Catfish has skin lesions and the skin is peeling off. Very worried.

[seangee]

but my tap water has 1ppm of ammonia in it.

Chances are your tap water is treated with chloramine. You should be able to find this out from your suppliers website, or by calling them. Some test kits will show chloramine as ammonia, and unfortunately this does not gas out like regular chlorine. Make sure that you use a dechlorinator that deals with chloramine and dose accordingly.

Something like Seachem Prime would be a good idea until the filter is established as it deals with chloramine and de-toxifies ammonia and nitrite. But be aware that the de-tox effect is temporary (24-36 hours) so you would still need to do frequent water changes.

 

[Colin_T]

Good to hear the anti-biotics appear to be helping. Make sure you keep treating for at least 1 week. Even if it looks better after 3 days you need to continue treatment for a week to make sure the bacteria is dead and the skin has healed and started growing back.

You can get a product called Wardley's Ammogon (probably a similar thing to the ammonia clear tabs you have). It absorbs ammonia from water. You can put it in a fine mesh bag in a box or power filter and it will absorb ammonia from the water. When the Ammogon no longer absorbs ammonia it needs to be recharged because it is full, and you do that by putting it in salt water for a period of time (about 24 hours).

There are also water conditioners like Ammolock that bind the ammonia and make it safe. You should be able to get both products from any petshop or online.

If you have floating plants like water sprite, and give it lots of light, it will remove ammonia from water. But you don't want to put too much light on the sick catfish so you would need to use plants in a separate tank. Then once the ammonia has been absorbed you could use it in the tank.

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The fish laying on its side is probably the ammonia. Once you get that dealt with the fish should be happier

 

[ktink]

I managed to drop the ammonia down decently, but I didn’t have time to get it to zero as I was already late for work. The tabs I used and the water conditioner are both supposed to get rid of cloromines and chlorine His breathing seemed to be a lot stronger when I left though before he was barely breathing so, hopefully when I get back in a few hours he’ll be good. I plan on running the anti biotics for at least the five days maybe more.

 

[ktink]

Ok so I just got home from work. He’s is still flipping upside down and just kinda sitting there. The water has a ph of about 7.5 but that is how it comes out of the tap. I can’t really fix that I don’t think. The ammonia is around .5 with zero nitrite and about 1 nitrate. I’ve got a new load of water being prepped and arrayed right now but I’m not really sure how to fix this situation. His skin lesions seem to be getting better but his fins are starting to fall apart in a few places. Do I need to put him in a plastic tub for a bit and completed scrub the quarantine tank? If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know cause this is my first time dealing with this sort of thing. I’m also curious if I should add some salt to his aquarium, I don’t have aquarium salt per day but I do have some pure rock salt.

 

[ktink]

also after some more research I've determined that my catfish is a White Bullhead. He is still sitting on his back in the tank. I’ve managed to get my ammonia content down between .25 and 0. I’m just worried he won’t survive the night upside down. Is there anything I can do or give him that could help with his swim bladder issue. I have practically every fish antibiotic/medicine I could buy. I’m desperate

 

[Colin_T]

Don't add any more types of medications. The fish is sick enough as it is and the more things you add, the more chance of killing it from poisoning.

Make sure you are not overdosing with the anti-biotic and don't feed the fish. Just keep the ammonia at 0 and the medication in the water.

Wiping the tank down with a clean fish sponge before draining the water should be enough to remove the biofilm (slime) on the glass.

The swim bladder is not an issue for catfish because they naturally live on the bottom. However, when a fish starts rolling over onto their side, it is usually a bad sign they are dying.

 

[ktink]

Thank you for all the help,but unfortunately my catfish has passed away. He had a good life for the 11 or so years I had him,and he will be missed everyday.

 

[Colin_T]

sorry to hear that