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Ok....so yesterday morning I got a 2inch redtail catfish...I brought him home and placed him in a cycles quarantine tank to monitor him before i place him with my other fishes. He was good whole day yesterday and most of this morning. But he has suddenly started doing barrel rolls and seems to have lost his ability to lay flat. He stops n lays crooked gasping for air. PH and nitrates have been tested and are good. I'm very worried here.....Please help.

This is usually a sign of low oxygen levels, but can also be chlorine contamination. Immediately preform a 50% water change and add additional aeration.
-Shane

I did. He's looking a bit better now. He has stopped being so chaotic and is starting to breathe normally. Thanks alot bro.

No worries. Keep up 25% daily water changes for the next 3-4 days. Hopefully the fish will be ok.
-Shane

Hey I recently (<week) got my first catfish, a 2inch red tail. Any advice om keeping him? He is in a 10 gallon quarantine tank atm and will be moving to a 100 gallon within 2 weeks and 1000 gallon tank when I think he is of good size.

Agree with Shane but also wanted to ask you - what do you consider good for pH and nitrates and what are the readings for ammonia and nitrite and how do you measure all these?

needs to be merged with this http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 56#p299759

Well my ph has been a ranging from 6.8-7.8. mostly in the 7s. Nitrates are about 0- 0.1 and nitrites have been about 5-15 at max ppm which i think is not bad based on what i read. Ammonia reading have been <0.5. I use an API kit i bought from a local pet store but I have a Nutrafin kit i think it is coming in about a little over a week. How does those parameters sound to you guys tho? I'm a huge noob so any advice would be highly appreciated.
Just a bit of an update on my rtc....he's been great after. I did the 50% water change that shane advised and I also added a little bit of salt which the person i bought the fish told me to do. He has been eating and just chilling today. I usually monitor my new fishes for a week before i integrate them....should I keep him isolated longer based on what happened?

L: Well my ph has been a ranging from 6.8-7.8. mostly in the 7s.
V: Why is it so unstable? Are the changes taking a very long time to occur? Quick swings would be pretty bad, stressful to a fish.

L: Nitrates are about 0- 0.1 and nitrites have been about 5-15 at max ppm which i think is not bad based on what i read. Ammonia reading have been <0.5.
V: You mixed up nitrites and nitrates... but anyway, nitrites and ammonia must be, and always is, a solid "zero" ppm in a cycled, properly run aquarium, as measured by a reliable test tube liquid home test.

L: I use an API kit i bought from a local pet store but I have a Nutrafin kit i think it is coming in about a little over a week.
V: If we are talking a liquid test, that's good.

L: How does those parameters sound to you guys tho?
V: Not good.

L: He has been eating and just chilling today.
V: If he fed, this is an awesome sign that things are not as bad as it sounds from your parameters. But then I don't quite get it.

L: I usually monitor my new fishes for a week before i integrate them....should I keep him isolated longer based on what happened?
V: The usual QT time is a month. ... I thought we had figured out what happened - your dissolved oxygen was low. I asked just in case. With the new info on the parameters, I'm not sure anymore we know what caused the ill behaviour. Let me ask you this first:

What are the parameters in your target tank?
Other tanks?

The ph range is over a long period. I have all my reading written down so i'm talking about changes over approximately 8months. My ammonia and nitrites are almost never 0 in my qt tank. My other tanks are usually that low but not this one and Idk why. Yeah the API kit is a liquid test. He is still great atm and looks quite normal to me, swimming around mildly and eating. The reason I only do a week is because I order my fishes from a local guy who quarantines purchased fishes for about 2wks before he calls you to collect. I've bought all my fishes from him and haven't had any issues. My target tank for this little guy has a ph of 7.3, 24 deg, ammonia and nitrite are at 0 . Current members of tank is a turtle and a bala shark. Most likely I will be moving the shark.

Viktor Jarikov wrote:needs to be merged with this http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 56#p299759

Done.

Jools

Do you feed the nitrifying bacteria in your QT tank when there is no bioload? If not, this may be the cause of it not being cycled.

Are we talking Asian RTC or SA RTC?

Asian. Sad to say that may be the problem. But would that little bit in parameters explain his behavior? And would a water change and salt have basically fixed it?

Feeding bacteria is pretty easy. Add ammonia or fish food and let it rot.

I'd not expect low ammonia and nitrite to affect the disturbing behavior you had described in your OP. It really appears to have been the oxygen. Just a best guess. Just WC would not help much. Have you not added more aeration?

Salt detoxifies nitrite, which suffocates a fish. Coupled with low DO, nitrite is double bad.

I'd probably transfer the fish into the cycled tank if it is safe in there for such a little guy.

Are you aware of the housing needs of an ARTC?

I was reading online and they said just lots of space a good aeration. I'm not sure what else I need. (advice highly accepted) lol.
I did add a bubble wand to the back of the tank after we realized is was an oxygen problem. So basically the 10 gallons have a filter, 2 air stones and a bubble wand. The reason I usually keep the wand out is because I often find that after the long ride to the petshop my fish usually likes to be not disturbed for a while while they recuperate. But they usually are back up and swimming about in a few hrs. So I kinda keep the water a bit unmoved in one corner. I even used to have a hang-on back filter that I removed to lessen the current. But these experiences I'm talking about is with things like Goldfish and Koi....etc. I have no experience with catfish. Except probably a bristle nose pleco I have in my goldfish tank.

I'd not think the current would bother any fish unless it is so strong that they cannot cope with it. Plus, under stress, fish need as much DO as they can get.

ARTC is one of the most aggressive f/w fishes on the planet, if not the most. There exist rare exceptions but usually ARTC kills any tank mates, sooner or later, and this is not predatory but territorial. The trouble starts after it gains some size, somewhere between 6" and 12", and especially after it reaches sexual maturity.

Oh ok. Well hopefully I'll have my in wall tank by the time he sizes up. Thanks for all the advice and help bro.

My pleasure if I helped. I'd not go by my opinions. Maybe someone else will chime in too plus continue reading up on the fish.