Sick Albino Walking Catfish

[asgardjunkie]

Hi,

I'm the proud owner of two albino walking catfish (Clarias Batrachus). One of them has been ill for the last four days and I can't identify what the problem is or how to treat it. The fish has lost weight, and stays at the top of the tank in a corner breathing with it's lungs. When it does swim, it does so listlessly and keeps banging into objects. My other catfish is fine as are the other fish in my tank. I've been checking my tank parameters and they are all normal: Ammonia 0, Nitrate 0.25, Nitrite 5, pH 7.8. The tank is maintained at a temperature of approximately 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Farenheit). My aquarium is a 135 liter tank (35 gallons). I have treated the tank twice with approximately 10 ml of Rid-All General Aid. I'm unable to identify what disease the fish has so I'm not able decide what method of treatment to follow. Somebody, please help.

[Shane]

Your first action should be a large water change. I would preform an immediate 60-70 percent water change and look for any improvement. Have any new fishes been introduced lately? What is your normal maintenance routine? What is the current filtration?
If possible, you may also want to move the sick fish so that its tankmates (what are they by the way?) do not add to the sick fish's stress levels by bothering it.
What is the active ingredient in "Rid All" I am not familiar with that product.
-Shane

[asgardjunkie]

Hi Shane,

Appreciate the prompt response. I was at my wit's end trying to figure out what's wrong with the guy. The current inmates of the tank include:
2 Albino Catfish
2 Carps
2 Tinfoil barbs
5 Tiger barbs
1 Red Tail Shark
2 Three Spot Gouramis
3 Apple Snails
2 Pond Snails

It's a bit overstocked, but I'm trying to get a larger tank so that I can move some of them. Nonetheless I try to make up for this by vacuuming the gravel and changing 2 buckets of water (around 7%) every 2 days. For filtration, I have a UGF and a power filter. I clean out the filtering media every 3 days or so. I also have some plants in the aquarium. I monitor the water parameters regularly, and the Ammonia is usually nil, although the Nitrite level stays at around 0.25 (I mixed up the Nitrite and Nitrate levels in my earlier post; Nitrites are 0.25 ppm and Nitrates are 5 ppm).

I don't have a quarantine tank so i'll have to get one and set it up before I can move the sick fish. The active ingredient in Rid-All General Aid is Acriflavine. I'll perform a large water change today evening and see if it helps.
-Vijay

[MatsP]

If those fish have been in the tank for more than a few weeks, I'd say you are more than a little bit overstocked, and this is essentially the cause of your problems - although I'm a bit surprised it's the catfish that got ill, rather than some of the other fish.

Tiger barbs are also not a good complement to catfish - their tendency to bite at the barbels and fins of other fishes is a direct natural defense against catfishes in their natural habitat. This may be part of the cause of the stress that pushed the walking catfish over the edge to illness.

Carps and tinfoil barbs grow very quickly and eat huge amounts of food - this will pollute the water and cause all sorts of other problems.

As Shane suggests, immediate change of a large proportion of the water will reduce the amount of ammonia in the water, 60-70 per cent of the tank volume, and then 50% each day until problems are gone [1]. Also stop feeding completely until you have ammonia and nitrite at zero the day after you changed half the water. [Although this may cause your plants to be eaten by the tinfoil barb - but I think the life of your fishes is a more important factor]

I'm also worried that part of your problem is caused by the medication - it is not uncommon for medication to kill off the good bacteria in the filter as well as any cause of illness bacteria - after all, it's not particularly "picky" about what bacteria it kills.

[1] I suspect that this will only happen when some of the stock is reduced - either by moving it to another tank, or by death... But perhaps I'm a bit pessimistic.

--
Mats

[jscoggs27]

Sorry to hear about your sick cat.
I have had one that had those symptoms, it was a long time ago tho and my memory is a bit hazy. Walking cats usually just escape if they dont like the water, not much can stop them either. You didnt say how big they were? Test kits are all very rubbish so ammonia could be higher than you think, make sure you use a good (in date) de-chlorinator. There skin is quite delicate for a tough fish.
Any unusual swelling on body or around head? Is its Spine kinked? Does its barbels seem withered in any way?
Water changes should help if somethings wrong with the water, but obviously wont if somethings wrong with the fish.
I remember!
Mine had something lodged in its mouth! it was a suction cup.
hope it turns out ok.
jason

[asgardjunkie]

Hi,
The little fellow died this morning. When I was taking it out I also noticed that there were some white lesions on it's body. Also, the tips of its tail fins were a little frayed. Could it be columnaris (although the mouth didn't have any spots or cottony growth)? I'm now a little worried about the rest of my fish, although thankfully they all seem to be doing good so far. Checked my ammonia and nitrite levels again today and they're both nil.
Thank you all for trying to help out. Can you also help me try and identify this disease and take any precautionary steps so that the rest of the fish don't get infected too? I'm planning on doing another large water change today. Also, I'm wondering if I should administer some Acrifilavin as a preventive measure.
-Vijay

[MatsP]

I'm still 100% convinced that the original cause of the problem is that there are too many, too large fish in the tank.

--
Mats

[asgardjunkie]

Hi,

I agree that there are too many fish in the tank. Actually it's my dad's tank and i keep telling him not to overstock it but he doesn't get it. I've managed to convince him to relocate some of the fish to our garden pond. However, before i do move some of the fish out of the tank I want to make sure that there isn't some bacterial infection or something that I should be afraid of spreading. Also, it's surprising that the cat fish got affected, since of all the fish that i do have, it's supposedly the hardiest.
-Vijay

[MatsP]

In case of illness caused by overstocking, large water changes is the best "cure". Most medications (that provide any meaningful cure at least) have side-effects that affect the overall health of the fish. So unless the other fishes actually show direct symptoms of illness (and you know what the illness is!), I'd say staying away from medication is better than not doing so.

--
Mats