Sick nigrita?

watch · Post by **watch** » 18 Feb 2005, 07:17

Hi There,

I've just recently setup a new tank and placed a total of 5 fish in it for intial setup (2 days apart) ... I probably should have started with less but I was told all the fish were quite hardy.

So, to start I have the following
1 nigrita
2 kribs
2 medium sized goldfish (probably 1 thick 2-2.5 inches long)
1 African Dwarf Frog
3 Mystery snails

All was going well for the first week but then I noticed 1 of the kribs was behaving strangely (not eating, not moving alot). That krib died and 3 days later the other krib died. When I noticed the 1st krib, I went out and bought some simple test kits (PH, Nitrate and Ammonia).

The PH indicated the water was about 7.5, the Nitrate test indicated less then 5ppm and the Ammonia test indicated somewhere between 2.4 and 3.7 ppm NH3. Given that it's a new tank and the PH everything looked ok in my books. Was I wrong here?

Today I noticed spots on the Pictus, little white spots and from everything I read it looks like Ick. The Goldfish do not have any spots and the Pictus is still eating and moves around at night a fair bit.

The tank is 29Gallon and has an undergravel filter the temp is about 77F.

Update:

I've removed the pictures since they were quite large! The nigrita catfish is doing very well now. PH, Ammonia and Nitrates have all gone to normal levels.

Thanx for all the help

Thanx for any information

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 18 Feb 2005, 08:14

well, your pictus definately has white spot, but there is something else................
your pictus is brown,well at least it looks like it from picture 1
guys, correct me if im wrong

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 18 Feb 2005, 08:17

and picture 2 shows that your fish aint a pictus
maybee a syno????

but i can assure you Watch, that your cat aint no pictus

Post by **Silurus** » 18 Feb 2005, 11:27

Your fish is , not a pictus. Ich treatments are covered here.

pictus_man_77 · Post by **pictus_man_77** » 18 Feb 2005, 15:08

i knew it was a syno! they have those big eyes and funny mouth

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 18 Feb 2005, 17:19

did you put all those fish in there 2 days after setting up the tank?

watch · Post by **watch** » 18 Feb 2005, 18:13

yes I put all the fish in shortly after setting up the tank! Rookie mistake although all the fish were eating and swimming around great until the kribs started to die off!

The remaining fish are still doing fine although I noticed the cat had the spots and didn't seem to be as active as he/she once was.

Will this spread to the other fish easily? What about the frog and the snails?

Thanx so much for the info so far! I now have to research this new cat

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 18 Feb 2005, 19:10

keep testing for ammonia and nitrite, and if you get any reading change 50% of the water.

here is some info about starting a tank that you should read.
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/ ... basics.php

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/p ... icle_id=92

good luck.

RoK · Post by **RoK** » 27 Feb 2005, 02:55

That's too many fish to start a tank and catfish catch ich somewhat easily.
Goldfish are coldwater fish while all the others are tropical. They should not be kept in the same tank, as they require different water temperatures.

watch · Post by **watch** » 13 Mar 2005, 07:59

Well, my catfish is doing much better now! No spots and everybody else is still looking good as well! My tubing and the silicon is now a nice blue colour though

I had done a fair bit of reading and it's my understanding that goldfish don't mind a little warmer water.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 13 Mar 2005, 10:58

Watch, you're the OP (original poster

) and as such - you can edit your post...
can you change the title, plz?
it's still a bit odd to see "sick pictus" while you and us now know for some time it SHOULD read "sick nigrita"

SG