My Pictus's Are Dying! Help!

[Rensky]

hey I'm hoping someone can help me here, I think i'm short on time, In my 29 gallon tank (which i've had almost 2 mnths, I have/had 4 pictus catfish, 8 danios, 4 pink kissers a black shark and a pleco, one of my kissing fish died last week(what reason i'm not sure), but my biggest most favorite pictus died this morning, and my other 3 are not far behind, After reading your posts I think I was given really bad advice, I noticed my fish werent right a couple days ago, so i treated them for ick(no one told me pictus's were sensative), in fact They were given a dose and a half within a 24 hr period, and also salt was added. My other three Pictus's look terrible and so do my kissers.

I feel terribly, I was up late last night changing the water and watching over them, I have taken the carbon filter out of my tank, would it be wise to put it back in? If my Pictus's last the day I will be suprised, I like them so much but am losing hope, is there anything else I can do??

If anyone sees this and thinks they can help me, plz let me know
Thank you!
Rensky

 

[CFC]

Thats an awfull lot of fish to have in tank thats just 2 months old, have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and if so what are the results? Do the fish actually have whitespot or did you just suspect it?

Pimelodus pictus as you have discovered are sensative fish which shouldnt be added until the tank has been running problem free for at least six months, being scaleless they should also never be exposed to salt even for short periods, where they originate from the water has a mineral content of almost 0 so they react very badly to salts.

I would advise continuing doing water changes taking out and replacing 25% of the water every 12 hours which will remove the medication and salt plus any ammonia or nitrite present in the water.

 

[Rensky]

Thats an awfull lot of fish to have in tank thats just 2 months old, have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and if so what are the results? Do the fish actually have whitespot or did you just suspect it?

Pimelodus pictus as you have discovered are sensative fish which shouldnt be added until the tank has been running problem free for at least six months, being scaleless they should also never be exposed to salt even for short periods, where they originate from the water has a mineral content of almost 0 so they react very badly to salts.

I would advise continuing doing water changes taking out and replacing 25% of the water every 12 hours which will remove the medication and salt plus any ammonia or nitrite present in the water.

Thats an awfull lot of fish to have in tank thats just 2 months old, have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and if so what are the results? Do the fish actually have whitespot or did you just suspect it?

Pimelodus pictus as you have discovered are sensative fish which shouldnt be added until the tank has been running problem free for at least six months, being scaleless they should also never be exposed to salt even for short periods, where they originate from the water has a mineral content of almost 0 so they react very badly to salts.

I would advise continuing doing water changes taking out and replacing 25% of the water every 12 hours which will remove the medication and salt plus any ammonia or nitrite present in the water.

Thank you for replying, unfortunatley I messed up big time, I added aquarium salt a half hour ago approx 2 1/2 tbsp. My catfish are doomed i think, I'm pretty pissed at Walmart atm, They told me to do all these things and i did, no one told me anything about cycling a tank, I bought it, the lady helped me pick out the fish i liked and sent me on my way, I called them back yesterday and was advised to do all these terrible things i've done by them, so it looks like I have to watch them die, what else can i do? if any of this damage is reversable pls let me know, if not, thank you for replying to me!
rensky

 

[CFC]

The only thing you can do is keep changing the water to dilute the salt and toxins from the cycling process, start with a big 50% change now and then continue at 25% every 12 hours for the next few days and then 10% per day until the cycle is finished.

 

[Rensky]

The only thing you can do is keep changing the water to dilute the salt and toxins from the cycling process, start with a big 50% change now and then continue at 25% every 12 hours for the next few days and then 10% per day until the cycle is finished.

thank you so much, if anything i've leared a hard lesson, I appreciate your help, i'm going to go change the water now, wish me luck!
Rensky

 

[bunjiweb]

I hope you have learnt never to trust unscrupulous retailers such as walmart, they have blatently lied to you and dont know what the hell they are on about.

To clarify what remaining stock do you have in your tank? Your catfish will be dying because your tank is simpy too new.

29Gallons is not a huge tank and your black shark, pleco and pictus are probably too big to go in such a tank.

Do as CFC said, then dont buy ANY new fish until you have checked with people on here, also make sure you test your water before buying any new fish.

Ben

 

[Rensky]

I hope you have learnt never to trust unscrupulous retailers such as walmart, they have blatently lied to you and dont know what the hell they are on about.

To clarify what remaining stock do you have in your tank? Your catfish will be dying because your tank is simpy too new.

29Gallons is not a huge tank and your black shark, pleco and pictus are probably too big to go in such a tank.

Do as CFC said, then dont buy ANY new fish until you have checked with people on here, also make sure you test your water before buying any new fish.

