All my cats, I've got problems

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bassguy

bassguy

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 10, 2010
2,570
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Limbo
A week ago I lost a 12" pleco, then a 6"bichir, then next day a 6" tsn. My 8" rtc, other 10" tsn, and my royal pleco are breathing heavy. None of my cats are eating. All of my other tanks mates are normal and ok, two jags, 9" severum, & 10" rck.
Water perameters are great am 0ppm, ite 0ppm, ate under 5.0ppm and ph is 6.8 and have remained so. Tank has been running for 6 months and is a 180g, with 40g sump and fx5. I have not added any thing other than rocks that I soaked and treated with lots of prime when soaking and they were added a month before the problem. I do 25% wc once a week and this keeps my nitrates under 5.0ppm.
I've looked for any thing I can find and the only thing I can find is maybee a small spot of fungus on the royal, but that is debatable. I started treatment of Maracyn-Oxy yesterday for this and boy it's expencive for a 180g.

I'm sure I left something out, please ask away.
PLEASE HELP BEFORE IT's TOO LATE!!!:cry::cry::cry::confused:

And please don't bash me for owning a rtc and tsn, this is a grow out tank for them and they can't eat anything in there yet. They will be going into a pond with my 18" rtc when bigger. I need help not unconstructive criticism, please.
 
Check your water Parameters ASAP in particular Ammonia & Nitrite.
If you can also take pH & water Hardness readings.
The 1st two mentioned however are by far the most important.

In the interim I would increase filtration/ aeration and do at least a 30% water change.
Heavy breathing & sudden deaths are usually caused by Bad water Parameters, especially in predatory Cats such as RTC , TSN etc
 
redtailrob;5020475; said:
Check your water Parameters ASAP in particular Ammonia & Nitrite.
If you can also take pH & water Hardness readings.
The 1st two mentioned however are by far the most important.

In the interim I would increase filtration/ aeration and do at least a 30% water change.
Heavy breathing & sudden deaths are usually caused by Bad water Parameters, especially in predatory Cats such as RTC , TSN etc
Click to expand...

This is exacly what I would think, bad water, parameters but they all look great!Checked them several times, including today. I did a 25% change right after I posted.
For the meanwile i have removed the remaining cats to a hospital tank, but do not have enough room for my other fish.
 
Did you test your tap water?

Also try adding an air stone to make sure there is enough oxygen in the water - this will help the heavy breathing.
 
Aqualoon;5021754; said:
Did you test your tap water?

Also try adding an air stone to make sure there is enough oxygen in the water - this will help the heavy breathing.
Click to expand...

I admit no, it's not a normal practice of mine. I have done it in the past. Question on that, if my parameters are good now does that really matter? Not being sarcastic, really asking. Also I did add a 18" air strip and another pump as soon as I noticed problems, so there is a lot of air pumping into the tank.
 
Let's backtrack on the rock issue, remove it continue to do water changes -

sometimes some towns change their tap water methods though... if your water parms are good. Let the tap water sit for 24 hours and see how the tap water parms show.

could be something in the water supply or the rock that's slowly leeching something into the water column some rocks can change PH/GH drastically though there are many others leech metals into the system which I'm not so sure as the RCK should have been affected too which is puzzling to me. Cichlids are much more hardy/forgiving in water issues in the tank than anything in your tank.


Also the bigger they get the more oxygen demand they go through as you mentioned its grow-out tank, its alot of current/oxygenation that will be needed to meet the demand. Get diffuser not air stone.


Which test kits are you using by the way. Some test kits are not reliable like test strips etc. Just a process of elimination.

Another question.. do you notice redness in the gill plates in some fish? Some fish will show them when inflamed while others will be hard to see.

GH is still the same as before?
 
bassguy;5021784; said:
I admit no, it's not a normal practice of mine. I have done it in the past. Question on that, if my parameters are good now does that really matter? Not being sarcastic, really asking. Also I did add a 18" air strip and another pump as soon as I noticed problems, so there is a lot of air pumping into the tank.
Click to expand...

Yes - I experienced a similar issue, my tank parameters were all in check but noticed heavy labored breathing with my fish. I only lost my male gold saum (favorite fish) but traced it back to my tap water.

During the spring my local water facility flushes out their systems and uses a higher concentration of chloramine which was causing the problem. Prior to this happening I hadn't tested my tap water in quite awhile either.
 
This is great info! I removed the rocks last night. I use the API kit that we all use. I will start the tap testing as that makes sense. I'm not sure of what the diffuser is, I've heard of it, please elaborate. Lastly I have not noticed red gills, I have been looking for it but they have not given me a great look yet.
On a side note I lost my Royal pleco last night, but the TSN has started to eat and looks better since the move to the hospital tank, but my RTC still is clinging to life. This sucks!!!
I apreciate the help very much!
 
Lost my RTC today :(. Tap water test Oppm across the board. Hope it's the rocks.
 
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