Red Marks On Cory Catfish

[rob_hawke]

hi all, i have 3 cory catfish (1 three lined and 2 leopard style) in my tank, and just noticed today they all have little red marks near their tails and a little on the underbelly as well.
ph is fine and nitrites all zero so the water is fine.

is this a infection of some kind or is it normal? if it is a infection, can you recommend a medication please?

regards
rob

 

[pezmanw]

you should post a pic if you can

 

[rob_hawke]

ill and get one now if they can stay still!

 

[This Old Spouse]

It sounds like ammonia poisoning. What is your ammonia level?

How big is your tank and what else do you have in it?

Photos would be great. If you can't load them directly on here, sign up for photobucket.com or something similar, then load your photos on there and link them on here.

 

[rob_hawke]

It sounds like ammonia poisoning. What is your ammonia level?

How big is your tank and what else do you have in it?

Photos would be great. If you can't load them directly on here, sign up for photobucket.com or something similar, then load your photos on there and link them on here.

i have the api 5 in 1 test strips, and these come back with no2 and no3 both zero, ph around 7. i thought this test system would be fine to check everything?

its a 60 litre tank with the 3 catfish, 11 neons and 3 mollies

got a photo, not a very good one at the moment as its the other catfish that has most red, but i think u can just make out a little red near the gills and near the base of the tail

 

[rob_hawke]

better'ish pics

 

[Spurry]

hmmm sorry m8 i dont see it mine have a very slight pink/red to them near the gills, all the ones i ever seen have and when ive looked at google images

sorry im no help...

 

[This Old Spouse]

Test strips are notoriously inaccurate, and you're still not giving me an ammonia reading, just nitrite (which should be 0) and nitrate (which should be reading more than zero, more like 10-30 ppm).

First, do a massive water change, like 80%, right now. Don't wait. Make sure you use dechlorinated temperature-close water. Best to use Stress Coat or Seachem Prime which takes care of more than just chlorine.

Second, either have your LFS test your water, and watch them while they do it and write down the numbers of the results. "Everything looks fine" just won't do it.

Third, get a liquid master test kit ASAP so you can test your own water and get accurate results. API, Nutrafin, Salifert all make good test kits.

It appears that your tank isn't cycled yet. How long have you had it running, and did you cycle it first?

 

[fidjet2]

Test strips are notoriously inaccurate, and you're still not giving me an ammonia reading, just nitrite (which should be 0) and nitrate (which should be reading more than zero, more like 10-30 ppm).

First, do a massive water change, like 80%, right now. Don't wait. Make sure you use dechlorinated temperature-close water. Best to use Stress Coat or Seachem Prime which takes care of more than just chlorine.

Second, either have your LFS test your water, and watch them while they do it and write down the numbers of the results. "Everything looks fine" just won't do it.

Third, get a liquid master test kit ASAP so you can test your own water and get accurate results. API, Nutrafin, Salifert all make good test kits.

It appears that your tank isn't cycled yet. How long have you had it running, and did you cycle it first?

+1

 

[the_lock_man]

Test strips are notoriously inaccurate, and you're still not giving me an ammonia reading, just nitrite (which should be 0) and nitrate (which should be reading more than zero, more like 10-30 ppm).

First, do a massive water change, like 80%, right now. Don't wait. Make sure you use dechlorinated temperature-close water. Best to use Stress Coat or Seachem Prime which takes care of more than just chlorine.

Second, either have your LFS test your water, and watch them while they do it and write down the numbers of the results. "Everything looks fine" just won't do it.

Third, get a liquid master test kit ASAP so you can test your own water and get accurate results. API, Nutrafin, Salifert all make good test kits.

It appears that your tank isn't cycled yet. How long have you had it running, and did you cycle it first?

+2. The fact that you apparently have no nitrate rings alarm bells for me. Nitrate is produced when a colony of bacteria convert nitrite into nitrate. If you have no nitrate, it means you have not had any nitrite. Nitrite itself is produced when a different colony of bacteria convert ammonia. This ammonia is produced by your fish. No nitrite means that no ammonia is being converted. Which means it is poisoning your fish. A common symptom of ammonia poisoning is red marks on your fish.

I would suggest that you follow TOS's advice to the letter.

 

[rob_hawke]

ok problem all sorted now!

on a much better note, it seems my catfish have laid some eggs too!

 

[This Old Spouse]

How did you sort out your problem?

 

[HayzH]

How did you sort out your problem?

+1

 

[fidjet2]

How did you sort out your problem?

Good question