urgent Help on catfish (Duckmouth)

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sagittarius51

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 31, 2006
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Sennet Estate
Dear fish lovers,

Currently, i have a 2footer catfish, people call them duckmouth catfish. the fish is kept outdoor in a 10 feet fibre tank. Its was in the tank for almost 2 yrs. However recently i notice that something wrong with the fish. the whole body start to rott and it seem like the whole fish is shedding its skin and could see blood over the fish. i have keep monster fish and catfishes for a long time and seen alot of dieases before but not this case. Can some expert advise me on this?? i believe its going to die soon...... thanks..
 
It sounds most like bacterial hemorrhagic septicemia, usually caused by Psuedomonas bacteria or Aeromonas bacteria, there are other bacterial systemic infections that can do this as well but luckily they respond to the same treatment.
First check ammonia levels as this can also be caused by bad ammonia burns.
Assuming it is the bacteria a slide test will show rod shaped gram-negative bacteria that look like this (emblab.ubc) Aeromonas look similar but are often in end to end pairs.
This disease can present in several ways, from large ulcers to dropsy, but one way is excess cloudy slime coat, loose and sloughing skin, and bleeding under scales and in fin capillaries, especially around the base of fins, the fins also tend to rot at the edges and turn sort of grayish or whitish from the edges inward.
Fish at this stage often do not survive.
Tratment isdosing the water with Oxytetracycline and oxoclinic acid and using feed containing neomycin or kanamycin.
If those are not available any broad spectrum anti-gram negative antibiotic feed and water added anti-biotic such as Binox, Maracyn 2 (or better yet Maracyn Plus), or Tri-Sulfa may be used.
I hope this helps but don't get your hopes to high.

bacteria_pseudomonas.jpg
 
Thank you for the expert information. Suprisingly what i see today the fish starts to recover.. most of the bleeded skin is starting to patch up. Its really a miracle.... somehow i know what actually happens. I believe i have added too much "algae away" to the water a few weeks ago as the water became greenish suddenly. Currently i have change the water everyday and the condition is getting better. i believe it will recover soon... Thank god that it could survive!!

Really thank you bro for the expert advise... will try to take photo and post it here..
 
That would explain it, most algacides are pretty strongly alkaline and can cause chemical burns on fish like ammonia does. Sound like you are on the road to recovery, you might want to add some melafix to lessen the chance of seconday fungal infections.
 
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