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i really need your help u guys, my parents 15-18" marbled achara cat almost appears like it has flesh eating disease, it look worse in person, but hes swimming funny and not eating as of now, i honestly think it will be dead by tomorrow, but if there is a slight possibility i can save it ill do anything, and if i cant, i want to know if it is able to give it to other fish, my dad seems to think its the other fish, but it doesnt look like bite marks to me, there is a female 7" jaguar cichlid, a 7" Datnoid in there as far as aggressive fish, but i have never seen aggression towards anything except eachother, ill try to get better pix then these though.

he died already...

To me it looks harassed with a secondary fungus or bacteria setting in during it's weakened state, is there another tank you could put it into...keeping in mind a move for a big fish is very stressful in itself
Are there any other cats in this tank as well...they could be battling at night without you knowing....but a jaguar cichlid....bad reputation

Birger

That was really quick.....sorry to hear that
These can be such beautiful fish

Birger

i know, it honestly p***ed me off that it died, as we raised it from when it was 3", i know jags have a miserable rep, but it honestly was scared of this thing, along with everything else, and the jag is a female, which has less of a rep then the males by far lol, it started with its whiskers rotting off. no catfish in there has battle wounds, and if they fought, this thing was psycho lol, the only other catfish in there with an attitude is a 7" suncat, which ya, hes very aggressive, but u would think the size difference would make a difference no?

Sorry to hear the bad news - barbel deterioration can be caused by poor water quality/bacterial infection - the fins do look to have been subject of attack by another individual though with secondary problems (as Birger points out).

I would say that size is no guarentee of a fish being submissive. for example there is a c*****d called neetroplus (i think this is the one) that is so aggressive it will take on other central americans up to 10 times its size. In your case the suncat might be responsible - i couldn't be sure.

One thing to consider is that the nature of the tankmates might change when they sense the demise of the achara - to expand, quite a few fishes which are deemed predatory will be good for an ecosystem as they will first & foremost pick off sick, injured or young. This actually applies to predators in general. if fish sense a struggling individual the may start to harass it where there was previous harmony when all individuals were healthy.

Have you done any water tests & were the results ok?

Richard B wrote: for example there is a c*****d called neetroplus (i think this is the one) that is so aggressive it will take on other central americans up to 10 times its size.

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That's right,N nematopus, they go for the eyes, and using their small size, they are impossible to take back eventually, the attacked fish will loose its eyes, and thus its life. No wonder nobody keeps them anymore

neets indeed are nasty little buggers, they dont get large but man, they are bad. but as far as aggression, i havent seen anything happening, and most CA cichlids do sleep/lay on the bottom at night, so i honestly cannot see it being the jag, but anything is possible, i will have to say i bet on water quality, as they do not take very good care of there tank, i would take care of it, except i have my tanks to look after.

i told them they should get rid of there fish, and redo the cycle and everything, as i think it would be easier then any other option.

I told them they should get rid of there fish, and redo the cycle and everything, as i think it would be easier then any other option.

I don't think they have to get that drastic...but they may want to rethink what they have combined together in that tank..... right off the bat a few water changes and doing some general maintenance will help get things going in the right direction...I am sure you are approaching this with the best of intentions but as I am writing this I can't help but think maybe you have plans for this tank they do not know about Spencer always seems to have some interesting goodies on his list

Birger

hey, lol, honestly, i have my ideas of what i would like to see in there, but i wouldnt stock it for them or anything, my mom is attached to that datnoid, we we would need to build around it. i thought re cycling the tank would be best cuz they have been loosing fish from that tank for about 3months now.

i wish i could do my own thing with that tank, oh well

Rather than "guessing" on an approach, you probably should figure out what the real probelm is with the tank - my suspicion is that it's got overstocked and the nitrate levels are quite high. I've lost fish under such circumstances, because I neglected the water changes.

Increasing the water changes, or reducing the stock will solve the problem.

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Mats

they have had very severe pH problems in the past, it was as low as 3-4 at one point, i have yet to test nitrate, i will look into it.

gage-I am real sorry for your loss-right now I have one with an umbee and dovii-so I know how you feel-real beauty of a fish!

What is a marbled Achara cat?
Matt

What is a marbled Achara cat?

It is a name used for

Birger