- Have you tested your water?
- Yes
- If yes, what is your ammonia?
- 0 ppm
- If yes, what is your nitrite?
- 0 ppm
- If yes, what is your nitrate?
- 1 ppm
- If I did not test my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.
- Do you do water changes?
- Yes
- What percentage of water do you change?
- 51-60%
- How frequently do you change your water?
- Every week
- If I do not change my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.
So my 473 liter has recently gone through a heater malfunction, where the water dipped down to about 20 degrees for about a week and a half. I (inadvertently) realized this to be the case when I went to do a Thursday water replacement and saw that I left a heater unplugged from Tuesday's water replacement by accident.
Plugging that heater back in, even expecting the water to take a while to warm (given that's how water works), I did not see the temperature rise at all. That's when I decided to check the heater and found that it wasn't hot at all even when it was on - therefore malfunctioning. A new heater is fixing the temperature problem as we speak, though that isn't the end.
During the waiting time, I had noticed the fish in general didn't have the appetite they used to, presumably due to cold water. So I have been fasting them since Dec. 20, which may have contributed in part to what's to be described below.
Today, when I got the new heater going and also ended the fasting period, I also noticed something off about 2 of my pictus catfish. One has the appearance of mild wasting disease (notably thin in the belly but not much else) together with possible fast breathing, and one is 'yawning/coughing' from time to time, as if it has some kind of gill fluke. Both are slower than usual (the first only slightly so, the second significantly moreso to the point where it spends 2/3 of its time lying in one spot instead of swimming around the tank as usual), and neither show any interest in food. I suspect that they may have contracted these diseases from malfunction related stress, fasting related stress, or both.
Now I can't rule out that these are simply due to having not eaten for a while (consistent with thin belly and slowness) or the heater malfunction (consistent with yawning/coughing and slowness), but if they don't improve over the next few days when the water temperature goes to what it should be, I'll be dosing with API General Cure.
But, I don't know how effective as a general purpose it really is, so experience with it treating flukes/wasting disease would be desirable.
TL
R: A heater malfunction may have given some of my pictus catfish enough stress to catch wasting disease/gill flukes. If this is the case, how effective would you say API General Cure would be when it comes time to treat them?
Plugging that heater back in, even expecting the water to take a while to warm (given that's how water works), I did not see the temperature rise at all. That's when I decided to check the heater and found that it wasn't hot at all even when it was on - therefore malfunctioning. A new heater is fixing the temperature problem as we speak, though that isn't the end.
During the waiting time, I had noticed the fish in general didn't have the appetite they used to, presumably due to cold water. So I have been fasting them since Dec. 20, which may have contributed in part to what's to be described below.
Today, when I got the new heater going and also ended the fasting period, I also noticed something off about 2 of my pictus catfish. One has the appearance of mild wasting disease (notably thin in the belly but not much else) together with possible fast breathing, and one is 'yawning/coughing' from time to time, as if it has some kind of gill fluke. Both are slower than usual (the first only slightly so, the second significantly moreso to the point where it spends 2/3 of its time lying in one spot instead of swimming around the tank as usual), and neither show any interest in food. I suspect that they may have contracted these diseases from malfunction related stress, fasting related stress, or both.
Now I can't rule out that these are simply due to having not eaten for a while (consistent with thin belly and slowness) or the heater malfunction (consistent with yawning/coughing and slowness), but if they don't improve over the next few days when the water temperature goes to what it should be, I'll be dosing with API General Cure.
But, I don't know how effective as a general purpose it really is, so experience with it treating flukes/wasting disease would be desirable.
TL
R: A heater malfunction may have given some of my pictus catfish enough stress to catch wasting disease/gill flukes. If this is the case, how effective would you say API General Cure would be when it comes time to treat them?
