Small Catfish Acclimatization Trouble

[trustnoone]

Good day,

I have bought a small cat fish of a species I haven't determined yet. I can't seem to get this one to acclimatise well. This small stripped catfish seems to just want to swim upside down, on it's side or lie in the gravel in a decidedly unhealthy way. The one I bought a few days ago dropped dead in a few hours, but I though it may just have been sick.

I have a small 15 GA community tank. The PH is right around 7.0 and ammonia is 0 ppm. There are 8 other small tropical fish in the tank of which the largest is a Beta, and a Mystery snail.

I recently integrated a small pleco, red tail shark (cat), and the snail and they are active and look healthy.

Does anyone know this species of catfish or know of any acclimatisation issues?

Currently I've separated the catfish into a small container with the idea of performing a very gradual acclimatisation to see if it lives.


Thanks,

TNO

 

[mfdrookie516]

Looks like a clown loach to me... slowly acclimate it, especially if there is a big water parameter issue between your tank and the lfs tank... mix some of your tank water slowly with the water from the bag you get it in... after a couple hours and once the water temp in the bag is the same as your tank, you should be fine...

 

[beglely]

That is neither a small catfish nor a clown loach. Im almost 95% sure that is a botia dario, or bengal loach (Botia dario — Loaches Online). When acclimating I would follow the above procedure that mdfrookie516 gave. Slowly add small amounts of your aquarium water into the bag the fish is in. The fish needs to adjust slowly to the change in pH and osmotic pressure. I must ask if your tank was cycled or not, and if your nitrites or nitrates are high? The thing about loaches is that they can be extremely sensitive to changes in water or poor water quality, which is probably why the other one died suddenly. Loaches can also exhibit some strange swimming behavior however, as they are very active and fun fish to watch. Also I would not keep a loach, red tail shark, and betta in a small tank together. The betta is already an aggressive fish, and sharks end up being overly aggressive too. Also, a red tail shark is not a catfish either. It is actually a type of minnow or cyprinid more closely related to carp. They can also get big as well, as your 15 gallon probably wont support him when its older.

 

[trustnoone]

Thanks, I'll try that and keep an eye on the beta and shark. Interestingly the Beta was quite passive around the tetras but he is quite aggressive towards the shark. I use cycle regularly. I'm not sure where my Ni's are.
Thanks again.

 

[mfdrookie516]

yep, after looking (i had only seen the clown loaches a few times) i agree with beglely... one thing you will notice is that betas are quite an aggressive fish. Also the sharks can be pretty aggressive too.

 

[trustnoone]

Well, it didn't turn out well for the Loach. I spoke to the owner of the store where I bought it and he recommended aquarium salt in my tank as he uses it in his.

Should I be concerned about use of aquarium salt with my mystery snail?

Thanks,

TNO

 

[mfdrookie516]

no, aquarium salt is useless... some people like it, but as ive been told by several seasoned veterans, it is totally useless.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I wouldn't use aquarium salt. I wouldn't add anymore of those loaches either.

What are the other fish in the tank besides the Betta and the Red Tail?

If you want some bottom feeder fish, look into small Corydoras catfish or Kuhli loaches. Both stay fairly small (which is good in a 15g tank). Both like a school, so you'll want to get around 5, depending on what the other fish are.

If possible, I'd get your water tested for nitrites, just to make sure that isn't the problem.

 

[trustnoone]

I have 5 tetra's and a small albino catfish as well. All seem to be quite active and healthy.

 

[mfdrookie516]

wow, good thought JOM, corys are awesome. they are really neat to watch...