Something is wrong with my red tail!

[Aw3s0m3]

hes got a 12" RTC a 8" TSN in a 150. I somehow don't think that is logically enough room. Judging on the size of the rtc in the pic. hes just as big as the tank is wide. the tank isn't over filtered either. 3 hob marinelands i doubt would provide enough filtration. what are the dimensions of the tank op?

"I have a 2ft clown knife and I've been feeding it tilapia fillets, uncooked shrimp and massivore delite. Lately it hasn't been eating so I was wondering what else your knives are eating. I've tried earthworms, but it doesn't budge. Everything else in the tank is eating fine (tire track eel, red tail and tiger shovel nose catfish, endli bichir and jaguar cichlid). I always feed the catfish first until they're full so that they don't steal food from the other fish. I am tempted to try feeder fish just so it will start eating again. What else should I try and what advice do you guys have? The tank is a standard 150g, filtration is 2 large hang on back filters and a canister filter and temp is around 76. All params are normal (nitrite and ammonia 0 and nitrate detectable but that's standard for a large predatory tank). I also do a 25-50% water change week"

Do you still have the 2ft long clown knife in this tank aswell???

No. The knife went into my friend's pond yesterday. He said I could put the catfish in there too when they outgrew my tank, but he thinks the tsn is still too small and might get eaten and I don't want to give him a sick fish that might kill off his others so I want to get him better if I can before he goes over.

I admit that the 2 catfish were impulse buys. My brother saw them at the lfs as tiny 1 inchers for $7 each so he bought them and put them in his 10g. The guy at the lfs told him they would only grow as large as the tank would allow. I hate it when those people say stuff like that. Obviously they outgrew it in less than a month, so we took the chance of the knife and bichir possibly eating them and put them in my tank.

Right now I'm doing 25-50% water changes once a week. Should I bump it up to twice, maybe 3x a week? I thought the filtration would be adequate because the 3 hob are rated 250gph each and my canister is 175gph. I rinse off the cartridges every water change and replace them completely once a month. Most of my aquarium experience is with saltwater where majority of the filtration is done by the live rock and live sand so my knowledge with freshwater isn't as good.

I went to the lfs today and the lady seemed extremely knowledgeable about fish diseases and said it might be a strand of flukes. She told me that since it's so far in the process, bath's at a higher concentration 30-45 min a day might be better than QT. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

hes got a 12" RTC a 8" TSN in a 150. I somehow don't think that is logically enough room. Judging on the size of the rtc in the pic. hes just as big as the tank is wide. the tank isn't over filtered either. 3 hob marinelands i doubt would provide enough filtration. what are the dimensions of the tank op?

"I have a 2ft clown knife and I've been feeding it tilapia fillets, uncooked shrimp and massivore delite. Lately it hasn't been eating so I was wondering what else your knives are eating. I've tried earthworms, but it doesn't budge. Everything else in the tank is eating fine (tire track eel, red tail and tiger shovel nose catfish, endli bichir and jaguar cichlid). I always feed the catfish first until they're full so that they don't steal food from the other fish. I am tempted to try feeder fish just so it will start eating again. What else should I try and what advice do you guys have? The tank is a standard 150g, filtration is 2 large hang on back filters and a canister filter and temp is around 76. All params are normal (nitrite and ammonia 0 and nitrate detectable but that's standard for a large predatory tank). I also do a 25-50% water change week"

Do you still have the 2ft long clown knife in this tank aswell???

A typical 150 gal would have something like ~6'x2' footprint - adequate for a foot long catfish that's not too active of a swimmer.

IDK where the 2nd paragraph came from. Fish don't normally stop eating for no reason. Instead of trying to offer different foods, I'd try to figure out what's wrong.

OP: what test kit are you using?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

A: Right now I'm doing 25-50% water changes once a week. Should I bump it up to twice, maybe 3x a week?
TBTB: I'd go by the tests (if using a reliable, liquid test kit like an API Master kit): you want to have zero NH3 and NO2 and under 20 ppm NO3. 25% a week may not get you there.

A: I thought the filtration would be adequate because the 3 hob are rated 250gph each and my canister is 175gph.
TBTB: The amount/volume and surface area of bio-media and hence the amount of beneficial bacteria is very important, not just flow rates.

A: I rinse off the cartridges every water change and replace them completely once a month.
TBTB: What cartridges? Mechanical filtering and chemical filtering (charcoal)? I hope you don't do it with biological filtration part!

