Help for catfish

[Cheapskategeek]

Hey all,

I am a newbie fish owner and am having a great time with my new friends. I have had the tank about 3 months. But am worried for my catfish. I do not know what type he is but lately hes been letharic i have seen today he has a piece missing from his fin.

Hes in a 100l tank. His tankmates are neon tetras, harleyquins and female bettas. They dont seem to bother him at all.

The water ph is 7 and nitrates all seem ok. Any ideas how he could have done this? Is it fin rot?

There is a fair bit of bogwood in the tank, could he have done this on the wood?

[Aiken Drum]

Any idea on ammonia + nitrite? What is your typical water change schedule?

[Cheapskategeek]

Ammonia is 0.25, n02 is between 0 and 0.5. N03 is between 0 and 20. Cleaning cycle is 50% every 7-10 days depending on work rota. He is now very still. Barely moves and has deteriorated very quickly. I have started a treatment of melaflix for him but i dont think it will help.

[Cheapskategeek]

Update: hes sadly died

[Joe_D]

In a fully cycled tank, Ammonia and Nitrite should both be at zero
So your tank does not seem to be completely cycled and that might be why a fish died

In a fully cycled tank you will have some Nitrate: but that is not a bad thing as it is not nearly as toxic to fish as Ammonia and Nitrites are..
Besides, plants need some Nitrate to grow
BTW over feeding can case Nitrates to spike as also can overstocking

So, water changes, after your tank is fully cycled, are mostly just to keep Nitrates down to an acceptable level.....for both fish and plants, so both can live in harmony in a tank...
Plants can also help in keeping Nitrates in check... particularly fast growing ones

Bottom line, an aquarium is a very small closed ecosystem and all things in it have to work in harmony with each other.... just like in nature. . .. .

[Joe_D]

BTW....
You seemed to have been doing a "fish in" tank cycle and that might have stressed the catfish beyond the point of recovery