Weird spines on my cuckoo catfish and my bumblebee catfish

[Brett1998]

I have tried everything. I had them in my 20g and their spines started to turn white. The fish also are growing weak and i cant seem to help them out. I tried separating them and applying stress coat but nothing is working. Im running out of time and options. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Brett

Btw. Here are some pictures of the fish's spines

[Brett1998]

The picture showed the white under the dorsal fin of my bumblebee

[Jools]

I can't really make anything out from the picture I'm afraid. Can you tell us more about the fishes and their surroundings / tankmates?

Jools

[Brett1998]

10 Gallon
Cuckoo Catfish 2 1/2 inches
Translid Pleco 0.8 inches
Striped Raphael Catfish 2 1/4 inches
Hypostomus plecostomus 4 1/2 inches

Problem Fish = Cuckoo Catfish

[Brett1998]

10 Gallon Decorations
1 bag of sand
1 medium piece of driftwood
2 extra small pieces of driftwood
2 plastic logs for cats
5 anubius nana (medium)
5 plastic plants

[Brett1998]

10 Gallon Chemistry
Temp:72.5-80 degrees farenheit
PH:7-8
Weekly 20% water changes
Food:TetraMin flakes and Tempra+ sinking pellets every other day
1ml of stresscoat and co2 booster weekly

[Brett1998]

Like i said before thank u to anyone who gives me info

[Shane]

Brett, lots of people here would be happy to help but the photo above is just a blur.
-Shane

[Brett1998]

My bumblebee probobly wont survive the night. I hope my cuckoo will. If u look under the top fin, he has a whitish linelike area that looks like a fungus. It is making it hard for my fish to swim upright. They are trying to grasp onto life. I know how reliable this site is. I know we can figure this out together. I just searched up that catfish are extremely sensitive to change in their environment. Idk if that can be a factor

[Brett1998]

This picture shows the worst of "it" on my cuckoo which happens to be now. My bumblebee passed away about 5 minutes ago. I hope that this detail about my dead cat can help u identify the problem and hopefully save my cuckoo cat. The detail is that the fish was breathing 2x the normal speed and the fish was very pale. Thanks for the help

[Jools]

I just searched up that catfish are extremely sensitive to change in their environment. Idk if that can be a factor

There are over 3000 species of catfish. Some are sensitive, but most are not and many are as tough as nails. The species you have are among the hardiest there is, that said, 72-80F is a pretty big temperature swing. I can't see anything from the second picture beyond an indistinct pale area at the base of the dorsal spine. Maybe it's some disease, I can't tell.

As the tank is a US 10 gallon (that's 20" x 10" x 12" I think?) it's a pretty small amount of water and the tank is heavily stocked. I wonder if something is poisoning the fish. Are the plastic logs definitely for aquarium use? How long has the tank been set-up, when were the fish added and what are the last three things you did to the tank before the problem?

I don't know what co2 booster is or what a dose on that size of tank would do. Others may know more about this.

Moving fish is often not a good idea, I'd keep up 30% daily water changes and ensure the water surface is broken either by the filter outlet or by an airstone. I'd also hold off on adding medication of any type as it would be plain guesswork - you might get lucky or you might not. These fish should be tough enough to pull through most ailments, however the small tank size makes that less likely.

Jools

[Brett1998]

My water temp is usually 78.5oF but it sometimes changes during water changes.the logs were in my tank for over 3 months. They were found at the river and i cleaned them off really well. Remember that the disease thing started in my 10.
My tank dimensions
Length-18 inches
Width-12 inches
Height-12 inches
Another thing to note is that if it was an infectous disease, my featherfin and my striped raphael would have been infected too. Im starting to think if this could have been the result of them fighting, but they both had the injury in the same exact spot. The injury had the exact same physical appearance too.
Lastly, the last five things ive done to my tank:
1) 15% water change
2) bought and installed 3 watt LED light
3) moved out bumblebee catfish
4) added 2 anubius nana (med) to tank
5) moved hypostomus plecostomus in

I hope this is what u needed to know. Thank u for ur time

[Brett1998]

Ok. So the weirdest thing ever just happened. I just came home from my church group and my cuckoo cat is completely healed! Idk what is going on. What should i do?

[Raul-7]

Did you test the water for ammonia or nitrites?

[Richard B]

In a tank as small as this, it would be unusual for it NOT to be related to water quality in some way.

Is this condition similar to this? http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... ne#p276199

[Brett1998]

I dont have a water testing kit. Is there a way u can check the ph of the water without a kit?

[Brett1998]

Heres the best pic i have of my cuckoo. My blue channel is in the background. Btw this is in my 20gal. My cuckoo is not in there

[bekateen]

In my town, many fish stores (LFS, and the big chains PetSmart and Petco) will allow you to bring in a sample of your water for free testing - pH, nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia. Hopefully the fish stores in your area are the same. If you're not sure, you could phone them and ask. If they say yes, then put a sample of your aquarium water in a clean glass jar with a lid and take it into their store to be tested. Try to collect the water sample just before you're ready to take it into the store.

In my opinion, I'd probably trust the staff at a LFS to do the testing more carefully than the staff at some of the larger chain stores like PetSmart and Petco (I'm not trying to offend the staff of these chain stores, but in my city there have been times where these stores experienced frequent hiring/firing of staff, so they often had employees who weren't as experienced as I'd like).

For the future, I would encourage you to invest in a water test kit. In the past I didn't like to use them, mostly because I thought they were unnecessary if I took good care of my tanks. But lately I've come to find them extremely valuable when fish get sick or the tank's overall health seems to change without warning or apparent cause.

[Raul-7]

What filter are you using?

[Brett1998]

Sorry that it has been a few days. I am using a penguin biowheel filter with a rat of 30-50 gallons