PlanetCatfish.com

jodilynn wrote: ↑28 Aug 2022, 03:30 S Eupterus
10 years old.
Went out of town for a week, came back to this.
Massive loss of pigmentation, no fuzz or obvious fungus, seems listless and having trouble maintaining balance.
Rest of fish are fine.
Any ideas as to what this may be????

sturiosoma wrote: ↑29 Aug 2022, 01:01 Hello can you increase aeration and continue with water changes

Jeanne

bekateen wrote: ↑29 Aug 2022, 02:40 If your nitrates are 80 after a water change, I think you need to do a bigger water change (and maybe consider a good gravel vacuuming). If you want to be safe, limit yourself to a 50% WC, but do it several days in a row, or even twice a day for a few days. Alternatively, if you think the fish can handle it, do a 90% water change. If possible, remove the fish first and stir the gravel to release any mulm or toxic gases that might be trapped under the substrate or under decorations. Then siphon out 90% of the water and refill the tank. Mix new tank water into the bucket or tank holding the fish and let the fish be exposed to it before returning fish to tank.

That's what I would do, and I know it's a bit extreme.

Good luck,
Eric

Viktor Jarikov wrote: ↑29 Aug 2022, 17:06 The API liquid nitrate test is a relative measure at best, not absolute because of much interference with completing anions, e.g. chloride. So 100 ppm by that test could be close to it but could also easily be 2x, 3x or even 5x higher. I am not sure if it can be lower, Darryl could tell us. I presume it cannot be lower.

But even a 1000 ppm nitrate is not toxic short term. So i'd not hurry with blaming the nitrates.

As for the ammonia test, I'd suggest to use as a reference a vial with known ammonia free water with both test chemicals added to it. It's very hard to compare to the paper color chart. IME I can clearly see 0 ppm ammonia and 0.25 ppm ammonia that way and I strive for 0 ppm and almost always have that. Although again 0.25 ppm ammonia is unlikely to be harmful unless your pH is like 8.5 or 9.

Nitrite however would be a problem at any non-zero concentration.

If the sickness coincided with your absence, then this seems to be the smoking gun. Something's changed and you gotta figure out what. Perhaps the overfeeding as you mentioned.

The marks on the fish seem abrasions, perhaps self inflicted.

What do you mean by the loss of balance: erratic swimming (brain, nerve damage) or bladder/bloat causing wrong buoyancy?

I have a more or less complete questionnaire for troubleshooting health and appetite problems but it is mostly for newbies. Yet it might benefit someone else too.

I'd expect though that once you get your water back into the pristine and stable range, the fish should rebound.

sturiosoma wrote: ↑29 Aug 2022, 14:00 In response to Eric, with a 90% water change you have to be careful of a ph swing, so test ph of tank and ph of water used to change to avoid any problems

Jeanne

jodilynn wrote: ↑30 Aug 2022, 00:16Hey Eric, I did about a 50% yesterday, good gravel cleaning, cleaned out the one HOB, more gravel cleaning today and about a 70% w/c.
Nitrates have not budged

1. the nitrate test kit is giving you meaningless numbers. (Or if it's color-based, maybe you're not reading the colors right).
2. your nitrates are "through the roof" high, such that even a 70% WC doesn't bring the value down to a range which changes the test kit reading. (Honestly, I doubt it's this).
3. There is some hidden decaying organic matter in your tank, which is the source of these nitrates even after WC. Or
4. there's high nitrates in your tapwater (which can easily be tested by checking your tapwater).

bekateen wrote: ↑30 Aug 2022, 01:32 If nitrates haven't budged after such a big water change, then there are a limited number of explanations:

1. the nitrate test kit is giving you meaningless numbers. (Or if it's color-based, maybe you're not reading the colors right).
2. your nitrates are "through the roof" high, such that even a 70% WC doesn't bring the value down to a range which changes the test kit reading. (Honestly, I doubt it's this).
3. There is some hidden decaying organic matter in your tank, which is the source of these nitrates even after WC. Or
4. there's high nitrates in your tapwater (which can easily be tested by checking your tapwater).

Maybe there's other explanations, but if your tapwater is clean and you're doing a 70% or more WC, there's no reason for nitrates to stay elevated unless either your test kit is showing bad results or there's an undiagnosed source of nitrates.

Viktor Jarikov wrote: ↑29 Aug 2022, 17:06 The API liquid nitrate test is a relative measure at best, not absolute because of much interference with completing anions, e.g. chloride. So 100 ppm by that test could be close to it but could also easily be 2x, 3x or even 5x higher. I am not sure if it can be lower, Darryl could tell us. I presume it cannot be lower.e a problem at any non-zero concentration.