Help! What's wrong with my catfish?

Question

I had two catfish, and one died this morning. The other one seems unwell and is staying in the corners of the tank, breathing rapidly. Every minute or so, his eyes spasm. I don't know what is wrong and I don't want him to die as well. I tested the PH of the water and it is fine. The temp is fine as well. I have a fighting fish in there as well as a snail, and they are fine. My step mum feels it could be they ate the ph down she put in the tank recently, and didn't sift it properly so small clumps fell to the bottom. Did the fish eat this? Thanks for any advice.

Answer 1

sorry it all seems o.k I dont see the problem but what kind of fighting fish is it this could be the problem

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Answer 2

Do you know what type of catfish these are? The reason I ask is that there's one called a Colombian shark (AKA shark catfish or black-fin shark) that are often sold as a freshwater fish that need to have salt in their water to survive - see photo: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_jordani.php . If you know the species, use the "add details" (pencil icon under your question to give us the name). Also, do you know your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

Unless your pH is lower than 6 or higher than 8, don't bother trying to change it - fish don't need a perfect "7". Most fish do well in a wide range, and you'll have more trouble trying to keep it stable (which is worse for your fish than letting it be whatever level it was).

Answer 3

It's possible that clumps of [acidic] pH Down caused problems with your catfish. It's good practice to dissolve the pH salt in water BEFORE adding it to your fish tank. Another 25% partial water change won't hurt. Good luck.

Answer 4

cothing you can doat fish are bottom feeders and they just might have eaten that stuff out of the substrate..nothing you can do about it now