Ben

Hey Ben
Thanx so much for replying, my pictus's are still hanging on (3 of them), and I remain with 8 danios, 2 pink kissers, 1 pleco, and 1 black shark, I'm really nervous about them all now, and yes i've learned that Walmart is the pits, and they are sooo getting a call from me tommorow!!! They told me at Wallmart that I could put approx 20- 25 fish in my tank, being ignorant, i went up to 16, after this weekend I think my numbers will drop, another question I have is, is there anyway to make my pictus's more comfortable for their impending fate? Who knew a person could get so attached to them, but they are not like any fish i've ever seen, they've just got such a cute funny way about them,, anyhoo, any advice is very much appriciated and of course I will always check with you guys first!

Rensky

 

[bunjiweb]

As CFC said all you can really do is water changes, this may save your pictus if you are religious about it and test the levels of the water yourself until they reach 0 for Ammonia and Nitrite and under 50 at least for Nitrate. You can get testing kits from all fish shops fairly cheaply and it is a valuable piece of kit to have.

Ben

 

[Rensky]

As CFC said all you can really do is water changes, this may save your pictus if you are religious about it and test the levels of the water yourself until they reach 0 for Ammonia and Nitrite and under 50 at least for Nitrate. You can get testing kits from all fish shops fairly cheaply and it is a valuable piece of kit to have.

Ben

I will get the test kits you guys speak of, but it's impossible for me to do it in time, I live 3 hours from the nearest Walmart ( I hate to even say it), and i'm wondering if they would even have them, all I can do is what i'm doing i guess, i'll change the water again in a few hours, i'm really ticked off that they can sell me an aquarium and all kinds of fish, tell me what they pretend to think they know and send me on my way, i'm thinking that some of you must have had the same kind of dealings with Walmart, how can they be allowed to do this, my brother actually just lost an upside down catfish because they sold it to him with cold water goldfish, I guess if it wasent for the internet neither of us would have had a clue what in the Hell was happening to us!

rensky

 

[bunjiweb]

unfortunately most people just dont care about fish and dont treat them with the same respect as they would other animals. Walmart is what alot of people in america start off using, but i can guarentee at least 2/3rds of them never go back after they have read up stuff for themselves on the internet.

Surely you must have something a bit more local? Where exactly in the US do you live? You may find ordering a test kit off one of the many web-based fish stores might be alot easier and more convenient.

Ben

 

[Rensky]

unfortunately most people just dont care about fish and dont treat them with the same respect as they would other animals. Walmart is what alot of people in america start off using, but i can guarentee at least 2/3rds of them never go back after they have read up stuff for themselves on the internet.

Surely you must have something a bit more local? Where exactly in the US do you live? You may find ordering a test kit off one of the many web-based fish stores might be alot easier and more convenient.

Ben

I actually don't live in the U.S, I'm in Canada and trust me where i live is quite isolated, but on a good note, my pictus's survived the nite, and not only did they survive but they are swimming around a bit and one even ate his breakfeast this morning YAY!!! One of my danios died thru the nite, which kind of baffles me because they were showing no signs of stress, but hey i'm ecstatic about my Pictus's I hope by some miracle they will pull through this, yesterday I had NO hope, but today I have a glimmer, I'm just sooo glad you guys were here to guide me through!! Many Thanx!!

Rensky

 

[CFC]

Good to hear the pictus are doing better, keep up with the water changes and hopefully they will pull through.

By the way it would be best if you restricted any feeding to just once every two days for now to limit the ammount of pollution added to the tank during the cycling process, fish produce a fair ammount of ammonia just through respiration so the added ammonia from other waste isnt going to help matters right now.

 

[Rensky]

Good to hear the pictus are doing better, keep up with the water changes and hopefully they will pull through.

By the way it would be best if you restricted any feeding to just once every two days for now to limit the ammount of pollution added to the tank during the cycling process, fish produce a fair ammount of ammonia just through respiration so the added ammonia from other waste isnt going to help matters right now.

Yikes!! Well I am certianly glad you told me that, because I have been feeding them 3-4 times a day!! I have sooo much to learn. The pictus's seemed pretty spry this morning but seem to be slowing down again,,I've allready changed the water today so i'll wait untill late tonite to do it again. I've been keeping their light off, is this a good idea?

Rensky!

 

[digital_run]

Just a thought ....You may be able to regain control of your water quality issues with the above mentioned water changes....But the long term isn't looking good for the tank if you keep it stocked the way it is...You have quite a bit of fish in a very small tank....A black shark alone would be far too much for a tank of that size...not to mention that they can become quite aggressive and dispose of most of the inhabitants in the tank....Pictus are very messy fish due to their diet and require over filtration and because of their feeding behavior and hyper nature they really need a larger tank....What kind of pleco do you have?...if I had to guess it's probably a common which just means even grimmer news....I know you live far away from a store, but you really have to think about restocking your tank and taking back/finding a home for the fish that just can't be put in a 29gal or they will die...just my $0.02

Good luck

Ðigital_

 

[Bloo]

I have two pictus in a community tank and only feed once a day 6 days a week.
Best of luck with yours