My Gibbicepps Catfish :(

[gregw]

Well in short... its died. It was only a baby and I want to know why. Firstly apologies if this is wrong forum but I didnt really know where to put it and I am a newbie really when it comes to fish.

So the story... my tank has been set up for roughly 3 months now. Its a small-ish tank of around 18litres and had at its peak 5 black neons, 5 blue tetra neons, 2 corydoras catfish, 1 gibbicepp and a fighter fish. All was going fine in the tank, water quality fine (I have a test kit) and I regularly do part water changes the tank has all the right bits, heaters, oxygen bubble things, filters, hiding places, plants etc. All in all, I thought I was doing well.
I added the fish gradually with the cat fish going in first, then black neons a few weeks later, then finally the batch of tetra neons and fighter fish. Well... this is when problems arose, mr fighter fish (despite the auqarium lady insisting they were "friendly" fish) started chasing and bullying my poor little blue neons and within a week the dreaded WHITE SPOT DISEASE. So I ran (literally) to my local shop to pick up a treatment... he plague still managed to kill 3 neon tetras and the fighter fish (justice perhaps?). Anyway, the tank settled and I let the fish adjust back to life until 2 weeks ago when I added a male fighter back in (to be fair this one has been well behaved) just because I think they look damn cool, but soon after I started to notice my gibbicepps cat fish looking a bit tired, wasn't eating and well... generally wasnt doing much. I was use to him being the big daddy of the tank always sitting under his bridge and keeping the glass clean and today to my horror I find him DEAD. I cant see any reason, water quality is fine and the test kit shows things are good. Onlt thing I can say is that the gibbicepp had a pale mark on his head. Is it possible white spot could of lived in him for this long before killing him? I've added another treatment of white spot just in case... but I wait your opinions my friends.

Thanks for taking time to read


(oh by the way, if you're wondering why I had a gibbicepp anyway I was planning on taking him back to the aquarium once he became too big)

 

[stang1]

Do you know the exact readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH?
Your tank was way overstocked, 18 litres is only really suitable for 1 fighter fish and not a lot else.
A Gibbiceps, regardless of size, needs a big, well filtered and well oxygenated tank so it may have been a combination of poor water quality and stress that killed it.
You need to rid the tank of whitespot and rehome the fish, I'm afraid as Tetras are shoaling fish and require plenty of swimming space. Cories need to be kept in groups of 5+ and also require a bigger tank.

 

[Colin_T]

If you treated the tank properly and for 10 days or so then there shouldn't be any whitespot left in it.
As mentioned the tank was a touch small and small bodies of water fluctuate very quickly. It could have been anything but unlikely to be whitespot.
The most common problem in suckermouth catfish is lack of roughage and too much high protein food, particularly meat. Plecostomus are vegetarian fish with long digestive tracts to break down the plant matter and absorb whatever nutrients are in it. If they eat too much meat food it can rot in the intestines before being expelled and the fish develop an internal bacterial infection.
The other common cause of death in suckermouth catfish is chemical poisoning. Too much medication can damage their organs and a few days or weeks later they die for no apparent reason.
Most medications suggest using half dose for tanks containing catfish and scaleless fishes.

Regular gravel cleaning and partial water changes help to limit the gunk and bacteria in the gravel. A clean environment will help prevent many problems in bottom dwelling fish.

The only real way to find out why the fish died would be to have it autopsied by a fish pathologist.

 

[gregw]

Thanks for your replies guys the readings are as follows..
NO3 - 20ppmm (mg/L)
NO2 - 0.5ppm (mg/L)
pH - 7.0/7.5
partial water change once a week, with a scrubbing of ornaments once a month or when I see bacteria build up and the tank has an oxygen motor for a tank of up to 30L so oxygen shouldn't be a problem.

That was the readings I took today, I did seek professional advice before adding the fish to the tank I didnt just randomly shove them all in. It's actually a 20L tank I found out and my 2 little corydoras seem to get on very well together, who needs 5 eh? Currently the tank has 2 corydoras, 7 neons and 1 male fighter anyway and according to my little book I have here you can have up to 1cm of fish per litre and my neons are what 1inch, cat fish are an inch and a half and the fighter is 2. So that still puts my fish total wayyy under the 20cm maximum at 12cm and if or when the cat fish did outsize the tank I realise this would be cruel and gladly return them to the aquarium (they said they take healthy ones back). Im not meaning to sound arrogant against all you fish experts, just the way i've been told previously and with this book. I like to think I have been carefull and cautious with my tank set up, I just wondered why my poor little gibbicepp died suddenly when up until a few days ago nothing appeared to be wrong with him (stopped eating and didnt do much moving about). In terms of feeding I have one live plant and use a combination of fish flake food and plecostomus tablet food so as far as I know they haven't recieved any meat. Perhaps the most likely was chemical poisoning if I added too much treatment or when I changed the filter perhaps I added too much stress zyme . Or the introduction of another fighter perhaps stressed him out? Though this fighter appears to be much more passive and likes to float around at the top of the tank.

Thanks both for your help though sadly there's no where round here that really deal with fish pathology, but i'll get on to cleaning my stones and fake coral plant as I notice a little bit of bacteria build up on them.

 

[Colin_T]

Stress Zyme won't affect the fish if you overdose with it.
The male fighter won't be a problem for catfish either. They live in different parts of the tank and fighters don't really give a hoot about plecos.

You didn't give a reading for ammonia (NH4). Ammonia is produced by anything that breaks down in the water, be it fish food, fish waste or rotting plants. It is more toxic than nitrite, and nitrite is more toxic than nitrate.

Sometimes fish die and there are no reasons. Maybe it was a weak fish to start with.

 

[stang1]

Unfortunately, books don't always give correct information as I have learnt through experience.
The guideline is generally 1" per gallon of small, slim-bodied fish. Your tank is approx. 5 gallons so you are overstocked. You have to allow for the adult sixe and not the size they are at.
However, this is only a guideline to help beginners.
Tetras prefer at least 10G as they are an active shoaling fish that need swimming space.
Corydoras prefer to be in groups as they are a social fish and will thrive a lot better.
Male fighters are solitary fish by nature and generally fare better in a tank by themselves.
Gibbiceps will reach about 18-24" and need clean water, swimming space and plenty of oxygen.
You would be best rehoming your fish and keeping the fighter on his own.