Tank Problems, Cats and ropes

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
K

Kadkin

Feeder Fish
Oct 27, 2007
3
0
0
North Carolina
I recently moved and my tank is not surviving very well. I lost 2 rope fish that I've had for 4 years. I also lost 2 gourami and my betta fish that were also 3 years old. I now have a bloated catfish with cloudy eyes and is now upside down and the other fish are looking sickly. I cannot imagine what is the cause of the fish illness. I have been doing water changes every three days because the water is getting cloudy for no reason. The fish are obviously in distress. I run a hundred gallon air pump and a hundred gallon filter on my 44 octagonal with under gravel filter. I have a large pleco, a rope fish, 2 rafeal cats, a white frog, 4 tiny tetras and 2 mysterious and large catfish. they look like the upside down type but are much larger with large sailfins and the scales like a pleco. This tank has been running smoothly for years and I 've never had any trouble out of it. No other factors have changed recently but the actual local. Any advice on what to do with it? I'm losing fish. I want to salt the aquarium tonight but I'm not sure if I can with the rope fish and the frog and two mystery catfish. I've already secluded the really sick catfish. Its 3% salinity right? Or 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, right?

Any advice?:nilly:
 
Your problem initially sounds like overstocking.You were right to do water changes,but your"mystery cats" might be the problem,as they excrete the most waste.If you can't buy a new tank(55 g or over) re-home some of your fish.Up your filtration and add some carbon for this emergency.
 
I've had those catfish for 2 years now, they aren't a new addition. they are only about 3 inches long. I call them large because when I bought them they were like baby corey cats, then they grew up. Now they are taller and longer than my rafael's. But, you're right, the cats are messy.
Do you know if I can salt the tank with what's in it now? Or are some of them sensitive to it?
 
Kadkin;1228621; said:
Thinning out bio load ASAP.

Thanks a bunch!
Click to expand...
Do not get fish if you cannot house them(this is MFK's biggest hang-up),your better off with just ONE fish that will grow big if your cant handle daily WC's.
 
Sounds like your beneficial bacteria colony has died during the move and now your tank is cycling big time!
Check for ammonia and nitrIte.
Frequent large water changes might help, also maybe some sort of additive to detoxify waste, also you could add mature filter media from another source, and I would probably stop feeding until things improve.
Good luck.
 
I would check the ammonia levels and nitrate/nitrite levels, if elevate add a filter booster such as biospira or even just some filter sludge from a healthy filter. You say these cats look like upside down cats? check out some of the large synodontis, but since you say that they have scales similar to pleco then I am guessing that they are Doradidae species, the family talking cats and rafael cats are in. there are also a lot of pleco relatives, they vary widely in salt tolerance. can you post pics? Luckily all the doridae that I know of are pretty salt tolerant. Ropes are as well but I have know idea about the frog.
 
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