Two weeks ago, a majority of my fish died in one day (our tank is well over a year old with no previous problems). We had some black molly's, 4 zebra danio's, and 5 neon tetra's. There was also a shark/catfish thing and a pleco. All died except 2 danios, the shark and pleco. I went to the pet store, they tested the water, nothing. The fish, live and dead all looked healthy, no spots, no white stuff, no fin issues, no swimming issues, ate just fine, etc. Pet store (we have no real fish store around here, so we rely on big box pet stores) had no suggestions for me except change the water (which I do about every two weeks). We have hard well water, no chlorine.
Suddenly, the shark/catfish thing (they said it was a shark but it looks more like a catfish to me as it has whiskers, so I don't know what it is), is turning white and hiding. It's not "itching" itself at all, the scales all look normal, fins are fine, etc. It just refuses to move out of the corner and it's hanging out vertically. We moved it to another tank we have set up but I don't know if it's a fungus or not or how to treat it. It doesn't really look like cotton on it, more like mucus, maybe? I don't know how to treat it? I read in a fish book to add a bit of salt to the water to help with issues (it's the natural way sorta), so we did, and then I read somewhere else the catfish can't handle the salt (only added about 2 Tbsp to our 28 gallon tank). Could that be causing any of this???
anyway, our big tank, we did a 25% water change, added an oxygen bubbler (it's a 28 gallon tank and the fish seemed to swim at the top a lot so we wondered if this would help as there was very little water movement before). We also added six more Danios (nothing else) because I know Danio's like lots of company. The fish seem infatuated with the bubbler. They swim in the current at the top and seem to be having a good time. I don't know if this is normal or if this is their way of being bothered? I've never had a bubbler before. Any other suggestions on keeping them happy and healthy? TIA!
Suddenly, the shark/catfish thing (they said it was a shark but it looks more like a catfish to me as it has whiskers, so I don't know what it is), is turning white and hiding. It's not "itching" itself at all, the scales all look normal, fins are fine, etc. It just refuses to move out of the corner and it's hanging out vertically. We moved it to another tank we have set up but I don't know if it's a fungus or not or how to treat it. It doesn't really look like cotton on it, more like mucus, maybe? I don't know how to treat it? I read in a fish book to add a bit of salt to the water to help with issues (it's the natural way sorta), so we did, and then I read somewhere else the catfish can't handle the salt (only added about 2 Tbsp to our 28 gallon tank). Could that be causing any of this???
anyway, our big tank, we did a 25% water change, added an oxygen bubbler (it's a 28 gallon tank and the fish seemed to swim at the top a lot so we wondered if this would help as there was very little water movement before). We also added six more Danios (nothing else) because I know Danio's like lots of company. The fish seem infatuated with the bubbler. They swim in the current at the top and seem to be having a good time. I don't know if this is normal or if this is their way of being bothered? I've never had a bubbler before. Any other suggestions on keeping them happy and healthy? TIA!
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