Dying Catfish...Help!!

[parade2k]

Hi, I own a 50 Gallon tank that houses :

3 x Clownfish
2 x Neons
1 x Wild Angel
1 x Pink Kisser

The tank has been setup for over 2 years and and the fish have been living in the tank for 2 years happily. I do a tank vacume every 5-6 weeks and change 10-15% water every 2 weeks.

I introduced a cat fish 2 weeks ago. Please have a look at the following link for pictures (if anybody could tell me the name of the fish, I will be most gratefull)..

The sick cat fish...

The other happy fish..

The cat fish refuses to eat for the last 5 days. I have tried flakes, granulates, tablets, blood worms. Today it can hardly move and seems to be drifting away. I dont know what to do. I have just chaged 20% of the water and added a carbon sponge in the filter.

I dont know what to do. Please reply and help....

Kind regards,
Parade

 

[Bloo]

They are pictus catfish and are mainly predators (i.e. eating meaty foods such as bloodworms). Have you dried live blood worm perhaps ?
Ps: I'm surprised you still have your neons be prepared for them to dissapear soon, as your pictus will almost certainly eat them.

Other than not eating, can you see any other signs of sickness on your fish ?

 

[WILDER]

I thought clown fish were marine.

 

[parade2k]

I have tried fresh blood worms. It seems to be really weak and can't move around much. The shop keeper told me that flakes or granulates would be fine. Also he told me that it was a algae eater...??

Do suggest I should purchase dried bloodworms?

 

[Bloo]

I also wondered about the "clown fish" but it appears from the picture that they are clown loaches

 

[parade2k]

Sorry I meant Clown Loach

 

[black angel]

has anyone else noticed the spots? it looks like ich.

 

[Bloo]

They are most certainly not algae eaters and should really be kept in a group of 3 or more. But that aside, I do not think that freeze dried bloodworm will help if they are not taking live bloodworm

Their bellies do not look sunken, so you are very sure they are not eating ?

 

[Bloo]

has anyone else noticed the spots? it looks like ich.

Now that you mention it, yes ! On the second pic it looks like some white spots. But if that's the case I'm very surprised that the loaches haven't piced it up

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Im not sure on what type of catfish it is- did you get it from the wild or a lfs or did the lfs get it from the wild before you got it? I presume when you say you have tried tablets you mean algae wafers/tablets and when you say granulates you mean catfish pelets, no? Were the bloodworms you fed it live, freezedried or frozen?

Your amount of tank cleaning sounds worrying to me, it should be a 20% water change per week minimum for any size tank and you should be gravel vaccing your tank at least once a fortnight; your fish may have survived over the years because they are hardier specimens but as i suspect this catfish is wild caught, wild catfish in partciualr are much more needy when it comes to water quality.
Have you ever tested your tank for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites? These are very important things to moniter in water quality and test kits can be picked up at most lfs's(local fish stores), if you don't have test kits you can use right now at hand i suggest you buy one asap and post us your results as i supect strongly these have a part to play in your catfish's health.
When water quality is not adequete for a certain species of fish they will either stop eating or the stress will lower their imune systems efficiency and they will get ill with one desease or another or both.
I suggest you do a 40% water change with adequete dechlorinator right now.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Sorry i am a slow typer but i second all the info i have given you that has not been mentioned by other members.

 

[daudy_dojo]

I thought clown fish were marine.

i think they mean the loach clown fish

 

[parade2k]

Definetly not Itch, I have thoroughly checked. Purchased from Ifs. As for the food, I've tried live bloodworms, catfish pelets, Prima Complete Granular food. flakes.

I have just purchased a test kit and will be testing right away. I wil report back the results in 10-15 minutes.

Water temprature is at 81F. is this too high? different sites advise different temps.

I will start a new cleaning regima as suggested.

any other suggestions?

 

[parade2k]

Just tested the water

Nitrate 60
Nitrite 0.10
PH 6.8
Ammonia 0.25

is there a problem with the water? is the Nitrate too high. I have a Nitra-zorb..should I use it?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi parade2k

I'm not very knowlegable about this kind of catfish, but I can tell you one thing: you have a problem with your water.

There should be no ammonia or nitrites at all in a properly cycled and filtered tank. Your nitrates should not exceed about 40 ppm. I would suggest that you do an immediate large water change and bottom vacuuming and follow up with weekly water changes of at least 20%. If your tank is not overstocked, this should get you back on track.

It's best not to use products such as Nitra-zorb. Lots of nice clean water will solve the problem much more effectively and will not harm or reduce your beneficial bacteria.