Red Tail Cat Help

[k17sty]

Over the last 2 or 3 days the cat has been swimming up the top of the water. He is usually pretty inactive until feeding time. He has went off his food a bit. Iv been doing 20% every day to see if it was the water. Yesterday i noticed a small blister near where his tail starts also a bit on his tail fin that seems worn, circular shape. I put in some stress coat while changing the water. A few hours after i noticed these areas had went fluffy.

Do you think i have ammonia in the tank and he has been burned? Or any other ideas. There is also a sengal in the tank with him who is fine.

 

[Fella]

Can you test the water? If you've got an RTC a test kit would probably be one of the cheaper investments for it's long term care.

 

[nmonks]

Well, a bichir is an order of magnitude more hardy than a red-tail catfish. Bichirs live in swamps as well as rivers, and they can breathe air if the water goes foul. Your RTC doesn't have that option, and normally lives in fast-flowing, well oxygenated, rivers.

As Fella says, you are probably right to suspect water quality issues. Predatory catfish can pollute their tanks very quickly, especially if they regurgitate their food (as RTCs are wont to do). The blister on his skin could be caused by anything, from being burned against the heater to a scratch caused by the gravel or rockwork. Adding something anti-fungal is a good idea; Pimafix might be the way to go, as some of these large catfish don't do well with standard (copper-based) medications. Catfish experts might be able to confirm this.

Salt-water dips are another option, but for how long will depend on the size of the fish, and would need to be done in the same way as dipping koi carp and goldfish. Simply adding salt to the aquarium is NOT an option, because these fish won't relish brackish water conditions.

Stresscoat won't make any difference either way.

RTCs can quickly go from healthy to dead. You have a fairly narrow window to get things right. I'd check for hazards in the tank (e.g. exposed heaters or sharp rocks) and then check the ammonium and/or nitrite levels. Raising the oxygen level is also a good idea, perhaps by adjusting the filter to create more splashing. Check the pH, too. Sudden changes in pH can happen surprisingly easy in tank with big fish. The exact pH doesn't matter with most fish, RTCs include, what is important is that it is steady.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[CFC]

The first thing i would check for is any metals that are in or around the tank, Pimeloid species are very sensative to metals in the water and loss of appetite and sores/legions on the skin are first signs of metal poisoning. A friend of mine has a large Sorubim lima that was always sickly and would often be covered in large circular sores, we treated for every possible cause but the fish never seemed to get better, the only thing that helped for the short term was large 50-60% water changes which would perk the fish up for a few days. The mystery had us all baffled until one day i was around when they had the hood removed from the tank, it was then that i noticed that the clips that held the lighting tubes in place were made of metal and had rusted from the condensation, all of a sudden it was clear what the problem was, the rust had been dripping into the tank causing the iron levels in the water to soar and affecting the catfish. The clips were removed and replaced with plastic ones and within a couple of weeks the fish was back to full health and eating like a pig.

On another note what percentage of the water are you changing weekly? When keeping large predatory fish 40% weekly water changes should be a minimum standard to remove the masses of nitrogen compounds and dissolved organic solids these type of fish create, as the fish grows towards its adult size the size of the water changes should grow too with 50 to 60% water changes being nessesary a few days after each feeding (large catfish only need feeding one large meal once a week for the benefit of their own health).

 

[T1KARMANN]

The first thing i would check for is any metals that are in or around the tank, Pimeloid species are very sensative to metals in the water and loss of appetite and sores/legions on the skin are first signs of metal poisoning. A friend of mine has a large Sorubim lima that was always sickly and would often be covered in large circular sores, we treated for every possible cause but the fish never seemed to get better, the only thing that helped for the short term was large 50-60% water changes which would perk the fish up for a few days. The mystery had us all baffled until one day i was around when they had the hood removed from the tank, it was then that i noticed that the clips that held the lighting tubes in place were made of metal and had rusted from the condensation, all of a sudden it was clear what the problem was, the rust had been dripping into the tank causing the iron levels in the water to soar and affecting the catfish. The clips were removed and replaced with plastic ones and within a couple of weeks the fish was back to full health and eating like a pig.

On another note what percentage of the water are you changing weekly? When keeping large predatory fish 40% weekly water changes should be a minimum standard to remove the masses of nitrogen compounds and dissolved organic solids these type of fish create, as the fish grows towards its adult size the size of the water changes should grow too with 50 to 60% water changes being nessesary a few days after each feeding (large catfish only need feeding one large meal once a week for the benefit of their own health).

good point with the light fixings its always best to use brass

if you are having trouble removing the heavy organics try using polyfilter that stuff is great i think its the best product on the market for years

 

[severum boy]

What size tank is he in? Sometimes red tails can act like that when in confined spaces.