1~My roomate has a Pictus catfish who has been acting really sick these past two days. He suddenly started swimming very slowly upside down, to the top of the tank, and then sort of falling slowly to the bottom and laying however he landed (upside down, on his side, etc) for long stretches of time. I noticed that his skin looked like it was flaking and he was off-color on one side. Today I see that what looked like flakes of skin have now swelled and look like bumps.
2~My roommate doesn't monitor her tank's ph levels or temperature, and I have no way of checking them myself.
3~ I believe it's a 30 gallon tank and it's been set up in this apartment for almost 4 years, but she's had the tank for 6.
4~Using a Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel Power Filter that filters 200 gph
5~9 fish in the tank: -1 angelfish 2.5"
-1 gourami 3"
-1 pictus catfish 3"
-2 zebra danios 1" each
-1 phantom tetra 1"
-2 skirted tetras 1" and 1.5"
-1 silver dollar, 2"
-1 plecostomus 8"
6~We change out the water by adding tap when the level gets too low and adding water conditioner. Last time it was vacuumed was a year ago and she usually takes out at least 65% of the water if not more
7~This fish is about 2 years old. We introduced him by floating him in the bag we got from the store for about an hour before release. He's never shown signs of illness until a few days ago
8~Nothing new in the tank other than a regular addition of water has been added to the tank. Every few months she adds aquarium salt to the tank to keep them healthy.
9~Tetra Min and Algae discs
I'm thinking this is probably Ich. The only reason I doubt it and want to check here is because there have been no new fish introduced to the tank in at least six months. We have not changed our care of this fish since we got him 2 years ago, nor have we changed products. I have heard that salt is supposed to help as well as changing the water. I have done both since yesterday and he seems a little better--at least he isn't floating around upside down anymore, though he is still very lethargic and I haven't seen him eat. However, I read somewhere that salt can be harmful for a scale-less fish so I'm hesitant to continue salt treatment, what do you all suggest? Should I continue salt treatment or start Ich medication?
He also still appears to be flaking and I'm wondering if fish can have allergic reactions. There's a ceramic piece in the tank that isn't technically aquarium-safe (as in we didn't buy it from the pet section of the store) and we used to notice discoloration in it so we took it out for a while though the fish did not seem harmed. We put it back in a year ago with no signs of agitation from any of the fish. I doubt if it's related but I thought I'd mention it. There is some algae in the tank but not excessive...so I'm curious as to how this disease got into the tank in the first place.
2~My roommate doesn't monitor her tank's ph levels or temperature, and I have no way of checking them myself.
3~ I believe it's a 30 gallon tank and it's been set up in this apartment for almost 4 years, but she's had the tank for 6.
4~Using a Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel Power Filter that filters 200 gph
5~9 fish in the tank: -1 angelfish 2.5"
-1 gourami 3"
-1 pictus catfish 3"
-2 zebra danios 1" each
-1 phantom tetra 1"
-2 skirted tetras 1" and 1.5"
-1 silver dollar, 2"
-1 plecostomus 8"
6~We change out the water by adding tap when the level gets too low and adding water conditioner. Last time it was vacuumed was a year ago and she usually takes out at least 65% of the water if not more
7~This fish is about 2 years old. We introduced him by floating him in the bag we got from the store for about an hour before release. He's never shown signs of illness until a few days ago
8~Nothing new in the tank other than a regular addition of water has been added to the tank. Every few months she adds aquarium salt to the tank to keep them healthy.
9~Tetra Min and Algae discs
I'm thinking this is probably Ich. The only reason I doubt it and want to check here is because there have been no new fish introduced to the tank in at least six months. We have not changed our care of this fish since we got him 2 years ago, nor have we changed products. I have heard that salt is supposed to help as well as changing the water. I have done both since yesterday and he seems a little better--at least he isn't floating around upside down anymore, though he is still very lethargic and I haven't seen him eat. However, I read somewhere that salt can be harmful for a scale-less fish so I'm hesitant to continue salt treatment, what do you all suggest? Should I continue salt treatment or start Ich medication?
He also still appears to be flaking and I'm wondering if fish can have allergic reactions. There's a ceramic piece in the tank that isn't technically aquarium-safe (as in we didn't buy it from the pet section of the store) and we used to notice discoloration in it so we took it out for a while though the fish did not seem harmed. We put it back in a year ago with no signs of agitation from any of the fish. I doubt if it's related but I thought I'd mention it. There is some algae in the tank but not excessive...so I'm curious as to how this disease got into the tank in the first place.