possibly sick shark cat

[sharkcat]

Never posted on this forum before, but hoping someone can help. I have 2 white tipped shark cats in my acquarium. One I just noticed has developed some white substance on his back and it looks like a little on his underside. Any help on what this is and how i can help him out would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[HotStuffGal]

Hmm my readings are not looking to good. This does sound like a problem and maybe a fatle one to me. It could possibly ich or velvet or other types od desieases. I would inspect it a little more and if it looks bad I would remove it from the tank. I hope my info was helpfull and I wish you the best of luck! ~scarlett

 

[HotStuffGal]

So How is he/she doing? I hope your shark is doing better..has teh fungue or w/e it is gone away?

 

[ger87410]

When I got my sharks, they ended up getting some white stuff on their bodies. I did some reading and found out that they like salt. I added 1 tbsp salt per 10 gallons and it cleared up the same day. Try adding salt. The catfish will love you for it. Make sure everything in the tank can take it. Look further in this catfish forum to learn more about them.

 

[HotStuffGal]

-nods head- Yes I did forget thay, your right most fish LOVE salt and it is very good for them too!

 

[corrosive]

I read something on a site, and i thought it was 1tbsp, per 5gals... Does it really matter?

 

[ger87410]

With shark catfish, as you guys call them , too much salt in the water is really not an issue. To raise the salinity of the water to 1.005 you need to add alot more salt then 1 tbsp per 5g. 1.005~1.009 is brackish. 1.025 is saltwater. I find that to get brackish water I have to add over 1/4 cup for every 5 gallons. Some fish don't like salt in high doses. If you're gonna add salt, do it very slowly and mix it before you add it. If the sharks are the only ones in the tank, go ahead and add more salt. They love you even more for it.

 

[dead_slade]

they sound like columbian sharks, they are brakkish water fish, they need as much salt as was said in the post before mine.

also the white could just be excess slime with happens in stress, or it could be ich or a fungas, ich is nothing scarry, salt will kill it, or raising the temp of the tank to 84 degrees f. and there are many medications that your local fish store carries that treat fungases such as clout.

 

[CFC]

-nods head- Yes I did forget thay, your right most fish LOVE salt and it is very good for them too!

Eeeeek!

Most fish do not like salt and many of them will be harmed by it, the vast majority of tropical fish come from water which have very little or no mineral content so salt iritates the skin and does damage to the internal organs.

Columbian shark catfish are indeed brackish/marine fish and should be moved into a brackish tank as soon as possible, as they grow they need higher salt levels until eventually going into a full saltwater tank though most should be fine in a high end brackish tank with a SG of 1.010 to 1.015 for life.