my pictus catfish needs help!

vickey

New Fish
Sep 28, 2005
5
0
0
toronto
#1
hi. im new here and ive just got my first fish. its a pictus catfish and right now its sick. his whiskers are limp and they curl. he treads water meaning he stays in one spot and doesnt swim around and he doesnt have an appetite. i tried feeding him but he wont eat and its been 2 days since he has eaten. also his top fin is slanted and not sticking straight up. today i cleaned my tank as well, so he isnt sick because of dirty water. does anyone know wuts wrong with him and if theres a cure? and will his whiskers ever get back to normal? :confused:
please help. i really dont want him to die. im kind of attached to him
 

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
May 16, 2003
8,589
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Colorado
#2
Pictus cats are VERY nervous and spastic little guys. Mine only eats when I'm not looking and usually he stays in one spot swimming back and forth...or he's ALL OVER the tank. They really need a lot of room to swim. What size tank do you have him in? I dont think I'd have one in a tank smaller than my 46. They get pretty large and I think he's going to outgrow this tank as he gets larger.

How often do you do water changes?
How long has the tank been set up?
What other fish are in there with him?
 

vickey

New Fish
Sep 28, 2005
5
0
0
toronto
#4
mines a 5 gallon tank and it has a cave in it. i got the tank about 2 weeks ago and i got the fish a week after the tank was running and the filter too. ppl from pet value and some other place i think called tropic aquarium said that would be a good enough size. i only have one fish. i just dont know how i can help him. i know he's going to die if i dont find him meds or help him by tomorrow. why is his whiskers all limp and curly?
 

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
May 16, 2003
8,589
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#5
TERRIBLY sorry to hear that they gave you such bad information. If you want to keep him and keep him healthy he's gonna need a LOT more room than that 5...I'd do some research and maybe print out a profile and take it into the store with you if you return him to tell the LFS folks that they're off their rocker.

Unfortunately most have found out the hard way that pet store employees in general dont know what they're talking about and its always better to do your own research than to believe them blindly. Its kind of like getting advice on this forum...listen to the answers, do your own research and add in a dash of common sense to figure out your solution. There are some REALLY good pet store employees, we have some here on the board! BUT I wouldn't trust any of them with a 10 foot pole until they've at least shown me that they know what they're talkin about.

Do you have an ammonia test kit? Cuz only having your tank set up for 2 weeks there's probably a pretty high level of ammonia about now since your tank is probably cycling.

The best way you can help him is to get him some more space. Limp whiskers isn't any ailment that I've ever heard of... What are you feeding him? Maybe he needs a change in diet?
 

vickey

New Fish
Sep 28, 2005
5
0
0
toronto
#6
well i just took out his cave which will give him more room. just to let you know that right now he is very small. just a baby. i do planning on buying him a bigger tank once he starts growing. right now he is eating tropical flakes. thank you for your help. i hope he'll still be alive wheni wake up lol. i really do!
 

Kasper

New Fish
Nov 6, 2015
2
0
1
32
#8
Hello,
My sister and I are having the same issue, but we have owned our 2 pictus catfishes for over a month now and only 1 of the 2 catfishes are displaying these symptoms (also it is not hugging the bottom, it is swimming mid tank)
Our tank is a 20 gallon tank and it shares its home with our other heathy pictus, large goldfish (about 4 inch feeder goldfish), 2 minnows and 2 plecos (one albino bristle nose and one rubber lip). All the other fish seem fine and I never see them pick on each other (they do seem to be avoiding the sick pictus as of today when the symptoms became noticeable).
They get fed twice a day, usually flakes, but once a week they get blood worms or an algae pellet. I know twice a day feeding might seem like a lot but none show signs of bloat and we only give a little at a time (plus we do once in the morning for our day feeders and once at night for our night feeders)
We check water levels regularly, always fighting nitrate levels (we have pellets in our filter for the nitrate, but they get fresh water at least once a week) and water is hard (and sometimes slightly acidic), but nothing new.
We are going to do a 25-50% water change tonight, but since all the other fish are fine currently I am concerned water environment is not the cause of this behavior. We have had the goldfish and minnows for over a year (they were meant be crayfish food, but our crayfish decided she liked those 3 and when she passed we got the catfishes and plecos, things had been fine until today).
 

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
May 16, 2003
8,589
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#9
Hi, welcome to MFT. Did you read all of the posts in this thread? There is some good information there. In my opinion a 20 gallon tank is WAY too small for a pictus, let alone 2. Pictus cats are also not compatible with goldfish because the water conditions that they like are so different. Also, as you've noticed with nitrate troubles, goldfish are very messy fish and really not suitable to put with fish other than other cold water fish like minnows.

I would suggest getting a much larger tank or finding the pictus cats a new home.
 

Likes: arcab4

Kasper

New Fish
Nov 6, 2015
2
0
1
32
#10
I asked my dad to bring up his old 40 gallon (assuming there are no leaks it is nearly 24 years old) or my gpa's old salt water 50 gallon tank, hopefully they can make it until thanksgiving. It will take some time to set up the tank since I will need to get new stuff for it.

As I said I have had them all together for over a month now and only one looks sick recently the other looks great fins up, whiskers look normal, colors look perfect and active at the bottom. The healthy one has grown, the sick one hasn't (they were originally the same size), they are both young though less than 2 inches long. Seems odd that it health status changed so drastically.
 

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
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42
Colorado
#11
Fish are pretty fragile things. Even if they are struggling through water quality issues, once they get visibly sick many times they go downhill very quickly. Stress really builds up and makes them even sicker. Best thing you can do is be sure to do partial water changes until you can get another tank set up and cycled and ready for fish with a heater and filter etc. Do what you can to keep the nitrates down in a safe range, even if that means doing partial water changes every day or every few days. Also, feeding them once a day is not going to starve them. You can skip days or at least cut back to once a day until you have the nitrates under control as well.