Help

[Fishboy1981]

Well tonight is a very sad night for me. I left the house for 2 hr and came home to find my 2ft long Silver arrow totally dead on the bottom and my red tailed Catfish is now fighting for life. I dont know what is going on. Water conditions are optimal I tested water before and after the 30% water change I did earlier this morning as a regular schedualed thing. Fish appeared fine last night and were perfecty active eating and swimming into this afternoon. Now this evening disaster has struck. My catfish is about 18 inch long and is not doing well. There are no obviouse signs of sickness on him except for semi laboured breathing and he wont eat and this guy is normally a vacuum cleaner when it comes to food. DOES any have any ideas or suggestions as what to do. I am desperate most fish stores are closed this week because of the holiday so no one to ask for advice. I have dosed the tank with a broad spectum antibiotic just in case. Please any suggestions or ideas that may help would be greatly appeciated. I am so upset my arrowana was my baby I was just getting the stuff together to make him a outside pond because tank was just going to be to small soon and now this


180 gallon fresh Red tailed catfish and former arrowana tank
85 gallon salt pedator tank
40 gallon salt coral/fish
15 gallon albino frog tank

 

[Christine1014]

This is in your 180 gallon tank?
Can you provide exact water stats (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temp), a list of inhabitants, and maybe a photo?
that's terrible this had to happen on a holiday! If you need meds, I think Petsmart & Petco are open tomrorow (at least, the ones by me are) if you're near either of those.
Good luck!!

 

[Fishboy1981]

This is in your 180 gallon tank?
Can you provide exact water stats (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temp), a list of inhabitants, and maybe a photo?
that's terrible this had to happen on a holiday! If you need meds, I think Petsmart & Petco are open tomrorow (at least, the ones by me are) if you're near either of those.
Good luck!!

180g tank, 82 F temp,0.0 ammonia, nitrite 0.1, nitrate <20, ph 7.8. Only inhabitants were arrowana and red tailed catfish both come from same area in the amazon and like a sightly lower ph. I feed them shrimp and fish from the grocery store and sometimes feeder fish to give them a feel of the hunt. I keep the feeders in a seperate tank before giving them to my fish.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Also I suggest doing an emergency water change.

Have you added anything new to the tanks?
Has anything been sprayed around the tanks?
Did you do anything differently then you normally would have with your water change this morning?

 

[Fishboy1981]

Also I suggest doing an emergency water change.

Have you added anything new to the tanks?
Has anything been sprayed around the tanks?
Did you do anything differently then you normally would have with your water change this morning?

nothing new to the tank has been added. nothing sprayed I use a vinager based glass cleaner that I spary on the paper towel and wipe the glass instead of ammonia based which I understand can leak through glass. nothing diff with water change. I vacuumed the gravel and took about 30% water out added new water and treated with prime.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

You must have done something around the tank. Any air fresheners used lately? Have you re-painted a room nearby? Any house work?

 

[Fishboy1981]

You must have done something around the tank. Any air fresheners used lately? Have you re-painted a room nearby? Any house work?

nothing new. all 3 other fish tanks are in the same room. My bf sprayed raid to kill ant outside the house this morning. but I cant imagine this getting inside the house under the wood hood and then through the glass lid into the tank of the fresh water and not affect the coral or predator stalt tanks which have less barries to the outside. I also did the 30% water change after he did this. I dunno it so sad I am just sitting here watching the red tailed cat fish slowly waste away and I feel so helpless. I would do anything for these fish but am at a total loss

 

[*Fishkies*]

Do you have aeration in your tank? Like is your filter agitating the surface? Maybe there isn't enough oxygen.

 

[Fishboy1981]

Do you have aeration in your tank? Like is your filter agitating the surface? Maybe there isn't enough oxygen.

I have a power head agitating the surface. 2 airstones. and the 2 filter returns I have positioned so they break the surface

 

[Amunet]

Any idea why you're getting a nitrite reading?

 

[WILDER]

When did you last feed live feeder fish as they can carry desease, and fetch illlness into a tank.
You could be dealing with a parasite.

 

[Fishboy1981]

When did you last feed live feeder fish as they can carry desease, and fetch illlness into a tank.
You could be dealing with a parasite.

I had the feeders for 4 days to let the sick ones die off. I couldnt see any obvious signs of disease on the feeders. I gave them the last live ones the night before. I am thinking maybe they had something I couldnt see and the water change maybe stressed the fish a little and brought on the swift decline. Only thing I dont understand is that if the parasite or bacteria is so toxic to bring down a 24in fish in a few hours and another 18in one to the brink of death why didnt all the feeders die days ago.

That catfish is still alive this morning his breathing isnt quite so fast maybe he is responding to the antibiotics. He still wont eat and doesnt want to move around much.

 

[rabbut]

Did you run any other water changes in any of your other tanks at the same time as this tank. Was this the first tank to be changed, on your maintanance shedual? I think it may be possible that there were toxins in your water when it was introduced. It would explane the sudden death, and the nitrite reading. Regardless of whether or not the problem is poisons in the water, I would carry out a large water change 50%+, and give a general treatment as a precaution.
Sorry I can't offer any more input
rabbut

 

[LakeyGal]

I don't know if this is relevant but if you are near anywhere that's been flooded the water companies sometimes put different chemicals in the supply to prevent contamination to humans, they only have to pass it as safe for humans to drink so theres no notice and consideration to fishes...Probably unlikely but if theres no other explanation you could ask them???

 

[WILDER]

Whats your location.
Add some more water conditioner in jug of tank water.
Run some new bloack carbon just to be on the safe side.
Its the water or the feeder fish.
Not worth the risk feeding feeder fish, they don't need them.