A: I went to the lfs today and the lady seemed extremely knowledgeable about fish diseases and said it might be a strand of flukes. She told me that since it's so far in the process, bath's at a higher concentration 30-45 min a day might be better than QT. Does anyone have experience with this?
TBTB: Baths of what?? You can certainly try that, either with salt or I'd rather try something like a universal anticeptic, like KMnO4 - potassium permanganate, at 2-3 ppm first for 20 min. If taken well, may bump up to 5-6 ppm. Do not go over 10 ppm. Google "How to give a fish a potassium permanganate bath".

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

This is useful. Describes KMnO4 too and its baths: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication3.html

 

[necrocanis]

Agree with TBTB until this clears up I wouldn't even offer the fish food yet. Once everything is under control then you should be fine. These fish can go months without eating so long as they are not already lean and from your pics looks like they would do fine for a few days or weeks until you get this figured out. If not for the params you posted I would wonder if it was really advanced ammonia burns. I have seen this style of wounds before, but I can't remember where. I think it was on a dead catfish someone sent me. No signs of parasites on the one I dissected. Seemed to me that it was either ammonia burns or something similar. What's your substrate like? Is this just on the bottom of the fish?

 

[Aw3s0m3]

A: I went to the lfs today and the lady seemed extremely knowledgeable about fish diseases and said it might be a strand of flukes. She told me that since it's so far in the process, bath's at a higher concentration 30-45 min a day might be better than QT. Does anyone have experience with this?
TBTB: Baths of what?? You can certainly try that, either with salt or I'd rather try something like a universal anticeptic, like KMnO4 - potassium permanganate, at 2-3 ppm first for 20 min. If taken well, may bump up to 5-6 ppm. Do not go over 10 ppm. Google "How to give a fish a potassium permanganate bath".

Sorry, I thought I mentioned the meds she recommended. She said to try melafix and prazipro and use a capful per gal for each for the bath. I already had both for my sw tank so I didn't buy any there, but it turns out I had a lot less than I thought I did so I have to get some more tomorrow. I was planning on using a 50g rubbermaid tub and filling it halfway with tank water, so if I did that everyday, I would be doing a small daily water change. Is that a bad idea? In the meantime though, I just did a little less than 50% water change so hopefully that helps.

A typical 150 gal would have something like ~6'x2' footprint - adequate for a foot long catfish that's not too active of a swimmer.

IDK where the 2nd paragraph came from. Fish don't normally stop eating for no reason. Instead of trying to offer different foods, I'd try to figure out what's wrong.

OP: what test kit are you using?

I am using the API Master Test Kit, but it is kind of old so it might be of. How long do they normally last?

Agree with TBTB until this clears up I wouldn't even offer the fish food yet. Once everything is under control then you should be fine. These fish can go months without eating so long as they are not already lean and from your pics looks like they would do fine for a few days or weeks until you get this figured out. If not for the params you posted I would wonder if it was really advanced ammonia burns. I have seen this style of wounds before, but I can't remember where. I think it was on a dead catfish someone sent me. No signs of parasites on the one I dissected. Seemed to me that it was either ammonia burns or something similar. What's your substrate like? Is this just on the bottom of the fish?

I have sand on the bottom and I've been mixing it every 2 weeks like you guys mentioned to me a while ago.
Everything is just on the bottom, but I can see that it's starting to work its way up the sides.

 

[Redtailedcat]

i had a rtc get this about 2 years ago tired everything i could.he passed away from it tho. it was the first time ive seen this in a fish. IMO the only thing that seemed to help was pimafix and bumping the temp to 82f. I wish you the best of luck. hope the rtc pulls threw!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

A: I was planning on using a 50g rubbermaid tub and filling it halfway with tank water, so if I did that everyday, I would be doing a small daily water change. Is that a bad idea? In the meantime though, I just did a little less than 50% water change so hopefully that helps.
TBTB: I think 5 gal would be plenty for a bath for a 12" fish. Remember to keep it stirred and aerated. There is nothing bad with your idea - you will just have to use a bit more of the meds than really would be necessary.

A: I am using the API Master Test Kit, but it is kind of old so it might be of. How long do they normally last?
TBTB: the shelf life does not usually exceed 1-2 years, AFAIK. I use mine up well before that. IMO, it is not worth the risk. I'd toss it and get a fresh one. They are only $20-$25 from say petsolutions.com.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

i had a rtc get this about 2 years ago tired everything i could.he passed away from it tho. it was the first time ive seen this in a fish. IMO the only thing that seemed to help was pimafix and bumping the temp to 82f. I wish you the best of luck. hope the rtc pulls threw!

Tell us please what you tried, that is what you believe will not work?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

BTW, I have been wrong plenty before but I don't think this is flukes, uness she meant flukes were a primary reason (they are not lethal usually); they caused stress, and then the secondary infection set in.