Dorado Catfish Illness

[matthewle0903]

Hello,

I've been growing out my dorado catfish for the past few months now from 2" and it is now about 5". Recently it seems as though its slime coat is shedding, and it has been refusing to eat. I've been doing partial water changes every other day and added some slime coat repair and was wondering if there is anything else that I can do to help. It also has been staying near the surface, but will occasionally swim towards the bottom/sit on bottom.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

It sounds and looks sickly. If it hangs near surface, its breathing apparatus is implicated. The excess slime is a general stress indicator, or could point to ammonia in the water. Most usually it is the ammonia burn but there are other reasons possible - unstable pH, gill flukes or other parasites, or as simple as not enough dissolved oxygen. It looks like you are feeding live (rosy reds?) which is a way to bring in any number of pathogens into the system or transfer pathogens from prey to predator.

They are also one of the most skittish fish in our hobby. Extremely flighty and easily stressed by anything. 99% of these fish kill themselves early on by slumming into walls.

 

[kno4te]

I’d do as viktor recommends. Take out the feeders and get your water values checked. Having nitrates below 20ppm, cycled and stable water is needed in this situation. Would try a pellet soaked in garlic for feeding. Adding meds may stress and reluctant to do so it but if really needed then try some prazipro/paragaurd and get your water parameters pristine prior to meds.

 

[matthewle0903]

It sounds and looks sickly. If it hangs near surface, its breathing apparatus is implicated. The excess slime is a general stress indicator, or could point to ammonia in the water. Most usually it is the ammonia burn but there are other reasons possible - unstable pH, gill flukes or other parasites, or as simple as not enough dissolved oxygen. It looks like you are feeding live (rosy reds?) which is a way to bring in any number of pathogens into the system or transfer pathogens from prey to predator.

They are also one of the most skittish fish in our hobby. Extremely flighty and easily stressed by anything. 99% of these fish kill themselves early on by slumming into walls.

I definitely will try that. Thank you for your advice and I'll keep you updated.

The rosey reds were a last resort, since he hasn't eaten in about 2 weeks, but I'll remove them in case of transferring any more pathogens to the dorado.