My catfish keep dying and I don't know why!

A

Amanda527

AC Members
Jun 13, 2007
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I am fairly new at the fish owning game and 've only had my tank for a little over a year. But in the pass 3 weeks 2 of my catfish have ended up dead sometime during the night.

I did water tests, and changed the water, I made sure I gave them the right food and the days before they passed, they were fine. I don't know what's happening to tank. Can anyone offer me any advice?
 
In order for anyone here to be able to help you anyone here is going to want to know your tank parameters: Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite. Are there any visible signs of stress--sores, fungus, etc.? What kind of tank do you have--planted or not? What other fish are in the tank and what size tank is it? Have you done anything that would cause a big pH swing? Did you introduce any new chemicals or fish into the tank immediately before fish started dying? What kind of catfish are you keeping?
 
Oh! I'm sorry I forgot to add that.

I have a 10 gallon tank. I was just told the catfish were called pleco catfish, but when I went to find the exact species I found out it was an albino catfish. The other fish in there are: 1 calico goldfish, 2 'ghost' fish, and 1 black molly.

The ph reads: 7, the temperature: is 75F, ammonia: 0.01, Nitrite: 0.2, Nitrate: 1.0

I haven't added any new chemical or any plants. The only change I've made recently was changing the filter, but I do that routinely. I've checked the gills and fins, and the body of the catfish but there's no stress points, or any injuries I can see.
 
I don't know if this caused the deaths, but there are a couple problems with that stocking

1. Goldfish and pleco will grow out of the 10 gallon, the goldfish can grow up to be 8 inches, the pleco could, depending on which kid, grow to be 20 inches
2. Goldfish are coldwater species well the others are tropical.
3. I'm not sure what you mean by ghost fish, but if they are ghost knifes they too will grow out your 10 gallon and will also eat any small fish.

As for the death of the catfish, maybe they haven't gotten enough food? Have you been feeding them either algea waffers or cucumbers, peas, etc... at night?
 
Ammonia and nitrates should be zero. You need to do a water change or changes to get that to zero and then monitor it to keep it that way.
What temperature are you keeping your tank set at? You have an unworkable assortment of fish in there that require different living conditions. Most of what you have in there will grow far too large for a 10 gallon tank. Either the goldfish or everything else needs to go into a separate tank or back to the store if they will take them back.
 
I know the fish I have in the tank now aren't supposed to be put together but my sister's tank burst and we had to place them somewhere. I'm' getting a bigger tank for the goldfish and that will help seperate them I hope.

Since I have such a weird variety in the same tank I try to keep the temperature at 75.

I've been feeding the catfish veggies and shrimp, not at night but in the morning.

What can I do to get the ammonia and nitrates to zero?
 
Do a 50% water change and re-test. If the ammonia and nitrates are still above zero do another one and retest. Continue this until you get zero readings. Be careful to try to match the temperature of the new water to what you currently have in the tank. Once you get it to zero test again in 12-24 hours and see what your readings are. You shouldn't have ammonia and nitrates in a tank over a few weeks old unless your water changes are too far apart. Goldfish are very dirty fish so you need to water changes often.
Ammonia comes from 2 sources--fish poo and food that isn't eaten.
 
No problem. Lots of folks here were very helpful to me when I was getting started so I try to pass it on whenever I can. Please let us know how it turns out.
 
Well, then I'm very glad I signed up on this site! I'll be sure to give an update as soon as I can.
 
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