Royal Panaque - Rapid Breathing

[simonas]

I've had my Roayl Panaque for 18 months or so and hes always been a favourite as his skin looks so shiny and hes always been quite active and munches a lot etc, hes about 7 inches and his haed is getting fatter

few days ago I noticed his eyes were really sunken which surprised me as his belly isn't hollow, he always has a good full body on him. He has gone paler and moved from the darker green color to a light beige colour which highlights the stripes more, he is also breathing really rapidly whilst sitting in the same place and I haven't seen him eat

I've read about panaque plague and not certain it is this although there is a circular mark on his head by his eye

I'd hate to lose this fish as hes a stunner and one of myfaves, what can I do to improve his situation and are there any tips you can offer, the temp in the tank is about77

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallons or litries.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, and ph.

Does he look bloated as caved in eye can be a symtom of dropsy.
Any signs of him rubbing himself on things in the tank.
Any excess mucas on the gills or body of the fish.
Any gold dusting on him or golden yellow spots.
The circular mark does it look like bleaching beneath the skin, does it look like fluffy cotton wool, any redness to the circualar mark. What colour is the the mark on his head.

 

[simonas]

Size of tank in gallons or litries.= was 150g I've moved him to a cooler 75g tank
How many fish and which type= fire eel,bichir,oscars, silver dollars - been together 18 months - they all fine
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, and ph - never test other fish fine

Does he look bloated as caved in eye can be a symtom of dropsy = not bloated
Any signs of him rubbing himself on things in the tank= no just still heavy breathing
Any excess mucas on the gills or body of the fish= no mucus but other different thing is lighter colouring and very fine speckles on body that isn;t whitespot
Any gold dusting on him or golden yellow spots= maybe its gold dusting I refer to above
The circular mark does it look like bleaching beneath the skin, does it look like fluffy cotton wool, any redness to the circualar mark. What colour is the the mark on his head = its a lighter circular mark no fluffy cotton wool

cheers Wilder

 

[WILDER]

Turn tanks light out and shine a torch on him to see if you can see a golden dusting on him, a golden coloured rusty varnish on him, yellow spots.
The fine speckles does it look like flaking skin or like a dusting of talc.
The fine covering on him does it look fluffy.
Does his skin look like its peeling.
Any speckles on his gills.
What does it look like when he goes to the toilet.
On his eyes is there any white specs behind the lens of the eye.
Need to get your water tested. First thing to rule out when a fish is ill.

Sunken in eyes can be a symtom of fish tb, dropsy, internal parasites, vitamin definciency.

 

[WILDER]

Can you load a pic up of the sick fish.

 

[simonas]

best I could get I'm afraid

the poo is very thin and white and stringy whearas it has always been a complete dark brown poo machine!!

It does have a dusting of something as I say small white spot but can't see whether its gold or not and it hasn;t shown up on pics
his gills look normal bar heavy breathing, no skin is peeling and his eyes look fine and are better than they were
I just out some food in and he started sucking on a pellet but he still ain;t right and the mark between his eyes is getting bigger than it was yesterday

 

[WILDER]

It looks like a parasite velvet or whitepot to me.
Columnaris dosn't usually look like that but it can come in a yellow colour but will look fluffy.
Is eh rubbing himself on things.
Going to ask colin t to take a look.

Long stringy white poo can be constipation, bacterial infecton, internal parasites.
Check his anus to see if it looks red and inflamed or enlarged.
Pm colin for you.

No other fish in the tank with white spots on them.

 

[simonas]

It looks like a parasite velvet or whitepot to me.
Columnaris dosn't usually look like that but it can come in a yellow colour but will look fluffy.
Is eh rubbing himself on things.
Going to ask colin t to take a look.

Long stringy white poo can be constipation, bacterial infecton, internal parasites.
Check his anus to see if it looks red and inflamed or enlarged.
Pm colin for you.

No other fish in the tank with white spots on them.

cheers Wilder didn;t expect such a quick response!! lol so cheers for that

Hes not flicking on anything just sitting in his cave or under bogwood breathing

his anus was white cos just looked at it, it didn't look enlarged but then I ain;t checked it out too much recently!!!

other fish in the tanks are spot on no white spot, I never seem toget it. theres clown loach in the tank hes in now so if he has white spot I'll soon know

cheers Wilder

 

[WILDER]

They usually flick and rub with whitespot and velvet.
His heavy breathing can point to parasites, bacterial, or he's dying.
The yellow patch on him does it glow up when you shine a torch on the patch with tanks lights out.

 

[Colin_T]

It is easier to identify most healh problems when the fish is still in the tank (underwater). Can you provide a picture of the fish in the tank rather than out of water? A picture of the oscar might also give some clue to the problem.

You should check the nitrates. Tanks with big fish in, (like oscars) usually get quite high nitrate readings and have lots of gunk in the substrate. These can cause problems (bacterial & protozoan) to fish in the tank, particularly bottom dwellers.

How often do you do water changes, gravel cleans, and clean the filter?

The yellow patch on the head could be a cyst or a bacterial infection (like a ball of puss under the skin).

Sunken eyes and stringy white poo are usually associated with an internal bacterial infection. Perhaps try a medication for internal bacterial infections and see how it goes. Before you treat the tank do a couple of big water changes and complete gravel cleans. Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last month and remove any carbon from it. Be careful not to overdose because catfish are sensitive to medications.

 

[simonas]

It is easier to identify most healh problems when the fish is still in the tank (underwater). Can you provide a picture of the fish in the tank rather than out of water? A picture of the oscar might also give some clue to the problem.

You should check the nitrates. Tanks with big fish in, (like oscars) usually get quite high nitrate readings and have lots of gunk in the substrate. These can cause problems (bacterial & protozoan) to fish in the tank, particularly bottom dwellers.

How often do you do water changes, gravel cleans, and clean the filter?

The yellow patch on the head could be a cyst or a bacterial infection (like a ball of puss under the skin).

Sunken eyes and stringy white poo are usually associated with an internal bacterial infection. Perhaps try a medication for internal bacterial infections and see how it goes. Before you treat the tank do a couple of big water changes and complete gravel cleans. Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last month and remove any carbon from it. Be careful not to overdose because catfish are sensitive to medications.

cheers Colin

will sort pic out later cos just rushing out
I do about one big water change week about 20% of water, I never clean gravel although its more sand than gravel and the external; filter about once every 6 weeks

My LFS is open tomorrow so I'll get nitrate test and meds for internal parasites?

speak to you in bit cheers chaps

 

[WILDER]

Colin meant internal bacteria med not internal parasite med.

 

[simonas]

Colin meant internal bacteria med not internal parasite med.

cheers Wilder

 

[simonas]

these are the Oscars

 

[WILDER]

Are the fish ok and any other fish showing the same symtoms.