Please Help Me, My Catfish Is Dying!

[beniyo]

My catfish, which I had for several months now, is laying on its left side on the bottom of the tank and is breathign heavily. There are no any simptoms on it, the color is good and no other damages or signs. The fish is just laying near stones or plants on its left side. This situation goes for 1 day now. I noticed it this morning and even thought that it was dead. When I tried to catch it with the net it started moving and ran away.

I am VERY scared that it would die. I checked all the water parameters and they are within the ranges. As my water (the spring water from the stroe) is very hard, I started mixing it with distilled water. I have been doing this for the last 3-4 week. Do you think this could be the problem? I have one more catfish, smaller and brownish and a very very small guppy, that was born in the tank. My tank is small 3 gallons and I change the water and the filter regularly.

Please, help me save the poor fish!

 

[qoftheq]

Sorry, I can't help you, but you may want to post this in the emergency forums as well. You should get more immediate responses there. Good luck to your catfish!

 

[Captain Retardo]

This happened to one of my first cories right when i got him, and he was like that for one day...My situation was exactly the same, I didn't do anything (cause I thought I couldn't) and he died 2 days after I got him. I think it may be stress-related, because my other cories that i got with him were fine...

Sorry that that dosen't help much, just telling though what to probably expect...

BTW - Cories need groups of AT LEAST 4. Also, 3 gallons is a very small tank for a cory. I believe this is stress-related because of the small tank size and few tankmates...

What was the pH of the water that was too hard?

You change the filter regularly? Does that mean that you take out the filter cartridge itself and throw it away? Because if you do that is a bad thing, just wash it in tank water if it gets to dirty...It has too much beneficial bacteria in it...

Also, have you cycled your tank already?

What are your exact readings from your test kit, and what kind of kit is it? Is it one of those kits with strips, or does it have little bottles where you put the aquarium water in then add chemicals?

 

[beniyo]

>> I think it may be stress-related, because my other cories that i got with him were fine...

Yes, may be it is stressed, but I dont know why. I had it for 10 or 11 months now and it was doing fine.

>> BTW - Cories need groups of AT LEAST 4. Also, 3 gallons is a very small tank for a cory. I believe this is stress-related because of the small tank size and few tankmates...

Yes, my tank is small, and it has only one buddy, although of a different kind...

>> What was the pH of the water that was too hard?

It had been living in that water for 11 months. The pH was low 6.4

>> You change the filter regularly? Does that mean that you take out the filter cartridge itself and throw it away? Because if you do that is a bad thing, just wash it in tank water if it gets to dirty...It has too much beneficial bacteria in it...

About month ago I got two small guppies, but they both died in two days. I thought it was becasue my water was very hard and started changing it more regularly (in 3 days, usually I change it every sunday) by mixing 1/3 distilled water with 2/3 spring water. Then I got 1 betta and 1 guppy but they both died again within 3 days. I did not know what the problem was, so decided not to get more fish. But now even the old inhabitants are getting bad. Do you think it is becasue I changed the water in the last month. This could be a shock for the fish.

>> Also, have you cycled your tank already?

Yes, I have had this tank for about 10-11 months. I have plants and A LOT of algae everywhere (I cleaned some of it this month, which could have been a mistake too!!!)

>> What are your exact readings from your test kit, and what kind of kit is it? Is it one of those kits with strips, or does it have little bottles where you put the aquarium water in then add chemicals?

Its a strip test: Nitrate 20, Nitrite 0, Hardness 120, Alkalinity 80, pH 6.4.

 

[Captain Retardo]

So what was the pH of your tank before you started mixing distilled water with spring water? (The ph of your tapwater also?)

It maybe related to tank size, but I don't believe so...If they lived in there for 10 months and were fine, why would they start acting bad in 1 day?

Your test results look good, nitrate alittle bit on the high side, but not really enough to do any harm at all. BTW- Strip kits are usuallly innacurate, especially with nitrate, I would suggest bringing some water to the LFS so that they will test it for you, they use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, which is a really good kit, if it matches your test strips though, then you should be fine...

I'm not exactly sure what the problem is, maybe the water mix dosen't have enough minerals, but I doubt it...

It may be a disease, but I'm not really good with fish diseases, so I wouldn't know if it is or which one it is....It would be a good idea placing this topic in the Freshwater Emergency Room, they know a lot more about this stuff than I do