Topic: Ill Catfish

[falcon21]

I have a catfish in my aquarium (not sure what species) it is silver with black on it. I think it is about 4 or 5 years old. The other day it started resting on its side on the bottom of the tank. I did a NitrIte test and it didn't show signs of excessive NitrIte in the water. It doesn't seem to be eating food at all. I changed about 1/2 of the water with tap water and neutralized the chlorine with a stress cote. I cleaned out the pump and removed all decor out of the tank and cleaned them also, I haven't put them back in yet. My fish will still get up at swim around every once in a while. When it is resting it will "twitch" its fins once in a while. I recently noticed a spot just in front of the dorsal fin where the skin seems to be fading in color. I also noticed the tips of the dorsal fin and the front two side fins are white, I never recall seeing this. Any help in treating my fish would be nice, if there is anything else I should look for and post on here let me know.

[Mollielover]

Are you able to test for ammonia?  did you have any readable nitrites?  How big is the tank?  How did you clean the pump? 

[falcon21]

I don't have any tests for anything except for the NitrIte, I lost the manual for the test but the hydrochloric acid starts out blue and I'm guessing it changes to a reddish color in the presence of NitrIte, when I did the test it very slightly changed in color. I believe I have a 10 gallon tank (20"x10.25"x12.5"). When I cleaned the pump I completely removed it from the tank and rinsed out the inside of the intake tubes with hot water, I rinsed the bio-filter with slow cold running water and I also cleaned out the inside of the pump with hot water. I only rinsed the other filter in the pump because I wasn't able to go get a new one at the time. A week or so ago I noticed my catfish was swimming around the tank which was rather odd because it normally sits at the bottom. The spot in front of its dorsal fin appears to be whitish in the middle and reddish towords the edge, this just appeared within the last day or so. I feed my fish TetraMin tropical flakes, usually a pinch of food every night. I rarely ever turn on the aquarium light. The water temperature is about 68F

[Mollielover]

Take a sample of water to you petshop they will test it for free. those spots seem bacterial in nature probably caused by water quality.   One thing you really never want to do is clean out the filter that's where all of the good bacteria is that keeps your tank cycled.  My bet would be that your tank is re cycling and your fish is having a very hard time with the ammonia and other toxins.  Take a sample of water out of your tank then I would do at least a 50% water change every other day or so until the tank is cycled.  If you can see if you can buy another testing kit that has the tests for ammonia, NitrIte and NitrAte. We can help you with the cycle process.

[falcon21]

The spot on my catfish is getting larger and it looks like the outer layer of skin is coming off and the remaining skin appears to be translucent.

[bulrush]

When I cleaned the pump I completely removed it from the tank and rinsed out the inside of the intake tubes with hot water, I rinsed the bio-filter with slow cold running water and I also cleaned out the inside of the pump with hot water. I only rinsed the other filter in the pump because I wasn't able to go get a new one at the time.

Falcon21,
When you rinsed the pump out with tap water, you killed all the good bacteria you need to keep the tank stable. Don't do that. Instead rinse the pump and filter material in old chlorine-free water from your tank. Now you'll have to wait another 4 weeks for more good bacteria to grow and eat the poisons in the water, namely ammonia and NitrIte.

[Mollielover]

Water changes, water changes, water changes until the tank has cycled again.  Whats happening is that your fish is being poisioned.   best thing you can do are water changes to keep the water as pristien as possible.

[wendyjo]

Just FYI if you use a python or for whatever reason can't rinse the filter media in tank water you can just rinse it in some tap water that's been treated with a dechlorinator.

But I have a question - did this problem start before or after you cleaned the filter?

[falcon21]

This started before I cleaned the filter.

[RinsMom]

As others have said, it probably started because of poor water  conditions.

I realize you said it didn't have any nitrites in the tank, but a cycled tank will test with 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, and some Nitrates. (Nitrates are essentially the end product of the bacterial cycle).  Unfortunately, nothing takes the nitrates out of the water except plants and water changes. 

Many people (myself included, before petfish.net), have the habit of just adding water to the tank as it evaporates... but this does nothing to remove the nitrates.

Nitrates are also harmful to the fish, and it is best to keep nitrates below about 20 ppm, I think.

Most likely, as others have said, the sore and lethargic behavior is a result of poor water quality,  Doing such a thorough cleaning of the filter has removed or killed most of the bacteria and the bacterial colonies will need to become re-established.

Do frequent water changes as mollielover suggested to keep the toxin levels down while the tank cycles.

Or... do you have another established tank available?  You can always add "filter squeezin's" from that tank to give it a bacterial boost.