Sudden red gills on Cory catfish

[Skyelar Lattimore]

I just saw that my Cory catfish was laying on the ground not doing anything. He has some red bear his gills and isn’t eating either. I think he was fine last night. My frog recently died when I was away from home for a week but I cleaned the gravel really well and did a 50% water change. I can’t afford any medicine and my tap water is .50 ammonia so not sure what I can do or I just want to know why it happened so I can avoid it for my last one.

Tank size: 10 gallon
Tank mates: Molly, 1 catfish
ammonia: .25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
Ph: Inconclusive

 

[Kritastrophe]

Not sure what water conditioner you are already using, but if you aren’t using prime I would recommend switching because of ammonia being in your tap water. You could use prime water conditioner in addition to binding chlorine/chloramine/heavy metals it also binds ammonia. Red gills could be irritation from ammonia as it burns gills and skin. It also could be parasitic, but I’d try to neutralize the ammonia problem first since you are having readings of ammonia in both tap and your aquarium.

 

[Skyelar Lattimore]

Sadly, my fish died in less then 12 hours after I first noticed his problems. The ammonia is only .25 and has been that exact number for the last five months, having never changed. I’ve never seen my water at 0 ammonia since having the tank started in May of this year. No matter what I do, it won’t go down according to my current testing kit. I do use Prime when conditioning new water. Ammonia is also always .25 in my betta tank. To be honest, not sure if I trust my kit anymore. Because even after two weeks of no water change or a week long decomposing tank mate, the ammonia was still .25.

 

[Byron]

Re the pH, what do you mean by "inconclusive?" What is the GH (general hardness) of your tap water? This you should be able to get from the water folks, check their website or call them. Get the number and their unit of measure (mg/l, degrees, whatever they use).

If the ammonia is only 0.25 I would get some fast-growing plants, and floating plants are ideal for this (if you don't already have some). The pH affects ammonia's toxicity too, which is one reason we need to pin this down.

 

[Skyelar Lattimore]

I really can’t afford adding anything to the tank. Last time I had a plant, my tank had 8+ ammonia for three weeks so now I’m scared to have plants. Inconclusive ph means every time I check the ph in either one of my tanks, the high ph says the lowest of 7.4 and the regular ph says the highest of 7.6 which of course means that at least one of them have to be wrong. I need to take the water to a pet store to check if my test kit is even accurate. I’m not sure what the hardness is, I’ve never checked. I’ll try doing that now.

 

[Byron]

I really can’t afford adding anything to the tank. Last time I had a plant, my tank had 8+ ammonia for three weeks so now I’m scared to have plants. Inconclusive ph means every time I check the ph in either one of my tanks, the high ph says the lowest of 7.4 and the regular ph says the highest of 7.6 which of course means that at least one of them have to be wrong. I need to take the water to a pet store to check if my test kit is even accurate. I’m not sure what the hardness is, I’ve never checked. I’ll try doing that now.

Plants do not add ammonia, they use it, and a lot of it. They are, once growing and if fast growers like floating plants, faster at taking up ammonia than the nitrifying bacteria. I can assure you that some floating plants would help.

As for the pH, you will always get different readings from the two tests. Use only the one that is relevant to your tap water pH. If for example your tap water pH is in the 7's, then use the normal range test so you have consistency in the accuracy.

The GH will help us sort this out.

 

[Skyelar Lattimore]

Okay, I got a lot of information back. Their average levels are as followed.
hardness: 45 my per liter
Ph- 9.2 (horrible)
Ammonia- .08-.13 though my faucet gives .5 or so last time I checked
Nitrite- Below .01 (I always have 0 anyway)
Nitrate- below .1 (usually at 5 or below)
Chlorine- 2.5

I might try some plants later on when I restock my tank but for now, I’m giving everything a break. Most of my fish and invertebrates have died off in the last few months and I haven’t bought anything new yet except a snail that died for whatever reason.

 

[Naughts]

You need to use a dechlorinater. Chlorine should be 0 in tank water.

 

[Byron]

Okay, I got a lot of information back. Their average levels are as followed.
hardness: 45 my per liter
Ph- 9.2 (horrible)
Ammonia- .08-.13 though my faucet gives .5 or so last time I checked
Nitrite- Below .01 (I always have 0 anyway)
Nitrate- below .1 (usually at 5 or below)
Chlorine- 2.5

I might try some plants later on when I restock my tank but for now, I’m giving everything a break. Most of my fish and invertebrates have died off in the last few months and I haven’t bought anything new yet except a snail that died for whatever reason.

