I had two Pictus cats in a 55gl, with my O, the JD, and a pleco. (Yes I know it's small, but their 135gl is still in the process of being repaired, and they're all small enough to where it's still manageable. Waiting on other people SUCKS!) Ammonia is at 0 and Nitrate is pushing 10, and temp is 75ºF. I'm about to do a water change to help correct that.

My issue is one Pictus died on Thursday night. He was swimming lethargically, found him sucked onto the FX5's intake at one point, and was all sucked in and skinny looking. I figured he was getting punked out of his food while we were gone, but we were only at the hospital for 4 days, and he looked fine before we left.

Now the bigger Pictus is exhibiting the same signs. He's swimming lethargically, no outward physical signs of malnourishment, he's definitely not bullied and has otherwise been a healthy and happy fish. I don't feed feeders to the other fish (the JD isn't big enough to eat them, and the O doesn't need them) so nothing new has been introduced. But I can't for the life of me figure out why the Pictus are dying.

So I was wondering if it was parasites, the nitrates being high, or some other cootie that's causing this. My kid's gonna be ticked if the Pictus dies, the LFS just closed for the evening, and I'm not sure what the local grocery store carries in the way of fish drugs. I've got Melafix and Pimafix on hand, as well as Binox, but I don't want to dose the tank due to him being a scaleless fish.

I'm sure I've overlooked something blatantly obvious and will kick myself when I figure it out. But in the mean time - Suggestions?

I have no idea what the heck would be causing them to die... I am puzzled. Your water is great! I wouldn't bother with a water change yet.. Have you added salt???

Nope, haven't added salt, will actually have to go buy some. I did the water change anyway, and even changed all the filter media. (It was due anyway.) The Pictus is still acting weird, and now that I think of it, the Pleco hasn't been pooping as much as he used to either. Guess I'll dose the tank with salt, and keep an eye on them all. Should I add Pima and Melafix just to be on the safe side? Since there are no outward signs of illness, I'm guessing it's internal. I'd like to nip it in the bud before the Oscar and the Dempsey get it.

DON"T add salt!!!!!


Salt is NOT good for scaleless fish.. That is why I was asking!

Well that's what I thought, but when you asked - I thought "well maybe I have it backwards...." lol Good thing I haven't left yet.

I was doing a bit of reading, and since the fish isn't exhibiting any outward physical signs of bacteria, fungus, parasites, NOTHING - I found one thing that might match what's wrong. I just hope that I'm seriously, seriously wrong. Mycobacteriosis, otherwise known as fish TB pretty much matches all the "symptoms".

www.theaquariumwiki.com/Mycobacteriosis

Good lord Hun. I hope that isn't the case... Sounds horrible. Can you post a pic of him?

He's swimming in a spot where I can't get a good pic of him. (I'll keep trying though.) But honestly - there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with him other than his weird behavior and no appetite.

After the massive water change he's swimming at the bottom of the tank again, instead of the middle and the top. And he looks like he's doing a bit better. I bought some Parasite Clear from the grocery store, but since I've never had to treat for parasites, and I'm not even SURE it's parasites; I'm really hesitant to treat the entire tank. :/

Well I dosed the tank with Parasite Clear 2 days in a row and all the fish seem to be acting normal. Especially the Pictus. Guess he had some sort of cootie living in him. Too bad I didn't catch it before the other one died. Now I've got Heckle and no Jeckle. Guess I should rename him now. :/

Apparently two days wasn't enough. Damn fish is acting sick again. I think his parasites are back, but his adipose fin is looking a bit fuzzy, so I dosed the tank with anti-fungal and anti-bacterial, now I'm wonder if I should dose with anti-parasitic too. I don't want to over medicate the tank, but I don't want my fish to die either. :angry: If I lose the Pictus, I'll be ticked, but I'll be heart broken if the Oscar and the Dempsey get sick and die too.

hi did you leave any old media in your filter, or did you put all new media, what about your good bacteria, better do some more readings just incase,because if youve changed all your media for new i think you might have killed all your bbs