they have a few more like him at the fish store. Ill put a single bichir in a 20 gal. long until he outgrows it.

I was kinda hoping he would eat the guppy's. hahahah

Thanks for your help guys. It really dosent look good for this guy. :(

i can't do it, but I was told that putting a fish in a freezer in a suitable water bowl is the most humane way to
have your fish pass away peacefully.
As the water gets colder, your fish will pass away.
Good luck.