Sick Glass Catfish

[Industrial]

So recently I bought two new glass catfish to add to my group of four. The one glass cat had little round white balls right behind all it's organ inside of it's body. At first I thought it had eggs, but I read online that these are often cysts that are very contagious and kill the catfish. I moved him into a seperate tank with a baby whale mormyrid, guppys, BN pleco and a betta and now it has been laying in the fake plants for the past two days. The catfish hasn't turned white or anything and when I tried to move him to get a picture of the spots inside of him he didn't resist at all. What could I do to help him?

[Silurus]

At this stage, it sounds like it's pretty far gone and there's nothing you can do. Sorry.

[Industrial]

Today when I woke up, I saw him swimming like a normal glass cat, but now he is in one of the plants again. I feel bad, but I am still hopeful that he can get better since he doesn't seem to be getting any worse. Maybe if I add some stress coat to the water it may make it a little less stressed? I don't think it will help him, but it may make him more comfortable for a while.

[L number Banana]

Sorry to hear about your sick fish
Water changes are always a good idea and stress coat can't hurt but as Silurus says, it's may be too late. There's been several members here lately that have lost fish with an evil ick strain or velvet. Just remember that if you do decide to treat with one of the medications that it has to be okay for 'scaleless fish' so is usually half strength.

How are the other fish doing? A really good look at them would be worth your time.

Good luck

[Industrial]

Well originally he was in a tank with five others. The one I bought with him isn't schooling with the other four but he doesn't have any visible problems and seems to be okay.

A few days ago I put him in a tank with a betta, baby whale and some feeder guppies. I read that the cysts are extremely contageous between the cats so I separated him into this tank. The fish that he is with now aren't acting any different.

Right now he is hiding next to the baby whale.

I will try water changes and adding stress coat and hopefully he will get better.

[L number Banana]

It's worth a try
I had one fish recently that developed white/yellow bumps, he's a

panaque maccus

. I never found out exactly what it was but had some say it was velvet, some said ick. I treated with ick meds and he's doing great but I lost most of the other fish in the tank. So it's possible that it was something else entirely. He was the only one in the tank that had the bumps. It's a tough thing to figure out what things really are without a microscope and some good comparison. Whatever it was it swept through the tank fast! I now use separate nets with each tank, just in case

Definitely keep a good eye on any of your fish that came into contact with the same water before you moved him (or moved the other out) just in case and water changes for them can't hurt either.

Is he still eating at this point? It sounds horrible but if things don't turn around, I've had to use clove oil when one of my fish was clearly suffering. It seems to knock them out first so they don't 'suffer' and then dispose of him in a garbage, not a toilet of course.

If he pulls through, that's one tough little fish!

I saw your other post about the one with the bits inside. Kind of interesting but when you look at the species page here ->

kryptopterus minor

it says that Glass cats haven't been reported to breed in aquariums so most likely, just a little backed up so to speak.
I'm working on starting a showtank with Glass Cats as the main fish so I'm sure we'll be chatting again, I've never had them before, they're quite amazing fish.

[Industrial]

I've seen him eat a blood worm that fell infront of his face yesterday, but that was all. He doesn't appear to be suffering. If he starts thrashing around then I will use the clove oil, but right now he seems to be okay. He has actually been laying against my baby whale.

About the pregnant glass cat, I have heard somewhere about somebody buying one that laid eggs, but they never hatched. All glass cats are caught from the wild so there is always a chance of a pregnant cat being caught, not likely, but it's still a possibility. This one in particular, the store just put in the tank today in addition to 10 others. I have been watching very carefully at this LFS and petsmart (the only other glass cat carrier here) for anything that looked different.

I have also read (I think it's a recent thread on here that was redirected) to somebody who actually supposedly bred these guys. I am not sure about that though.

I am hoping once they get comfortable, I will put them in a species only tank and simulate the winter/spring season change and see what happens. These are beautiful, yet delicate fish. Out of 9 I have had two die within 2 days each and then this one isn't doing so well either. Also, if there are any predatory fish such as angels, they can apparently sense when the catfish isn't schooling and they will kill it.

[Silurus]

...and simulate the winter/spring season change...

I am pretty sure you won't induce them to spawn that way. Try simulating the transition from the dry to the rainy season instead.

[Industrial]

Sorry that is what I meant to say lol.

[Industrial]

Okay, so now his white spots inside are gone but his whiskers seem to be white and a little droopy. He looks kind of stressed and is not eating, but now he is swimming near the filter outlet like my past glass catfish have done. I am not sure if it would be safe or not to add him back to the school in my other tank.

[L number Banana]

I would definitely wait until he is right as rain again. Once he is swimming and eating normally. Is there any shelter in the QT tank? I guess anything to reduce his stress. And keep up the water changes, nothing helps like clean water. Have you been testing his water to make sure it's good?

I'm definitely no expert but some bacterial infections can eat away the barbels on fish so don't risk your others until he's back to normal, we're still not out of the woods yet. Hanging at the filter outlet might mean he needs more oxygen? Is there lots in there?

I recently read that glass cats can start to turn white or pale if they're sick so how's his colour? Nice and see thru-clear aside from the white patches on his whiskers?

And how's the other new one doing? Have you got a picture of the sick one? If he's still around maybe he's just having a tough time acclimatizing without his school.

I'm going to get another person to read your thread and see if they see something a newbie like me has missed.
See if you can get some water parameter readings like tank size/temp/ph/nitrates and nitrites. Maybe it's needs something simple and is not actually sick???

[Industrial]

The thing I am worried about is that he will never act normal by himself. He definitely is better now than he was. At first he would just lay on his side and if I would go near him he didn't even try to swim away. Then he would occasionally get up and swim around for a few minutes a day and now he is swimming all day in the current. I don't think he needs oxygen or anything since that is what all the glass cats I have had do.

The tank he is in currently is a 20g kept at 79/80 degrees. I didn't test the water yet, but it's very slightly black water.

This morning his color is gone in his whiskers (now they are the same as the others) and I am feeling confident that he is doing better. The fish never turned white. He was always just as see through as a healthy glass cat.

The other new glass cat (that I bought with this guy) in my community tank is schooling with the rest of the glass catfish now.

[L number Banana]

No one else seems to know anything about the issues your fish is having or was having A member that was helping me with advice about setting up my tank took a look at this thread and had nothing to add as he had no experience with this type of thing with his fish.

I wouldn't want to be the one to say, "Yup, put him back with the others" but I see what you mean about his behavior maybe not so normal without his shoal. It's a tough one and keep me posted how the little guy is doing regardless of what you decide. It sounds like he's doing much better and at least the cysts have gone so lets cross our fingers and hope for the best

[Industrial]

Update, I put him back in the main tank on Friday and he has been doing great. The whiteish tint on his whiskers has disappeared, he has been eating good and he is schooling with the other catfish. I cannot tell which one he was anymore, but I do know that all seven glass cats appear to be healthy and very outgoing now.