Raphael Catfish Dead?

[DMBeer41]

So my tank water has recently gotten really cloudy and I cannot seem to get rid of it even with water changes. I thought it was a bacteria bloom, but it's lasted a bit long for that I think (been going on for about 2 weeks now). I added 5 new (baby clown loaches and 2 small gauramis), but any mini-cycle has completed and my water stats seem okay except for a slightly higher PH reading (7.6 up from 7.2-7.4).

I have a dragon decoration that my Raphael catfish likes to hide in, but I have not seen him come out (day or night) in about 2 weeks, even at feeding time. I have a bad feeling he has died inside the dragon and this is what is causing the cloudy water. At the same time, i've tried to get him out of the dragon, but it seems like he's suctioned onto it.

My question is do these catfish even have suction ability to stick onto something, and if so, does that ability continue once they die? Since I haven't seen him in about the same amount of time my water has been cloudy, is it a safe assumption that he's not alive anymore?

I don't have another tank setup to take the dragon out and see if my tank water clears up, so I don't want to take the dragon (with the catfish inside) out and end up killing the fish when he's not actually dead yet...but i'm not sure I have much of a choice. I know he's in there, 'cause he always was, and i'm able to check everything else in the tank that he could possibly hide under.

Advice appreciated.

Thanks,
James

 

[stang1]

When you say your readings are ok, what are they coming out as?

 

[Spishkey]

simple. get a large tub (ice cream tub?) fill with tank water, stick the decoration in it. or if you are sure he is dead prise the catfish out with a stick gently. if he's alive he'll no doubt let go to swim away from being prodded. if he's dead he'll just pop on out of there

 

[DMBeer41]

simple. get a large tub (ice cream tub?) fill with tank water, stick the decoration in it. or if you are sure he is dead prise the catfish out with a stick gently. if he's alive he'll no doubt let go to swim away from being prodded. if he's dead he'll just pop on out of there

I've tried this with the tube from an air hose. The issue i've found is the dragon decoration he's in forms 2 seperate curves, so I think the tube is getting stuck on the curves. I've put it in both ends though, and he hasn't swam or popped out yet, which is why I thought maybe he's suctioned on to the inside.

Water stats are:
PH: 7.6
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 20
Ammonia - 0

 

[MartinS]

Can you see the fish?
If yes, remove the decoration and stand it in dry and watch to see if there is any movement once it realises there is no water.
If no, remove the decoration and smell it - if it's dead you'll know it! I'd think if it was dead and decaying, you'd have a nitrite reading.
Let us know how you get on
Martin

 

[DMBeer41]

Can you see the fish?
If yes, remove the decoration and stand it in dry and watch to see if there is any movement once it realises there is no water.
If no, remove the decoration and smell it - if it's dead you'll know it! I'd think if it was dead and decaying, you'd have a nitrite reading.
Let us know how you get on
Martin

No, the dragon is not see through unfortunately. I did smell the decoration, and it doesn't really smell much different than anything else.

I'll take more stats tonight and see what they come up with. Last one was a few days ago.

Could a dead fish be the cause of my cloudy water too? I do weekly water changes and have good aeration in the tank. Definately don't overfeed, everything gets eaten within a few minutes in the morning and as i mentioned earlier, i'd expect a bacteria would be gone by now. i could be wrong though.

 

[DMBeer41]

Just took another water test...
Nitrites - 0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrates - 10
PH - 7.4

I tried sticking a hose (skinny one for aeration system) down through the curvy dragon. Nothing came out, but i think i'm getting stuck on the turns. It does smell a little weird, but only from one end can you really smell anything out of the ordinary...which is weird.

I'll continue to try and get him to come out, unless someone has a better of idea.

 

[DMBeer41]

Okay, issue solved (somewhat). I found the catfish, he was stuck in the dragon and just didn't want to come out. I left the dragon in the tank and started to clean some of the algea off (i got loaches to come out of it last time I did this) and it worked. He swam right out and is now back in the tank. SO happy he's not dead, he's probably my second favorite fish behind the loaches....

Now to solve the issue why my water gets couldy so fast! Everyone else is alive and accounted for...so it's not dead fish!

Thanks for the help everyone!