First, on the GH. Assuming you intended to type 45 mg per liter (just a typo) this is very soft water. The equivalent in dGH (another common unit we use in the hobby) is 2.5 dGH. Very soft, which is not a problem if you keep soft water fish species.

The pH of 9.2 I assume is the tap water. Presumably they add something to raise the pH, this is quite common in soft water areas as the normal acidic pH can corrode pipes and such. What they add can vary but usually dissipates out so in the aquarium the pH will be lower. It would be helpful to ask them (or check their website) to see if they are adding something to raise pH.

As for the deaths, there is likely an explanation but we need to have all the data/information to pin this down. We have the source water parameters sorted out for the most part. If you can provide info on the substrate, water changes, any substances you were adding, which conditioner, water change schedule, and fish put in the tank.

 

[Skyelar Lattimore]

I always use the dechlorinater known as Prime The substrate is normal big gravel. I used to do a 50% water change every week but now with a broken vacuum, I do a 30% every week. Though a few days ago, I did a 50% because my frog died and was decomposing while I was gone for the entire week. (I should have quarantined him when I noticed he wasn’t eating and possibly had dropsy) He was dead and being eaten when I came back home. Though I checked the ammoni before the tank change and it was still .25 and all levels were normal after the water change. Over the past few months, I had four shrimp for, my snail died, the frog, and one other Cory cat. Now, all I have is my Molly and one Cory Cat who both seem to be fine. The Molly is the only survivor from when I first got the tank in May of this year. He survived three weeks of 8+ ammonia and is seems to be doing just fine. My frog was also my initial purchase and so was the snail that died about a month ago. Nothing has been added to the tank for about two months, neither alive nor decorations. I had had the Cory cat for about three months.

 

[Byron]

There are a few things I can help with.

First is the gravel...cories should be housed over smooth sand, never gravel. There are reasons for this. First, they filter feed and this they absolutely cannot do without sand that is smooth. Second, they will attempt to dig into gravel searching for food; they can detect bits of food we could not even see when it gets lodged in the gravel, which is why they will continue to dig even in rough gravel (and rough or smooth does not matter when it comes to this food particle issue). Third, those particles of food don't get broken down as readily as they would in sand which means bacterial issues. Third, cories are highly sensitive to ammonia, and red gills can be due to this. It can also be due to the gravel and related issues.

Frogs and fish should never be combined. The frog usually does not get enough to eat, which sounds like what happened here, at least one factor.

Your water is too soft for mollies, so this fish may have survived to this point but i can assure you it is seriously weakened internally and is not likely going to last long.

I know there is a lot of research needed to be successful, but it is worth it, believe me.

 

[Skyelar Lattimore]

I understand the gravel part though I can’t afford a $25 back of sand right now. And I was feeding the frog blood warms by tweezers every other day until I left the tank to go home for a week With only a seven day fish food thing in the tank which the fish munched on but probably not the frog. I can say I hated hand feeding him and I will never get a frog again. He also had white fungus on his nose for a couple months that I believe got a little bigger and his belly was quite fat. The Molly has lasted 7 months in the water so I can assure you it hasn’t hurt him. That to me is longer than any other fish I’ve had in this tank, which is saying a lot. At some point i might get sand but I really can’t afford that and plants right now. I’ve spent over $500 on my fish and everything dies.

 

[Essjay]

Play sand is a lot cheaper than aquarium sand. It is highly refined and smooth, though it can have a lot of dust which needs washing out before use.

 

[Byron]

Everything dies because of what I and others have been pointing out. I'm truly sorry, but you made some mistakes along the way, probably due to "advice" from fish store staff, and we here are trying to help you.

The molly is not well, it is seriously compromised. It must have moderately hard or harder water to live its normal life and be healthy; this is just scientific fact. I agree it is rather miraculous that it is still alive under these conditions, which only shows how resilient some fish can be no matter how we neglect to provide what they need. But it cannot go on, the molly will weaken more and more and sucumb to something it otherwise could fight off or just die prematurely. Mollies can live 3 to 5 years but not in soft water, guaranteed. Their lifespan is longer in their habitat than in the aquarium, which is really not surprising given their requirements.

As essjay said, play sand is the least expensive substrate you can get. I have it in all my tanks.

 

[Skyelar Lattimore]

How much play sand is needed? I might do it at some point but only if it doesn’t cause any problems and is easy to clean. Would it not get sucked up in a gravel vacuum or be washed away with water when cleaning it via cup?