Help (dorado cat)

Rmc5571 · Mar 23, 2015

Ok, so here's the situation & I get the feeling I'm going to get my balls busted a bit here, but such is life. I'm more interested in a cogent solution than backlash about lessons already learned through my insinuated err. I have a jouvinile Dorado cat in my 125 gallon & idk what I'm doing when it comes to catfish. I've had this guy in my tank now for about 3-4 days (it's a new tank) & he's still constantly swimming into the wall to the point where he's hurting himself. All of the other fish are fine, & don't seem to be bothering him when I'm able to watch. Occasionally I'll see him acting normally, but for the most part he's steadly swimming into the glass as if he's trying to escape something.

This has left him with a bad mark on his mouth & he's started to develop a few white spots on his head now as well. You can even see a little red from where he's been face planting. From what I've read on these forums, people will likely tell me to return him, but he's a bday gift from my girlfriend & I really like him... So that's my absolute last resort. Please inform me of what's going on & how to fix it. Feeling for this little guy.

Rachel.Cody · Mar 23, 2015

Rmc5571 said:
Ok, so here's the situation & I get the feeling I'm going to get my balls busted a bit here, but such is life. I'm more interested in a cogent solution than backlash about lessons already learned through my insinuated err. I have a jouvinile Dorado cat in my 125 gallon & idk what I'm doing when it comes to catfish. I've had this guy in my tank now for about 3-4 days (it's a new tank) & he's still constantly swimming into the wall to the point where he's hurting himself. All of the other fish are fine, & don't seem to be bothering him when I'm able to watch. Occasionally I'll see him acting normally, but for the most part he's steadly swimming into the glass as if he's trying to escape something.

This has left him with a bad mark on his mouth & he's started to develop a few white spots on his head now as well. You can even see a little red from where he's been face planting. From what I've read on these forums, people will likely tell me to return him, but he's a bday gift from my girlfriend & I really like him... So that's my absolute last resort. Please inform me of what's going on & how to fix it. Feeling for this little guy.

Lets start with the basics here, whats your stock, how big is he, is the tank cycled, what kind of filtration, etc.. from what ive gathered about them and being around them every day at work they are quite skittish. Ours swim in one position all day in the front of the tank, im guessing they make like a current. My false tig was constantly in the current and you couldnt get him out of it.

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ultimatejay · Mar 24, 2015

Isolate it in a smaller tank by itself with no lighting- natural lighting during the day is ok. These fish are very hard to keep and just like yours is doing they spook easily from just movement of other fish and dart into the tank sides.

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bobVillanueva · Mar 24, 2015

Do not put it in a smaller tank. Leave it there, chances are it will damage its snout even more in a smaller tank.

Mine constantly swims but against the current, no damage and swims upwards And not directly towards the glass when spooked. Its thriving very well and this might work for u as well.

I Painted the 3 walls of my tank black u cud put a black bg. Remove the fish that spooks the hell out of it. Usually they get pecked coz of their streamers and bait like silver coloration. Lastly, use a very strong power head. As in GATF level or close to it. Mine has been living with my GATF and before TATF and the only time i had problems is when hebwent to the big tank and got bullied

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koltsixx · Mar 24, 2015

Rmc5571 said:
Ok, so here's the situation & I get the feeling I'm going to get my balls busted a bit here, but such is life. I'm more interested in a cogent solution than backlash about lessons already learned through my insinuated err. I have a jouvinile Dorado cat in my 125 gallon & idk what I'm doing when it comes to catfish. I've had this guy in my tank now for about 3-4 days (it's a new tank) & he's still constantly swimming into the wall to the point where he's hurting himself. All of the other fish are fine, & don't seem to be bothering him when I'm able to watch. Occasionally I'll see him acting normally, but for the most part he's steadly swimming into the glass as if he's trying to escape something.

This has left him with a bad mark on his mouth & he's started to develop a few white spots on his head now as well. You can even see a little red from where he's been face planting. From what I've read on these forums, people will likely tell me to return him, but he's a bday gift from my girlfriend & I really like him... So that's my absolute last resort. Please inform me of what's going on & how to fix it. Feeling for this little guy.

Quick course in getting better answers on here.
1-Common names can be confusing your best bet is to always try to find out the scientific name of your fish or if you can't upload a picture so we can ID it as answers can be very dependent on the species being discussed.

2-Always mention your water parameters. Again answers will be dependent on this so to avoid people asking which wastes your time and extends the time your fish can get the help he/she needs. Again that being said what are your parameters?

Rmc5571 · Mar 24, 2015

Stock;

Two, 7" silver arrowana
One, 3" electric blue lobster
Two, 4" saber tusk barracuda
One, 7" bicher
one, 3" bicher
Two, 5" clown knife fish
One, 7" Dorado Catfish

tank is still in its first cycle, about 1 week in though I added bacteria, & used water conditioner prior to adding fish.

Filtration; 2 Emperor 400 filters on one side (up to 90 gallon filters) & 1 canister filter with a similar output on the other side. Also using a larger bubbler, provided plenty of hiding places & fake plants. Also have a blue background & currently have the water temp around 75, which the means to adjust it to water is needed.

(Thanks for your attention on this one.)

Rmc5571 · Mar 24, 2015

How much would this power head cost, & would it negatively afflict my smaller fish?

Rmc5571 · Mar 24, 2015

Rachel.Cody said:
Lets start with the basics here, whats your stock, how big is he, is the tank cycled, what kind of filtration, etc.. from what ive gathered about them and being around them every day at work they are quite skittish. Ours swim in one position all day in the front of the tank, im guessing they make like a current. My false tig was constantly in the current and you couldnt get him out of it.

Replied in additional post. Still figuring this site out. Thank you.

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replied in additional post. Still figuring this site out. Thanks.

Rmc5571 · Mar 24, 2015

koltsixx said:
Quick course in getting better answers on here.
1-Common names can be confusing your best bet is to always try to find out the scientific name of your fish or if you can't upload a picture so we can ID it as answers can be very dependent on the species being discussed.

2-Always mention your water parameters. Again answers will be dependent on this so to avoid people asking which wastes your time and extends the time your fish can get the help he/she needs. Again that being said what are your parameters?

thanks for the insight. Will do for future reference, though I'm presuming it's unnecessary with you in particular? If so, does my reply to the other persons question encompass yours? (Not 100% sure what all falls into the category of water parameters)

predatorkeeper87 · Mar 24, 2015

Ok Ill lay this out as best I can. It would appear you are newer to the hobby so I'll explain in detail. That tank as it sits right now is really close to overstocked in my honest opinion. You have decent filtration on the tank so that's a plus. Water parameters are generally your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates when someone asks you on here. Being that the tank is brand new and you dumped a ton of messy fish in there I'm willing to bet you have ammonia and possibly nitrite readings right now which is the biggest no no in a tank. You need to go out and get Seachem Stability (bottled bacteria) and Seachem Prime (water conditioner that also temporary nullifies the effects of ammonia and nitrite in the tank without disrupting your cycle. You have a long road ahead of you for this tank. The catfish is either stressed due to its tankmates or bad water quality (those are just guesses) You also need to get an API master test kit, follow the directions and test specifically the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. Update the thread once you have those numbers and do some water changes in the mean time as well.


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Help (dorado cat)

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